Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

Dutch side what had already been denied to them by France, i.e.: official Dutch
passports for American trade in the Mediterranean! It is true that throughout
their long diplomatic history with Algiers, the Dutch had been the suppliers of
forged passports per excellence, 63
but to do it officially, that they did not
consent to. As one might expect, the Commissioners could obtain but the same
answer as with France. The American treaty of 1782 with the Netherlands
included an article that differed in the matter from article VII of the American-
French Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1778) only in wording. Article XXIII
specified:
If at any time the United States of America shall judge necessary to
commence negotiations with … Algiers, to obtain passports for the
security of their navigation in the Mediterranean sea, their high
mightinesses [the States General of the United Netherlands] promise,
that upon the requisition which the United States of America shall make
of it, they will second such negotiations in the most favourable manner
by means of their consul [residing at Algiers]. 64
In short, that meant that the Dutch accepted to act only as mediators if their
services were solicited. They agreed to have commercial cooperation with the
USA according to the principles of the League of Armed Neutrality but not to
deliver Mediterranean passports for American merchantmen.
With Sweden, a lesser power, the United States could only obtain a
Treaty of Amity and Commerce (1782) clearly denoting reciprocity as “having
for its basis the most perfect equality, and for its object the mutual advantage of
the parties.” 65 Basically, the treaty provided for conveying each other’s ships
63 Krieken, Corsaires et marchands, p. 11.
64 SJ, 3:304-5, A Treaty of Amity and Commerce, January 23, 1783.
65 Ibid., 3:367, A Treaty of Amity and Commerce, July 29, 1783.
224