Treaty of Watertown
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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 tribes of Native Americans within 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 had been proclaimed from the balcony of the Old State House in nearby Boston. After the Declaration had been translated, the Native American 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 (and in an example, perhaps, of Puritan spendthriftness, stipulates that their pay 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).
The town of Watertown, Massachusetts has held an annual Treaty Day celebration since 1995.
See also
References
- Christopher Groden & Gary Simon, ["Alliance and Renewal"]. WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.
- Alex Denny (Mi'kmaq Grand Captain), [Address to the Massachusetts House of Representatives], June 24, 1987. WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.
External links
- [WatertownTreaty.org] - includes [full text], [gif] and [pdf] images of the treaty manuscript, and background history and commentary from a Mi'kmaq point of view. January 2, 2006.
- Washington's [correspondence] with the Continental Congress. WatertownTreaty.org, retrieved January 2, 2006.
- [Massachusetts Executive Order No. 126] of July 8, 1976, "Massachusetts Native Americans", mentions Treaty relations with the MicMac and other tribes.
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