ON MOROCCO'S CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
By Larry E. Tise

** An unintended treatise in the form of a letter **

H-SHEAR (H-Net Discussion Network for the Scholars of the History of the Early American Republic)
June 30, 2005

Original source: H-SHEAR

Dear Susan Radomsky and Early American History Colleagues --

It would appear from the numerous responses to Susan Radomsky's good question that early American historians may not be fully aware of at least some early international responses to the Declaration of Independence. Susan asked for stories, and I can share with you one very poignant and surprising story that has a very timely resonance in our strange, but politically very vibrant post 9/11 world. In sharing this story, I hope to encourage American historians to look a bit further afield than George III's now all-too-frequently-cited chance comment in his diary on 4 July 1776.

Two years ago in October 2003 I was a guest along with a number of other delegates from the Peter Gruber Foundation of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, of the Honorable Driss Dahak, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Morocco, for a five-day celebration of international justice and the presentation of the annual International Justice Prize ($200,000 US) of the Peter Gruber Foundation to two justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. Our very festive visit was under the direct patronage and sponsorship of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, and was hosted by the Supreme Court of Morocco.

From beginning to end my journey into this proud and historic Islamic nation was filled with one surprise after another. As the only professional historian in the Peter Gruber Foundation's delegation, my sojourn in the historic capital of Marrackech for the duration was filled with ironic lessons that still have me spinning in shock that we historians know so little about how America is perceived by peoples of other nations, cultures, and religions.

First, I learned that Morocco's very refined and advanced court system -- though in an Islamic country -- claims to have a greater percentage of female judges of any national court system in the world. Indeed, I learned that Morocco's first and oldest university (claimed to be the oldest university in continuous operation in the world) was founded by a woman.

Second, I learned that Morocco -- at the very cross roads historically of Christian and Islamic religion, of Mediterranean and Atlantic trade, of European and African culture -- has been for more than a millennium a true melting pot for learning in world religious, cultural, and legal traditions. In the very proud universities of Morocco in our tired Middle Ages, Islamic scholars translated literature and law from many nations and cultures into the various languages of the western world (including northern Africa then as now a part of that western world). The depth of learning and advanced understanding of world affairs throughout Moroccan culture was every moment of every day enlightening and most refreshing.

Third, I learned that Moroccan scholars and leaders -- cultural as well as political -- were not at all bothered by the fact that the Peter Gruber Foundation had chosen as one of the two recipients of the Justice Prize that year was the Honorable Madame Rosalie Silberman Abella, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of Canada -- a very lively, exuberant, and most enlightened Jewish woman -- a child Holocaust survivor and a world-renowned advocate in the international legal system of the rights of women and of the rights of all contemporary groups perceived by some as minorities. "Rosey" Abella, as we all came to address her, is moreover a Barbra Streisand look-alike and is wont to some of the same joviality and expressiveness (both low and high decibel varieties) we would associate with the well-known actress.

Fourth, to our utter dismay, our Morrocan colleagues had chosen as the place for the presentation of the Justice Prize to Justice Abella the inner sanctum of Dar El Bacha, one of the most sacred and historic mosques in the entire Kingdom of Morocco. Not an eye was batted as dozens of Morrocan dignitaries -- most of whom spoke only Arabic or perhaps French -- filed into the mosque for the formal ceremony. With the help of the ample security forces of the Supreme Court and its very-advanced technical experts, we were able to present a very orderly award ceremony in three languages -- English, French, and Arabic -- with the use of state of the art sound and light systems--complete with music, oversized screen visuals, and all of the pomp and ceremony that was suitable for either churchly or royal company.

Perhaps the highlight of the ceremony was Justice Abella's moving acceptance speech in which she poignantly described what a remarkable event it was that a Jewish girl from the Holocaust should grow up in a world dominated by male lawyers to be in a position in Canada to advance the causes of women and minorities worldwide and to have her achievements recognized in the most holy shrine of a historic mosque in an Islamic nation -- following the 9/11 event that had done so much to place the Judeo-Christian world in alarming world conflict with the Islamic world. There was not a dry eye in the assembly as we all embraced the solidarity of humanity as over against political, social, cultural and religious strife.

In this moment the most hallowed and solemn purposes of the Justice Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation were not only achieved, but also exceeded.

If readers of this encomium are still with me, you will surely ask, "What in the world does this have to do with the innocent question asked by our colleague Susan Radomsky?" Ah, the context of the question and its answer accounts for everything.

From the moment the delegation from the Peter Gruber Foundation arrived in Morocco and more specifically in Marrackech I, as the professional historian of the group, was sought out specifically by every educated, English-speaking member of the vast Moroccan panoply we met to be asked one particular question. The question which was asked of me by virtually every dignitary we met was simple and direct, "Mr. Historian, are you aware that Morocco had and still has the special distinction of being the first nation on earth not only to recognize the Declaration of Independence of the United States, but also the new government of the United States under the Constitution of 1787."

But I simplify the encounter too much by phrasing the question in that manner. The question I actually got was always a bit more Morrocan in nature. It was rather, "Mr. Historian, can you tell me what was the first nation in the world to recognize U. S. independence?" My response in the beginning was, "Well, of course, it was France through a treaty of amity and commerce and a treaty of alliance negotiated by Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane and signed solemnly in an office on the Place de Concorde in Paris on 6 February 1778." I could even add that I had visited the historic building and room in Paris where the treaty was signed which is a conference office of a French law firm and which has never been open to the public. Indeed, when I was first welcomed to the room by a French attorney some years ago, he stated with great drama and flair, "Benjamin Franklin entered this room as a British subject. But when he left the room minutes later, he was an American -- the first American!"

Well, that is just what my crafty Moroccan hosts wanted to hear. When I uttered this response -- complete with the first person testimonial -- my new Moroccan friends looked at each other and let out a loud burst of laughter. At first I was confused by the response, but later -- when I got a little more information -- I imagined that my response was the occasion for Arabic guffaws probably like "Stupid American!" or "See there, even American historians do not know their own history!"

I continued to be the butt of similar responses or jokes as our group moved around all of the official and learned offices of Marrackech -- the mayor's office, the governor's office, and especially among the Moroccan historians at the Cadi Iyad University -- where Cadi Iyad, a noted scholar of the 12th century had produced perhaps the world's first encyclopedia of history and knowledge at least half a millennium before French and Scottish encyclopedists got around to a similar enterprise in the 18th century.

Finally--after many and repeated moments of consternation -- I was taken aside by the very smart First Advocate General of the Supreme Court of Morocco, Ahmed Benyoussef, who took pity on my predicament and began to give me some badly needed history lessons. Ahmed is proficient in many languages, much law, plenty of history, and is gifted with a lot of savvy. "Mr. Larry [not Dr. Tise]," he said, "let me give you the facts of history." Laughing to myself, I thought that I was now to get some special Moroccan conception of historical facts.

"You see, Mr. Larry," Ahmed continued, "while France was still dancing around with Benjamin Franklin and playing games with Americans, we Moroccans got really serious about American independence. For your information," he said while wagging a big finger tellingly close to my nose, "it was the Moulay Sidi Mohammed ben Abdullah, ruler of Morocco in 1777, who became the first head of state in the world to acknowledge the American Declaration of Independence by recognizing the United States as an independent nation. And also for your information Morocco was the first nation in the world to recognize the new US Constitution of 1787. The Constitution and the newly formulated government of the United States was solemnly acknowledged in the famous Treaty of Marrackech of 1787. Moreover, Morocco was the first nation in the world to address George Washington as the first president of the United States elected under the Constitution." As if this fundamental revision of American history from my reading as graduate student and student of early American history as I knew it was not enough, Ahmed, with another great flourish and a victorious smile as wide as the Mississippi River, rendered his coup de grace with perhaps the most interesting "fact" of all: "As a matter of fact, Morocco has the oldest, completely unbroken, and perpetual treaty of friendship and peace with the United States of any nation in the world."

I was flabbergasted, not as much by the new "facts" Ahmed presented to me as by his absolute certainty that his facts were unassailable and without the possibility of refutation. Here I was, ambushed without notice in an Islamic nation with no hopes of finding history books to do any research either to inform myself about the facts as we American historians knew them, or to mount a refutation. When I expressed a bit of disbelief--or at least a desire to be further educated -- Ahmed told me that he would provide me with all of the pertinent documents and that he would translate those that were not in English. A day or two later in our proceedings, true to his word, Ahmed -- during an elegant dinner hosted by the Chief Justice Dahak -- gave me the documents he promised and his translations. He pointed out the most salient passages and used a thick black pen to underline the key words.

As the only American historian available in this historic and dramatic encounter, I was somehow expected to make some bow to this phase of Moroccan history before our proceedings concluded. As a gesture of well-intended friendship, I proposed that the Peter Gruber Foundation make -- at a future time -- some acknowledgement of these extraordinary Moroccan claims -- yet to be checked and confirmed. I proposed a statement for the Peter Gruber Foundation that I presented to the gathered audience minutes after Justice Abella gave her acceptance speech. The statement I made on behalf of the Foundation was as follows:

"To express our appreciation for the magnificent and unsurpassed hospitality we have received over the past five days from Justice Driss Dahak, the Kingdom of Morocco, the Supreme Court of Morocco, and from many officials and citizens in Marrackech --

"The Peter Gruber Foundation intends to place a permanent marker at a suitable place in Marrackech that will commemorate this occasion, the historic work of Justice Dahak and the Supreme Court of Moracco; and the historic role of the Kingdom of Morocco in recognizing American independence and the world's first constitutional government, as spelled out in the historic 'Treaty of Marrackech' of 1787 between Morocco and the United States."

My goal was to acknowledge the historical certitude of the Moroccans we dealt with, without going too far. I could not wait to get back to the US and to various historical resources to check out these claims. Back in Philadelphia in the safe shadow of Independence Hall where the Declaration and the Constitution were written, I did my research and checked out the various Moroccan claims.

In various obscure nooks of the US State Department website there are references to the Moroccan claims, including particularly the Treaty of Marrackech of 1787 which formally established the unbroken treaty of friendship between Morocco and the United States. Wherever the Moroccan historical claims are there referenced -- or for that matter in any other book or article I could find --, they are mentioned in passing at best and, unfortunately, with a none-too-subtle air of tokenism or as with a grain of salt. But, while we historians--drenched in the aura and history of Europe -- still adhere to the "facts" that it was the recognition of France that laid the basis for American Independence, technically the Moroccans are absolutely correct, not only circumstantially, but with the absolute precision that we proudly claim for our enlightened historical research and corroboration in scholarly articles, monographs, and textbooks.

But while we blithely pronounce and reaffirm the central role of France in paving the way for American Independence and celebrate our trade-marked self-determination for independence and our single-minded dedication to the establishment of a free and independent nation and the first constitutional government on the face of the earth, we must remember that some of the peoples who observe our self-glorification also feel that they contributed to the creation of our nation and its preservation through history. In fact, if we truly want to count our friends in the world, we should pay a bit more attention to the sensibilities of those peoples around the world who believe that they had more than a little historically to do with the establishment of independence for the United States --

I include in my little litany of the forgotten some of the following:

1. African Americans who served in American forces during the Revolutionary war (despite some efforts of patriot leaders to exclude them from service).

2. Haitians who fought bravely at the Battle of Savannah in the Revolution and who took back ideas of liberty which informed their own very successful revolution a few years later.

3. Poles whose historic forbears fought valiantly in the American Revolution and inspired many efforts for Polish independence to the present.

4. Descendants of French officers and admirals who are certain that no American "victory" could have happened without their forbears military acuity.

And the list could go on and on--

But lest I continue my saga until 5 July 2005, let me conclude that whenever I hereafter commemorate July 4, 1776, and the rising hopes of American independence I will forever remember my ill-informed encounter with a host of proud Moroccans who believe and will always believe that the United States could not have become an independent nation and remained a free and independent without the important contributions of Morocco.

Indeed, when I got back to Philadelphia and did my research I drafted the wording for the plaque that was to be permanently placed by the Peter Gruber Foundation in Marrackech. The wording I developed, based on my best efforts to understand both our historians' and my newly discovered Moroccan "facts" of history, was as follows:

IN HONOR OF THE HISTORIC FRIENDSHIP OF MOROCCO AND THE UNITED STATES

On December 20, 1777, Mouly Sid Mohammed ben Abdullah Declared the Moroccan orts of Tangier, Sale, Larache, and Ossaouira Open freely to all American ships and sailors with "the same privileges and immunities as those of other nations with whom his Imperial Majesty is at peace."

This virtual recognition of the independence of the United States Formed the basis for an unbroken history of friendship between Morocco and the United States fully affirmed in the Treaty of Marrackech (1787); Renewed and expanded by Moulay Abder Rahman in 1837; And subsequent treaties and international conventions That have maintained the oldest perpetual treaty of friendship and peace Between the United States and any other nation.

It is my hope that all U.S. historians -- whether of the Early Republic or of our nation's latest and most advanced development -- will work much, much harder than we ever have to understand what the history and meaning of our most basic symbols of liberty and independence mean to other peoples of the world. And that we will arm ourselves with acute sensitivities to these many and varied perceptions.

My thanks to Susan Radomsky for raising this good question at such a timely moment and to anyone who persevered in reading this unintended treatise from beginning to end.

Larry E. Tise
Private Practice Historian, Philadelphia and Wilbur and Orville Wright Visiting Distinguished Professor of History, East Carolina University