What was the first country to officially recognize the United States in 1776?

star_gazer

The Netherlands http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/article.asp?articleref=AR00001808EN Old Friends Let me put that conclusion in an even broader context. Let me again go back: to the year 1776. The Netherlands, ladies and gentlemen, was the first country to recognize the newly independent United States of America, shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. No other nation has a longer unbroken relationship with the US than the Netherlands. Many Americans are surprised by that, but it is true. We are indeed your oldest friends! [Added text from the reference link - McG] Oct 21 07, 4:13 PM

queproblema

http://www.netherlands-embassy.org/article.asp?articleref=AR00000379EN The Netherlands was very helpful early on with loans and according to the above link was, in 1776, the first nation to salute the American flag, but Morocco was first, in 1777, to recognize the new political entity. http://www.moroccanamericantrade.com/relations.cfm Oct 21 07, 7:40 PM

Halfbrite

Prior to Morocco, the Nation-State of Dubrovnik officially recognized the United States in 1776, and was the first to send merchant marine vessels into New York Harbor. Jan 06 08, 5:05 PM

Baloo55th

Being a nit-picker (and having once produced a page on Dubrovnik for someone) that should read The Republic of Ragusa. This was captured by the French (1808) before falling under Austrian rule. The name was changed officially in 1918. According to http://www.marylandciviceducation.org/croatia/ragusa.htm Ragusa rejected the proposition of official de jure recognition through fear of reprisal from Great Britain and the possibility that the Americans might yet be defeated, although Ragusan ships were accorded free passage by the fledgling USA. Eventually, de facto recognition was given, when everyone else was doing so. Jan 06 08, 5:22 PM

queproblema

Here's a link to confirm that assertion. http://tinyurl.com/googlebooks-rickSteves This one more modestly says it was "one of the first," not the first. http://www.dubrovnikfilmfestival.com/Travel_to_Dubrovnik.html Dubrovnik, also known as the Republic of Ragusa, wasn't, however, a truly sovereign nation, but a small city that voluntarily or involuntarily successively came under the wing of Venice, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Croatia, Turkey, and Austria-Hungary, ceasing to exist in the early 1800's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ragusa Jan 06 08, 5:32 PM

Mehdii

FACT: Office of the Historian - US Department of State. Historical Background on United States - Morocco Relations "Morocco became one of the first states to acknowledge publicly the independence of the American Republic." http://www.usembassy.ma/usmorrelations/historicalbgrnd.htm THE WHITE HOUSE Press Release: "Your Majesty, America will never forget that in 1777, the first nation in the world to recognize the United States was the Kingdom of Morocco." http://clinton6.nara.gov/2000/06/2000-06-20-remarks-by-the-president-and-king-mohammed-vi-of-morocco-a.html US Trade Representative Press Conference "President Bush and King Mohammed have spoken on a number of occasions about the very close friendship that the United States and Morocco have built over the years. It's a friendship with a very long history that began more than two centuries ago, in 1777, when Morocco was the very first nation to recognize the sovereignty of a newly independent United States. The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the U.S. and Morocco, negotiated in 1787, is the longest unbroken treaty relationship in U.S. history." http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Transcripts/2004/March/asset_upload_file767_3199.pdf Jul 06 08, 10:10 PM

Eugenio45

France was the first nation, in December 17, 1777, to recognize independence of English colonies in America. http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1777/december_17_1777_43318.html Jun 10 09, 9:13 AM

Hellebrand

The Americans themselves at the time interpreted the official salute by the Dutch to their brandnew flag, flying from their naval ship Andrew Doria, on 16 November 1776, as the first recognition of their independence. This happpened in the port of the small Dutch island St. Eustatius. The island governor became an instant hero and the first purposely built US naval ship was named after him (and the second one after his wife!). His painted portrait came to hang in the State House of Concord, New Hampshire. US President F.D. Roosevelt acknowledged it as well. When in the port of St. Eustatius in 1939, he presented a plaque to the island stating: "Here the sovereignty of the United States of America was first formally acknowledged to a national vessel by a foreign official." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roosevelt_Plaque_Fort_Oranje.jpg Sep 14 12, 7:20 AM

Hellebrand

Is there better, stronger endorsement for a claim like this than from a US President ...? Sep 14 12, 7:22 AM