I just have to read this every once in awhile to keep from screaming.

[Pacifist Patriot]

Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the United States and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoly of Barbary

Authored by American diplomat Joel Barlow in 1796, the following treaty was sent to the floor of the Senate, June 7, 1797, where it was read aloud in its entirety and unanimously approved. John Adams, having seen the treaty, signed it and proudly proclaimed it to the Nation.

.....

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

.....

The letters to the editor in my local paper today darned near drove me over the edge. I think the editors do it on purpose. They have five roughly balanced days a week, one day that weights towards progressive letters and one day that highlights the ignorance and hatred of the far right. Today the theme was overtly "our poor government representatives are being mistreated by the godless liberals who can't accept they live in a Christian nation." The Libby trial was referred to as a "sham kangaroo court." AAAGGHHH!!!

Thank you, that is all.

[kimmerspixelated]

1. Excellent!

I wish there was a way to broadcast that or fit it all on a bumper sticker.

[Sherman A1]

2. Thanks!

Interesting, there is a Joel Barlow way back in my family tree (this one was a Rev in Illinois and something of a character) but one never knows, might have been a very, very distant cousin.

[whistle]

3. Thanks for the post, I needed a refresher on the Barbary Wars

<snip>
Barbary Wars
The Barbary War -- the first American war against Libya -- was the first war waged by the United States outside national boundaries after gaining independence and unification of the country.

The four Barbary States of North Africa - Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli - had plundered seaborne commerce for centuries. Surviving by blackmail, they received great sums of money, ships, and arms yearly from foreign powers in return for allowing the foreigners to trade in African ports and sail unmolested through the Barbary waters. They demanded tribute money, seized ships, and held crews for ransom or sold them into slavery.

During the Crusades (1095-1295), Muslim pirates operating from bases in North Africa had plundered ships carrying Crusaders and pilgrims and sold many Christians into slavery. By the sixteenth century, Hapsburg Spain and the Ottoman Turks were pitted in a struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean. Piracy, which for both Christians and Muslims was a dimension of the conflict between the opposing powers, lured adventurers from around the Mediterranean to the Maghribi coastal towns and islands. Among them was Khair ad Din, called Barbarossa, who in 1510 seized Algiers on the pretext of defending it from the Spaniards. Barbarossa subsequently recognized the suzerainty of the Ottoman sultan over the territory that he controlled and was in turn appointed the sultan's regent in the Maghrib. The term "Barbary" derives from Barbarosa <"red beard">.

By the end of the 18th Century the effectiveness of Tripoli's corsairs had long since deteriorated, but their reputation alone was enough to prompt European maritime states to pay the tribute extorted by the pasha to ensure safe passage of their shipping through Tripolitanian waters. American merchant ships, no longer covered by British protection, were seized by Barbary pirates in the years after United States independence, and American crews were enslaved. In 1799 the United States agreed to pay $18,000 a year in return for a promise that Tripoli-based corsairs would not molest American ships. Similar agreements were made at the time with the rulers of Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis.

In May, 1801, the United States refused to succumb to the increasing demands of the Pacha of Tripoli; in return, the Pacha declared war against the States. While Tripoli was not a strong power and little effort was necessary to watch and blockade it, the fear was that the other Barbary powers would join against the United States. The United States sent naval squadrons into the Mediterranean under the slogan of "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute!" Under the leadership of Commodores Richard Dale and Edward Preble, the Navy blockaded the enemy coast, bombarded his shore fortresses, and engaged in close, bitterly contested gunboat actions.
<more>

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/barbary.htm

Things have changed only to the degree of who pays how much to whom for what!

[StrictlyRockers]

4. Oh, that quote is priceless! And so pertinent for today.

[seemunkee]

5. You might like this too

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long
oppressions of enormous public debt......If the game runs sometimes against
us at home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an
opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game
where principles are at stake."
From a letter sent by Thomas Jefferson in 1798, after the passage of the
Sedition Act

[shaniqua6392]

6. I have a copy of that on my refrigerator!

I love it. It is so appropriate and reassuring in a way to me.