# John Adams — "not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" > [!quote] "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the [[Christian religion]] … 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." > — Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11, signed and proclaimed by President John Adams, June 10, 1797 ## Context A Barbary peace treaty negotiated with Tripoli and ratified by the U.S. Senate — unanimously and without recorded debate — on June 7, 1797. President John Adams signed it and proclaimed it the law of the land, declaring that he had "accepted, ratified, and confirmed the same, and every clause and article thereof." Article 11 was a practical assurance to a Muslim government, but it states a constitutional fact plainly. ## Why this matters An official act of the United States government, endorsed by a Founding-era president and a unanimous Senate, declaring in so many words that the nation "is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." It is the single most direct rebuttal in the founding record to the central premise of [[Christian Nationalism]] — that America was established as a Christian nation. That not one senator objected to Article 11 in 1797 is itself the evidence: the secular character of the government was, at the founding, uncontroversial. ## Verification - **Primary source:** Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11 (ratified English text, 1797), available via the Avalon Project (Yale Law School, Barbary Treaties); see the [First Amendment Encyclopedia (MTSU)](https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/1797-treaty-of-tripoli/) and [overview with primary citations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tripoli). - **Status:** Verbatim from the ratified English text Adams signed and proclaimed. The treaty's English Article 11 is authentic and was the operative law; debate exists over the underlying Arabic, not over what the U.S. ratified. ## Related quotes - [[George Washington - to bigotry no sanction]] — Adams's predecessor on the same non-confessional principle. - [[Barack Obama - no longer just a Christian nation]] — the modern restatement, 209 years later. - Featured in [[Presidents on the Separation of Church and State]].