The purpose and aim of this study is to offer a hitherto lacking perspective on the Sulu Archipelago’s history during the early years of American colonial rule – that of the native Sulu Sultan. Existing research, albeit new, tends to favour a U.S centred view. With concurrences as a theoretical framework and a theoretical understanding of the social and political power dynamics in the Sultanate, this study aims to challenge that perspective by examining the last Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II’s agency and room for manoeuvre in relation to the bilateral Kiram-Bates treaty between the Sultanate of Sulu in the southern Philippines and the United States, represented by Colonel John C. Bates. Through a qualitative analysis of letters, official documents and a memoire originating from, or regarding, the time period, this study indicates that the Sultan’s agency and room for manoeuvre in relation to the Kiram-Bates treaty has been overlooked by scholars, and his position somewhat poorly understood. The Sultan did not simply sign the treaty according to American wishes. He negotiated terms, and influenced the outcome of above all the signing, and he at least reacted to and navigated the abrogation of the agreement in a way that has not been sufficiently described before. These findings prompt further research from a concurrences perspective to more thoroughly understand the history, and perhaps even the contemporary state, of the Sulu Archipelago and the Sulu Sultanate.