In the Treaty of Tripoli, John Adams and the US Senate voted in a very public way to say that "As the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, . . ." the Muslims of Tripoli therefore need not fear a religious war from the U.S. (Article 11).
The vote was recorded only because at least a fifth of the Senators present voted to require a recorded vote. This was the 339th time that a recorded vote was required. It was only the third time that a vote was recorded when the vote was unanimous! There is no record of any debate or dissension on the treaty.
President Adams signed the treaty and proclaimed it to the nation on 10 June 1797. His statement on it was a bit unusual: "Now be it known, That I John Adams, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the said Treaty do, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accept, ratify, and confirm the same, and every clause and article thereof.
And to the End that the said Treaty may be observed and performed with good Faith on the part of the United States, I have ordered the premises to be made public; And I do hereby enjoin and require all persons bearing office civil or military within the United States, and all other citizens or inhabitants thereof, faithfully to observe and fulfill the said Treaty and every clause and article thereof."
What happened then? Did our heroes pay a heavy price for their sacrilege? Skeptical that the public even knew about the treaty, the periodicals reading room of the Library of Congress was checked, appropriately enough, the Madison Building. Most of the old newspapers newspapers of the 1790s, were on microfilm, but in a few cases the actual papers of the day were available.
The Treaty of Tripoli and Adams' statement reprinted in full in three newspapers, two in Philadelphia and one in New York City and, in one case, in the Philadelphia Gazette and Universal Daily Advertiser for Saturday, 17 June 1797 which still exist in hard copy. There is no record of any public outcry or complaint in subsequent editions of the papers.
And what of our heroes? Well, none suffered any known negative consequences. One Senator, Theodore Sedgewick of Massachusetts, went on to become the Speaker of the House (imagine Newt Gingrich endorsing such a treaty! Henry Clay is the only other American in history to be first a Senator, then Speaker). Another, Isaac Tichenor, became Governor of Vermont, and then returned to the Senate for many years.
Georgia's Senator, Josiah Tattnall did not return to the Senate, but he did serve thereafter as one of the youngest Governors in Georgia's history, and has a county in Georgia and a number of streets and squares named after him.
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/buckner_tripoli.html
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