The American Legation

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The United States declared independence from England in 1776. Maybe you heard about it, it was kind of a big deal.

Quick, which was the first country to recognize the new nation? If you answered France you would be almost correct; France was the second country to recognize the United States, in February of 1778. But the very first country to recognize the United States was Morocco in 1777. Of course, the Americans, being busy with the Revolutionary War with England, didn’t get around to formalizing a treaty with Morocco for another decade or so .The first US consul to Morocco arrived in 1797.

Morocco occupies a unique position on the northern coast of Africa where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet. Add in its proximity to Spain and Gibraltar, along with a protected, deep water harbor, and Tangier is ripe for trading opportunities. It has been said, probably correctly, that Morocco’s recognition of the United States had less to do with diplomacy and more to do with setting up a new trading partner.

While relations between the two countries were friendly, the diplomats assigned to Morocco weren’t always particularly happy about being there. The first consul, James Simpson, had been re-assigned to Tangier from Gibraltar. He served as consul for twenty-four years until his death, complaining bitterly the whole time about the low pay and the isolation. The consul in neighboring Algiers was paid double Simpson’s salary, and Simpson didn’t like that one bit.

He was succeeded by Samuel Carr, who was also unhappy with this posting. In a letter to the Secretary of State in Washington he wrote: “For God’s sake, Sir, ask the President who has been the means of placing me in this unhappy situation in this barbaric country to do all he can to take me out of it.”

Carr lasted all of two years before he was replaced by James Leib, who must have wondered what he had gotten himself into, when, upon arriving on horseback to his new post, Carr shot at him three times from the window. Carr must have been a pretty bad shot, because even though the window from which he fired his rifle was only about ten feet away, all three bullets missed Leib.

But Carr wasn’t finished. He attempted to assassinate Leib, and for that, along with massive debts that Carr had racked up, he was thrown into the consular jail. The British consul complained that Carr was being treated badly in jail, and that his hands and feet were kept bound. Finally, arrangements were made to release Carr, and ship him and his family back to the US.

Even with the guy who tried to kill him out of the picture, Leib had another problem, namely a lion. The Sultan had wished to honor the United States, and thought the best way to do that was to give a lion to the American representative in Tangier. He couldn’t turn down the gift, but he also didn’t know what to do with it. He finally succeeded in convincing the American government to bring the lion back to the United States, but until then, he kept the lion in the small consular residence.

Over time, Leib started to drink heavily, and became more and more erratic. His tenure ended with him standing on the roof of the consulate wrapped in the American flag, shouting incoherently and raising and lowering lanterns on the flag pole, ostensibly to signal American ship off the coast to attack Tangier. Needless to say, the Moroccan authorities were not particularly happy about that, and confined Leib to the consulate until his replacement arrived. Leib lasted three years.

Leib was replaced by Thomas Carr, no relation to the earlier Carr, and now the sultan presented the legation with a gift of two lions and two horses. Again, Carr couldn’t refuse the gift, and paid their care out of his own pocket until he could send them back to the US. Carr wasn’t a particularly good diplomat, and after a tiff about proper protocol, he came close to starting a war with Morocco, by storming out of the legation, chopping down the flag pole on the way.

While James Simpson, the sanest of this bunch, was consul, the Sultan gave the United States a beautiful building in the medina in 1821. Today, the legation serves as a museum, and also houses a research library and an Arabic literacy program for local women. One room of the museum is dedicated to Paul Bowles, an American writer who made his home in Morocco, and started a literary magazine whose contributors include just about every Beat writer of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Another curious exhibit is a facsimile of a letter that reads in part “The President of the United States, having been informed that the bearer hereof, Abduhl Rahhahman, was held in a state of slavery by a citizen of the United States, that he was of Moorish descent, and a person of much consideration in his native country of Africa, and that his emancipation from slavery would be very agreeable to the Emperor of Morocco,…” The President in question was John Quincy Adams, and the Secretary of State was Henry Clay.

Abdul Rahman was actually from Guinea in West Africa, and after being defeated in battle, he and about 50 of his men were sold into slavery by the neighboring tribe. He was eventually sold to Thomas Foster, a plantation owner in Mississippi. Since Rahman spoke Arabic, it was assumed he was a Moor from northern Africa, and not from the west coast of Africa. Eventually Rahman’s plight came to the attention of the Sultan, who offered money to the American consul to pay for Rahman’s freedom and passage to Africa.

Rahman was freed, but rather than going to Morocco, he said he preferred to go to Liberia, which is where he was sent.

The American Legation is the only US National Historic Landmark located in a foreign country.

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Photos

Anteus Quartery
Literary Magazine started by Paul Bowles. Contributors included Laurence Ferlinghetti, Gore Vidal, and Tennessee Williams

Comments

[Dancing Dave]

USA & Morocco
What an interesting essay Karen. Morocco in 1777 the first country to recognise USA after its War of Independence and its motley crew of early ambassadors. A year later the first ships from England full of convicts arrived in Oz to start its new colony now known as Australia. May your Moroccan adventure bloom.

[Kuan Yin]

Motley Crew
Yes, a motley crew indeed.I always learn a lot when I travel, and sometimes I learn things even about my own country.

[D MJ Binkley]

Historical facts
1776 um... that sounds familiar. Ha ha. Enjoyed hearing how the histories tied together as you revealed a cast of characters. John Quincy and Henry Clay always add to the story.

[Kuan Yin]

History
I think if history were taught by telling the stories, it would be a lot more interesting than just a dry recitation of dates and names. I have a vivid picture of James Leib standing on the roof of the consulate, wrapped in an American flag and howling at the moon. I was never taught THAT in school.