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

Treaty of Peace and Commerce with Algiers. 80 The Swedish treaty in question
was that of 1792 which was a renewal, with additions, of the first treaty of
1729. 81 Actually, “the substance of each of the respective twenty-two articles
of the Swedish and American treaties is in general similar” but not identical. 82
Accordingly, the treaty was in conformity with the diplomatic practice so far
adopted by all European powers. Article XXII, however, contains a statement
which “was the only item that resulted from the negotiations.” 83 That statement
deserves full citation because it was the pillar which supported Algerian-
American diplomatic relations from the signature of the treaty until 1812, time
at which the American consul Tobias Lear at Algiers was ordered to leave the
country:
Joseph Donaldson … agreed with Hassan Bashaw Dey of Algiers to
keep the Articles Contained in this Treaty Sacred and inviolable which
we the Dey & Divan Promise to Observe on Consideration of the United
States Paying annually the Value of twelve thousand Algerine Sequins
in Maritime Stores. 84
Except for those annual payments in stores, which the Americans call
‘tribute’ in a pejorative sense, no other parts of the financial agreement were
written in the Treaty—including the ransom for the liberation of captives and
customary presents. That did not pass unnoticed for watchful Americans at
home. About the treaty, Madison wrote James Monroe, the American minister
at Paris, that it “is stamped with folly, and the most culpable Irregularities;”
80 Ross, “The Mission of Joseph Donaldson,” p. 427; Barnby, Prisoners of Algiers, p. 193.
81 For the treaty of 1729 with Sweden see Muller, Consuls, Corsairs, and Commerce, pp. 58-60, 144-
146.
82 Miller, ed., Treaties of the United States; Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, p. 105.
83 Ross, “The Mission of Joseph Donaldson,” p. 427.
84 SaL, 8:137.
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