Barbary Wars

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Barbary Wars
Presentation created by Robert L.
Martinez Primary Content Source The American
Promise A History of the United States Images
as cited.
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For over a century, four Muslim states on the
northern coast of Africa Morocco, Algiers,
Tunis, and Tripoli called the Barbary States by
Americans controlled all Mediterranean shipping
traffic by demanding large annual payments
(bribes) for safe passage.
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nytimes.com
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Countries electing not to pay the tribute found
their ships at risk for seizure, with cargoes
plundered and crews captured and sold into
slavery.
heritage-history.com
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Up to 1776, American ships flew the British flag
and thus were protected. Once independent, the
United States began to pay the tribute, which
rose by the mid-1790s to 50,000 a year.
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examiner.com
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About a hundred American merchant ships annually
traversed the Mediterranean, trading lumber,
tobacco, sugar, and rum for regional delicacies
such as raisins, figs, capers, and opium, the
last an essential ingredient in many medicines.
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In May 1801, when the pasha (military leader) of
Tripoli failed to secure a large increase in his
tribute, he declared war on the United States.
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Jefferson had long considered such payments
extortion, and he sent four warships to the
Mediterranean to protect U.S. shipping. From 1801
to 1803, U.S. frigates engaged in skirmishes with
Barbary privateers.
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In 1803, the USS Philadelphia ran aground near
Tripoli harbor. Its three-hundred man crew was
captured along with the ship.
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In retaliation, seventy men led by lieutenant
Stephen Decatur sailed into the harbor after
dark, guided by an Arabic-speaking pilot to fool
harbor sentries. They drew up close to the
Philadelphia, boarded it, and set it on fire,
then escaped. Decatur was an instant hero in
America.
history.navy.mil
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A second raid into the harbor to try to blow up
the entire Tripoli fleet with a bomb-laden boat
failed when the explosives detonated prematurely,
11 Americans were killed.
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In 1804, William Eaton, an American officer
stationed in Tunis, felt the humiliation of his
countrys incompetence. He wrote to Secretary of
State James Madison to ask for a thousand marines
to invade Tripoli. Madison rejected the plan,
including another scheme to ally with the pashas
exiled brother to effect a regime change.
Secretary of State James Madison
en.wikipedia.org
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On his own, Eaton contacted the pashas brother,
assembled a force of 400 men (more than 300
Egyptian mercenaries and a handful of marines),
and marched them over 500 miles of desert for a
surprise attack on Tripolis second-largest city.
Remarkably, he succeeded.
William Eaton
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The pasha of Tripoli yielded, released the
prisoners taken from the Philadelphia, and
negotiated a treaty with the United States. Peace
with the other Barbary States came in a second
treaty in 1812.
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The Barbary Wars of 1801-1805 cost Jeffersons
government more money than the tribute demanded.
But the honor of the young country was thought to
be at stake. At political gatherings, the slogan
Millions for defense, but not a cent for
tribute became a popular toast.
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