Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship

Common card · No. 386517

The Moroccan–American Treaty of Peace and Friendship, also known as the Treaty of Marrakesh, was a bilateral agreement signed in 1786 that established diplomatic and commercial relations between the United States and Morocco. It was the first treaty that was signed by the US and a non-European state. Nearly a decade before the treaty, on 20 December 1777, Moroccan Sultan Mohammed III, decreed that American ships could freely enter the sultanate's ports and enjoy safe passage through its waters; and became the first head of state to publicly recognize U.S. independence during the American Revolutionary War. Following several overtures by the Sultan, and with the urging of John Adams, John Jay, and Benjamin Franklin, in 1785 the U.S. Congress authorized negotiations for a treaty with Morocco. American diplomat Thomas Barclay was chosen to represent the U.S., and with the aid and backing of Spain, met his Moroccan counterpart, Tahar ben Abdelhak Fennish, in Marrakesh in June 1786. The treaty...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Thomas Jefferson, John Adams with Sultan Muhammad III, Public domain