Treaty of Watertown

The Treaty of Watertown, the first foreign treaty concluded by the United States of America after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, was signed on July 19, 1776 in the Edmund Fowle House in the town of Watertown, Massachusetts Bay. The treaty established a military alliance between the United States and the St. John's and Mi'kmaq First Nations in Nova Scotia against Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War.

The treaty was signed by the "Governors" (Council) of the State of Massachusetts Bay, "in behalf of said State, and the other united States of America," just one day after the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed from the balcony of the Old State House in nearby Boston. After the Declaration had been translated, the First Nations delegates said, "We like it well." [(Groden & Simon)] The preamble of the treaty quotes verbatim from the conclusion of the Declaration of Independence, asserting for the thirteen colonies "that as Free and Independent States they have full power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts & Things which Independent States may of Right do."

Under the terms of the treaty, the Mi'kmaq and St. John's Tribes committed to "supply and furnish 600 strong men...or as many as may be" for service in the Continental Army. Three of the six Mi'kmaq delegates who signed the treaty "manfully and generously" volunteered to enlist immediately. The treaty itself notes, in a possible example of Puritan thriftiness, that their pay would not commence until their arrival at Washington's camp in New York. Tribal forces formed an "American Battalion" in the Battle of Fort Cumberland (November 22-December 28, 1776). They also protected the Maine border and launched other attacks against British installations. [(Denny 1987)] Since 1995, the town of Watertown, Massachusetts has held an annual Treaty Day celebration.

ee also

*List of treaties
*Timeline of United States diplomatic history

References

*Christopher Groden & Gary Simon, [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/alliance.htm "Alliance and Renewal"] . WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.
*Alex Denny (Mi'kmaq Grand Captain), [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/ Address to the Massachusetts House of Representatives] , June 24, 1987. WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.

External links

* [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/treatytext.htm Full Text of Watertown Treaty]
* [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/treaty2.gifImage of Watertown Treaty]
* [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/treaty.pdf PDF Images of Treaty Manuscript with Background History and Commentary from the Mi'kmaq]
* [http://www.watertowntreaty.org/washington.htm Washington's Correspondence with the Continental Congress]
* [http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/ExecOrders/eo126.txt Massachusetts Executive Order No. 126 (July 8, 1976)]