Friendship and trade treaty between Prussia and the USA (1785)
The friendship and trade treaty between Prussia and the United States ( Treaty of Amity and Commerce ) was concluded on 10 September 1785th
Frederick the Great was very popular in the then emerging United States of America because he did not sell any residents of the countries he ruled to England for war missions.
Immediately after the end of the American War of Independence , his envoy Friedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeyer negotiated with John Adams , Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to conclude a friendship and trade treaty. The contract contained not only economic aspects, but was also intended to promote the further development of humanity at Franklin's suggestion . After that, civilians should remain unmolested should there ever be a war between the contracting parties. This was the world's first treaty to regulate prisoners of war .
From an economic point of view, duty-free for tobacco , rice , indigo and whale oil from America was agreed upon as opposed to linen , porcelain , ironware and cloth from Prussia. Friedrich also hoped for an upswing in the port in Emden . In addition, the king agreed that there should be free competition between buyers and sellers in terms of pricing.
The treaty was not ratified by the United States Congress until May 17, 1786 .
The contract, which was again extended for ten years in 1799, became the model for all trade policy agreements that numerous small German states concluded with the United States.
Web links
- Historical description of the German Historical Museum in Berlin ( Memento from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Article in the Berliner Zeitung from September 9, 1995
- Jürgen Ziechmann: Prussia and the USA, the friendship treaty of 1785 is almost forgotten. In: Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung , volume 34 of August 28, 2010. p. 11 , accessed on February 7, 2016 .