Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

his letter book more than did the Dey on the Deylik registers! 114 Although
elected by the Odjac and assisted by a council (Divan), the Deys took decisions
independently, sometimes instantly, without even referring to the Divan or any
other official of the government. 115 With the consuls of Christian countries, the
Deys generally behaved haughtily, sometimes with excesses of anger, a
conduct which was not always to the taste of those consuls. 116 Obviously, such
two different ways of conducting diplomatic relations—the first chaotically
democratic, the second ostensibly personal—were at the origin of the tricky
beginnings of relations between Algiers and the United States.
Perhaps also that kind of ‘personal’ diplomacy partly explains the
absence of archives dating back to the Turkish rule of Algiers in Algeria or
elsewhere (France for example) relating to relations with the United States
during the period under study. 117
Furthermore, the fact that Algiers acted
independently from Constantinople lets one suppose that no state records on
that side either could have existed. According to Cathcart, state records were of
a meager nature. In 1792, when he was appointed Christian secretary to Dey
Hassan Pasha, he made a description of El-Djenina, the Dey’s Palace, and
referred to the registers of the Deylik that were kept by Turkish Khodjas:
114 For an account of the audiences see Cathcart, The Captives, pp. 32-42.
115 For a view about the personality and character of the Deys see Richard B. Parker, Uncle Sam in
Barbary: A Diplomatic History (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2004), pp. 24-32.
116 For a succinct overview about the Deys’ conduct with foreign consuls see Charles Oscar Paullin,
Diplomatic Negotiations of American Naval Officers, 1778-1883 (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins
Press, 1912), pp. 45-46; also Irwin, Diplomatic Relations, p. 14.
117 Until 2006, Algeria did not even have a copy of the treaty of 1795. It was only during an official
visit to the USA, that the Department of State offered a copy of that treaty to Mohammed Bedjaoui,
Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “Bedjaoui aux Etats-Unis d’Amérique: Une Visite très
Fructueuse,” EL-Moudjahid, 14 April 2006. (Accessed 5 March 2008).
http://www.elmoudjahid.com/stories.php?story=06/04/14/8098232
196