City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian.

In his own time, Barlow was known especially for the epic Vision of Columbus, though modern readers may be more familiar with The Hasty-Pudding (1793). He also helped draft the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, which includes the controversial and disputed phrase: "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion".