First Barbary War

The First Barbary War (1801–1805, also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War) was one of two wars fought between the United States of America and the semiautonomous North African city-states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States.

Origins and causes

Since the 17th century, the Barbary States of North Africa, although nominally governed by the Ottoman Empire, had been largely independent kleptocracies, run by piratical military strongmen and financed by plunder, tribute, and ransom.

Related Topics:
17th century - Barbary States - Ottoman Empire - Kleptocracies

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The nations of Britain and France had come to uneasy ententes with the pirates; a combination of military might, diplomacy, and under-the-counter payments had kept ships flying the Union Jack or fleur-de-lys more or less safe from attack. As British colonists before 1776, American merchant vessels had enjoyed the protection of the Royal Navy. During the American Revolution, American ships came under the aegis of France due to a 1778 treaty of alliance between the two countries.

Related Topics:
Britain - France - Union Jack - Fleur-de-lys - 1776 - Royal Navy - American Revolution - 1778

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By 1783, however, with the end of the Revolution, America became solely responsible for the safety of its own commerce and citizens. Without the means or the authority to field a naval force necessary to protect their ships in the Mediterranean, the nascent U.S. government took a more pragmatic but ultimately self-destructive route. In 1784 the United States Congress allocated money for payment of tribute to the pirates.

Related Topics:
1783 - 1784 - United States Congress

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Use for the money came in 1785, when the dey of Algiers took two American ships hostage and demanded $60,000 in ransom for its crew. Then-ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson argued that conceding the ransom would only encourage more attacks. His objections fell on the deaf ears of an inexperienced American government too riven with domestic discord to make a strong show of force overseas. The U.S. paid Algiers the ransom, and continued to pay up to $1 million per year over the next 15 years for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages. Payments in ransom and tribute to the privateering states amounted to 20 percent of United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Related Topics:
1785 - Dey - Algiers - Thomas Jefferson

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Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others. With the recommissioning of the American navy in 1794 and increased firepower on the seas, it became more and more possible for America to say no, although by now the long-standing habit of tribute was hard to overturn. A largely successful undeclared war with French privateers in the late 1790s showed that American naval power was sufficient to protect the nation's interests.

Related Topics:
George Washington - 1794 - Undeclared war - 1790s

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