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TREATY BETWEEN THE SULTAN OF SULU
AND THE UNITED STATES, 1842

Preceding the text of the treaty are some Arabic characters.

I, Mohamed, Sultan of Sooloo, for the purpose of encouraging trade with the people of the United States of America, do promise hereby and bind myself that I will afford full protection to all vessels of the United States, and their commanders and crews visiting any of the islands of my dominions, and they shall be allowed to trade on the terms of the most favoured nation, and receive such provisions and necessaries as they may be in want of.

2dly. In case of shipwreck or accident to any vessel, I will afford them all the assistance in my power; and protect the persons and property of those wrecked, and afford them all the assistance in my power for its preservation and safe-keeping, and for the return of the officers and crews of said vessels to the Spanish settlements, or wherever they may wish to proceed.

3dly. That anyone of my subjects who shall do any injury or harm to the commanders or crews belonging to American vessels, shall receive such punishment as his crime merits.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, in the presence of the datus and chiefs at Soung, Island of Sooloo. February 5th, 1842.

Here follows a signature in Arabic characters.

Witnesses:
Charles Wilkes,
Commanding Exploring Expedition
William L. Hudson,
Late Commanding U.S. Ship Peacock
R.R. Waldron,
Purser, U.S. Exploring Expedition

*[Appendix A, page 347 of Mandate in Moroland by Peter Gordon Gowing,
copyright 1983]

Comments:

This is indeed a surprise to know that the world’s ascending economic and military superpower signed a Treaty with the Sultanate of Sulu & Sabah, a sovereign Islamic state, in 1842 for the promotion of trade and commerce between two sovereign nations.

This is another proof absolute that the Sultanate of Sulu was a sovereign Islamic State at this time as it was also recognized by major colonizers and imperialists like Holland, Spain, Portugal, France and Great Britain.

Today, looking at world events, it seems incredible that a small Islamic State like the Sultanate of Sulu would forge and signed a treaty with a superpower like the United States and offered a guarantee of full protection and safety to "all the vessels of the United States, and their commanders and crews visiting the islands under the jurisdiction of the Sultan of Sulu.”

It is surprising to learn that the United States would forget the Sultan of Sulu in the 1898 Treaty of Paris by accepting the one-sided claims of Spain. In other words, the USA failed to initiate a legal and financial due diligence prior to buying the Sultanate of Sulu which any property buyer would do prior to purchasing a property. HM Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, as the head of state, should have been given due courtesy and representation by the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. This is one of the reasons why the 1898 Treaty of Paris was unlawful, fraudulent and questionable because an entire kingdom was sold by Spain to the USA but without the knowledge and consent of the sovereign head of state (Sultan of Sulu) and his Royal Datus and the inhabitants.

Another treaty worth mentioning is the Treaty with France on February 20, 1845 when HM Sultan Mohammad Pulalun Kiram (great, great grandfather of HM Sultan Muhammad Fuad A. Kiram I) signed a most-favored nation treaty with France leading to the discussions on the proposed purchase of the island of Basilan from the Sultan of Sulu and Sabah. France wanted to buy Basilan as a counter-weight against the British presence in Malaya. France sent a high-level official delegation to Sulu with thousands of soldiers to pay homage to the Sultan but the proposed Basilan sale collapsed as the French argued that the price being asked was too high.

From 1405 the Sultanate of Sulu was a sovereign independent kingdom with diplomatic relations with China, Brunei, Malayan sultanates, Dutch Batavia (Jakarta), Spanish Manila, China, Spain, USA etc. The dominions of the Sultanate of Sulu extended over Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Palawan, Zamboanga and Sabah (North Borneo).

The signing of treaties and exchange of diplomatic relations with other sovereign nations proved absolute the Sultanate of Sulu exercised prerogatives and rights as a sovereign state. The 1898 Treaty of Paris between Spain and the USA with the exclusion of the Sultanate of Sulu stole Sultanate of Sulu’s sovereignty.

THE TREATY OF PARIS OF 1898

The United States of America and Her Majesty Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of Her august son, Don Alfonso XIII, desiring to end the state of war then existing between the two countries, had for that purpose appointed as plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States, William R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, George Gray, and Whitelaw Reid, citizens of the United States, and;

Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, Don Eugenio Montero Rios, president of the Senate; Don Buenaventura de Abarzuza, Senator of the Kingdom and ex-minister of the Crown, Don Jose de Garnica, deputy to the Cortes and associate justice of the supreme court, Don Wenceslao Ramirez de Villa Urrutia, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Brussels; and Don Rafael Cerero, General of Division;

Having assembled in Paris, and having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, and after discussion of the matters before them, the parties agreed upon the following articles:

THE TREATY OF PARIS OF 1898

ARTICLE I
Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over the title to Cuba, and as the Island is, upon its evacuation by Spain will, so long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge the obligation that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation for the protection of life and property.

ARTICLE II
Spain cedes to the United States the Island of Porto Rico, and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies, and the Island of Guam in the Marianas or Ladrones.

ARTICLE III
Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and comprehending the islands lying within the following line:

A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north latitude, and through the middle of the navigable channel of Bacchi, from the one hundred and eighteenth to the one hundred and twenty-seventh degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the parallel and forty-five minutes north latitude to its intersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes east of Greenwich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning.

The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000), within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty.

ARTICLE IV
The United States will, for the term of ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United States.

ARTICLE V
The United States will, upon the signature of the present treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila Bay by the American forces. The arms of the soldiers in question shall be restored to them.

Spain will, upon exchange of the ratification of the present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines as well as the Island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other Island in the West Indies, under the protocol of August twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, which is to continue in force till its provisions are completely executed.

The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by the two Governments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war vessels, small arms, guns of all calibers, with their carriages and accessories, powder, ammunition, livestock, and materials and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the land naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the property of Spain.

Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of filled artillery, in the fortifications and coast defenses, shall remain in their emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from the exchange of ratifications of the treaty, and the United States may, in a satisfactory agreement between the two governments on the subject shall be reached.

ARTICLE VI
Spain will, upon the signature of the present treaty, release all prisoners of war, and all persons detained or imprisoned for political offenses in connection with the insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and the war with the United States.

Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons made prisoners of war by the American forces, and will undertake to obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the insurgents in Cuba and the Philippines.

The Government of the United States will, at its own cost, return to Spain and the Government of Spain, at its own cost, return to the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, according to the situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or caused to be released by them, respectively, under this article.

ARTICLE VII
The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all claims for indemnity, national and individual, of every kind, of either Government, or of its citizens or subjects, against the other late insurrections in Cuba and prior to the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost of the war.

The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims of its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article.

ARTICLE VIII
In conformity with the provisions in Articles One, Two and Three of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes in Porto Rico and other Islands of the West Indies, in the Island of Guam, and in the Philippine Archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, public markets which, in conformity with law, belong to the public domain, and as such belong to the Crown of Spain.

And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, cannot in any respect impair the property of rights which by law belong to the peaceful procession of property of all kinds, of provinces, municipalities, public or private establishments, ecclesiastical or civil bodies, or any other associations, having legal capacity to acquire and possess property in the aforesaid whatsoever nationality such individuals may be.

The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, includes all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty relinquished or ceded that may exist in the archives of the Peninsula. Where any document in such archives only in part relates to said sovereignty, a copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall be requested. Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in respect to documents in the archives of the islands above referred to.

In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authorities possess in respect of the official archives and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private persons shall without distinction have the right to require, in accordance with law, authenticated copies of the contracts, wills, and other instruments forming part of notarial protocols or files, or which may be contained in executive or judicial archives, be the latter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid.

ARTICLE IX
Spanish subject, natives of the Peninsula, residing in the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of property, including the rights to sell or dispose of such property or of its proceeds; and they shall also have the right to carry on their industry, commerce, and professions, being subject in respect thereof to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. In case they remain in the territory, they may preserve their allegiance to the Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within a year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance; in default of which declaration they shall be held to have announced it and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may reside.

The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be determined by Congress.

ARTICLE X
The inhabitants of the territories over which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in the free exercise of their religion.

ARTICLE Xl
The Spaniards residing in the territories over which Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty shall be subject in matters civil as criminal to the jurisdiction of the courts of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws governing the same, and they shall have the right to appear before such courts; and to pursue the same course as citizens of the country to which the courts belong.

ARTICLE XII
Judicial proceedings pending at the time of exchange of ratifications of this treaty in the territories over which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be determined according to the following rules:

1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date mentioned, and with respect to which there is no recourse or right of review under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in due form by competent authority in the territory within which such judgments should be carried out.
2. Civil suits between private individuals which may on the date mentioned be undetermined shall be prosecuted to judgment before the court in which they may then be pending or in the court that may be substituted therefore.
3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the supreme court of Spain against citizens of the territory which by this treaty ceases to be Spanish shall continue under its jurisdiction until final judgment; but such judgment having been rendered, the execution thereof shall be committed to the competent authority of the place in which they arose.

ARTICLE XIII
The rights of property secured by copyrights and patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island of Cuba, and in Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other ceded territories, at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, shall continue to be respected. Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works, not subversive of public order in the territories in questions, shall continue to be admitted free of duty into such territories, for the period of ten (10) years, to be reckoned from the date of exchange of the ratifications of this treaty.

ARTICLE XIV
Spain shall have the power to establish consular officers in the ports and places of the territories, the sovereignty over which has been either relinquished or ceded by the present treaty.

ARTICLE XV
The Government of each country will, for the term of ten years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country the same treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance and clearance dues, lights dues, and tonnage duties as it accords to its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the coastwise trade.

This article may at any time be terminated on six months' notice given by either Government to the other.

ARTICLE XVI
It is understood that any obligations assumed in this treaty by the United States, with respect to Cuba are limited to the time of its occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to assume the same obligations.

ARTICLE XVII
The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty, the Queen Regent of Spain; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from the date hereof, or earlier if possible.

In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our seals. One in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety eight.

(Seal) William R. Day
(Seal) Cushman K. Davis
(Seal) William P Frye
(Seal) George Gray
(Seal) Whitelaw Reid
(Seal) Eugenio Montero Rios
(Seal) B. De Abarzuza
(Seal) J. de Garnica
(Seal) W. R. De Villa Urrutia
(Seal) Rafael Cerero

The signing of the Bates Treaty of 1899 with the Sultan of Sulu and North Borneo/ Sabah, nine (9) months after the cession of Sulu Archipelago by Spain under the 1898 Treaty of Paris, was a clear admission by the United States that the Sultanate of Sulu was still an independent and sovereign state. It also pointed to the insidious truth that the Sultanate of Sulu was not conquered or controlled like other parts of the Philippines ceded by Spain in the 1898 Treaty of Paris.

The Bates Agreement clearly pointed to the following facts:
1. Undoubtedly stressed the fact that the Sultanate of Sulu was not a property of Spain and, therefore, its inclusion in the 1898 Treaty of Paris between Spain and the USA was not legal and binding. The Sultan of Sulu, under the 1899 Bates Treaty, exercised undiluted sovereignty over its dominions of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Palawan, Zamboanga and Sabah.
Proof: