Szidi Szulejmán Mellimelli tevékenysége az Amerikai Egyesült Államokban, 1805–1806
The activity of Sidi Soliman Mellimelli in the United States, 1805–1806

Summary/Abstract: On September 5, 1805 the Congress frigate on board with Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who was the representative of Hammuda, Tunisian Pasha Bey, sailed off Tunis and went to North America. The Muslim ambassador was commissioned to find a diplomatic solution to the misunderstanding (the US Navy captured three Tunisian vessels) that emerged between the Regency of Tunis and the United States of America in the summer of 1805. Mellimelli was the first Muslim envoy to negotiate in the United States, between November 4, 1805 and September 17, 1806. The American government satisfied every personal demands of Mellimelli so as to gain the sympathy of the ambassador. Furthermore, the Jefferson administration acknowledged that Tunisia should be compensated for the captured vessels. However, the administration refused to accept to pay any kind of tribute to the Regency of Tunis. While the Tunisian envoy was enjoying the hospitality of the American cities (Norfolk, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston), the American government had serious doubts about whether the differences would be arranged or a war would break out between the two nations. According to the primary sources, Mellimelli was able to keep the American leadership in uncertainty for more than a year as to whether the misunderstanding would be settled in a diplomatic way or a war would evolve between the two nations.

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