In a US Navy manual it asked a question "Which country was the first one to recognize America's Stars and Stripes?". The answer being France.
Anyway, I read a book about the history of Islam in America, and it said that Morocco was the first nation to recognize the US as a nation. I googled the Morocco thing, and it seems to be correct.
Just how does all this stuff work on the international level? I am sure its based on the choice of words.
Morocco's early relations with the US were actually somewhat mixed. Michael Oren writes that the ruler of Morocco at the time, Sidi Muhammad bin `Abdallah,
claimed to have been the first monarch to have recognized American independence and the first Muslim leader to seek a formal treaty with the young Republic. Congress dallied, however, and managed to offend the emperor. In relatiation, the Moroccans began seizing American ships (28).
Peace came at a price, and for $20,000 the US was able to buy back its ships and secure the longest-standing treaty in US diplomatic history. The US consulate in Tangier would also become the US's oldest legation building and its first piece of property owned beyond its borders.
The concessions that the nascent US paid to Morocco set a costly precedent and other North African states picked up on how they could also extract money from the US. The US did not have a navy and so its merchant ships were easy prey. It was not until 1815 that the US was able to put together a navy and force a peace with the `barbary states,' putting an end to the concessions that at times accounted for 20% of the US's annual budget.