hist2004
06-08-2004, 02:16 PM
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 semi-autonomous North African city-states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States. It was the first war declared under the United States Constitution.
Origins and Causes
Since the 17th century the Barbary pirate states of North Africa, although nominally governed by the Turkish Empire, had been largely independent kleptocracies, run by piratical military strongmen and supported by plunder, tribute, and ransom.
The nations of Great 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 English colonists before 1776, American merchant vessels had enjoyed the protection of the British navy. During the American Revolution, American ships came under the aegis of France due to a 1778 treaty of alliance between the two countries.
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 US 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.
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 a green US government too riven with domestic discord to make a strong show of force overseas. The US 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.
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.
Outbreak of War
On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801 the pasha of Tripoli demanded $225,000 from the new administration. Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, on May 10, 1801, the pasha declared war on the United States. Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis soon followed their ally. In response, Jefferson sent a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and informed Congress. American citizens took up the cause with the slogan, "Millions for defense, not a penny for tribute".
Algiers and Tunis backed down almost immediately on show of force by the Americans, but Tripoli and Morocco remained committed. The American navy went unchallenged in the sea, and as the question remained undecided Jefferson pressed the issue the following year, with an increase in military force and deployment of many of the navy's best ships to the region throughout 1802. The USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Philadelphia and the USS Chesapeake all saw service during the war under the overall command of Commodore Edward Preble. Throughout 1803 Preble set up and maintained blockade of the Barbary ports and executed a campaign of raids and attacks against the cities' fleets.
Burning of the USS PhiladelphiaIn October of 1803, the fleet of Tripoli was able to capture the Philadelphia intact, holding its captain, William Bainbridge, and all officers and crew as hostages. On February 16, 1804, a small contingent of sailors -- the precursors to the modern United States Marine Corps -- led by the redoubtable Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr were able to invade the harbor of Tripoli and burn the Philadelphia, denying her use to the enemy. Decatur's bravery in action made him a hero to Americans back home.
Preble attacked Tripoli outright on July 14, 1804 in a series of inconclusive battles, including a courageous but unsuccessful attack by the fire ship USS Intrepid under Captain Richard Somers. The Intrepid, packed with explosives, was to enter Tripoli harbor and destroy itself and the enemy fleet; it was destroyed by enemy guns before achieving that goal.
The turning point in the war came with a remarkably daring overland attack on the Tripolitan city of Derna by a combined force of American marines and Arab, Greek and Berber mercenaries, under the command of ex-consul William Eaton and Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. This action, memorialized in the Marine Hymn -- "to the shores of Tripoli" -- gave the American forces a significant advantage.
Wearied of the blockade and raids, and now under threat of a continued advance on to Tripoli proper and a scheme to set up his brother as ruler, the pasha of Tripoli signed a treaty ending hostilities on June 10, 1805. Although the Senate did not approve the treaty until the following year, this effectively ended the First Barbary War.
Legacy of War
In many ways, the First Barbary War did not meet its implicit goals. It did not, in fact, end America's position of tributary to the Barbary pirates. In fact, part of the treaty of 1805 was an agreement to pay ransom for sailors taken hostage by Algiers -- part of the reason it took so long for the Senate to ratify. The Barbary states emerged relatively unscathed. For them, the First Barbary War was one in a series of punitive wars that signalled their weakened status and foreshadowed eventual colonialization by France in the 1820s.
For the United States, however, it was an important campaign. America's military command and war mechanism had been up to that time relatively untested. The First Barbary War proved that America could execute a war far from home, and that American forces had the cohesion to fight together as Americans rather than Georgians or New Yorkers. The United States Navy and Marines became a permanent part of the American government and the American mythos, and Decatur returned to the US as its first post-Revolutionary war hero. The war also forced the pacifist President Jefferson to reevaluate the importance of military might in making the United States a world power. In some ways, America's success during the First Barbary War made the nation overly confident in its own ability -- a confidence made manifest in the War of 1812.
The more immediate problem of Barbary piracy, however, was not fully settled. By 1807, Algiers had gone back to taking American ships and seamen hostage. Distracted by the preludes to the War of 1812, the Americans were unable to respond to the provocation until 1815, with the Second Barbary War.
Second Barbary War
The Second Barbary War (1815, also known as the Algerian War) was one of two wars fought between the United States of America and the semi-autonomous North African city-states of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States. It brought to a conclusive end the American practice of paying tribute to the pirate states.
After its victory in the First Barbary War (1801 - 1805), the attention of the United States had been diverted to its worsening relationship with France and United Kingdom, culminating in the War of 1812. The unchastened Barbary pirate states took this opportunity to return to their practice of attacking American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and holding the crew and officers for ransom. Unable to devote military resources and political will to the situation, the United States quietly recommenced paying ransom for return of prisoners.
The expulsion of American vessels from the Mediterranean during the War of 1812 by the British navy further emboldened the brigandine nations. The Dey of Algiers expelled the US consul general Tobias Lear and declared war on the United States for failing to pay its required tribute. Since there were no American vessels in the region at this time, the challenge went unheeded.
The Napoleonic wars of the early nineteenth century diverted the attention of the maritime powers from suppressing what they derogatorily called piracy. But when peace was restored to Europe in 1815, Algiers found itself at war with Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, Denmark, Russia, and Naples.
At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, America could once again turn its sights on North Africa. On March 3, 1815 the US Congress authorized deployment of naval power against Algiers, and a force of ten ships was dispatched under the command of Commodores Stephen Decatur, Jr and William Bainbridge -- both heroes of the first war.
Decatur and Bainbridge used the pirates' tactics against them. Taking hundreds of prisoners in an attack on Algiers, Decatur bargained for a treaty releasing the United States from any tribute obligations in perpetuity, as well as $10,000 in reparations for damages to the US. By June 30, 1815 the treaty was signed and the threat of Barbary pirates to American vessels was at an end.
No sooner had Decatur set off for Tunis to enforce a similar agreement than the dey repudiated the treaty. The next year, an Anglo-Dutch fleet, commanded by British admiral Viscount Exmouth, delivered a punishing, nine-hour bombardment of Algiers. The attack immobilized many of the dey's corsairs and obtained from him a second treaty that reaffirmed the conditions imposed by Decatur. In addition, the dey agreed to end the practice of enslaving Christians.
Regards,
Hist2004
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 semi-autonomous North African city-states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States. It was the first war declared under the United States Constitution.
Origins and Causes
Since the 17th century the Barbary pirate states of North Africa, although nominally governed by the Turkish Empire, had been largely independent kleptocracies, run by piratical military strongmen and supported by plunder, tribute, and ransom.
The nations of Great 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 English colonists before 1776, American merchant vessels had enjoyed the protection of the British navy. During the American Revolution, American ships came under the aegis of France due to a 1778 treaty of alliance between the two countries.
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 US 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.
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 a green US government too riven with domestic discord to make a strong show of force overseas. The US 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.
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.
Outbreak of War
On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801 the pasha of Tripoli demanded $225,000 from the new administration. Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, on May 10, 1801, the pasha declared war on the United States. Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis soon followed their ally. In response, Jefferson sent a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and informed Congress. American citizens took up the cause with the slogan, "Millions for defense, not a penny for tribute".
Algiers and Tunis backed down almost immediately on show of force by the Americans, but Tripoli and Morocco remained committed. The American navy went unchallenged in the sea, and as the question remained undecided Jefferson pressed the issue the following year, with an increase in military force and deployment of many of the navy's best ships to the region throughout 1802. The USS Constitution, USS Constellation, USS Philadelphia and the USS Chesapeake all saw service during the war under the overall command of Commodore Edward Preble. Throughout 1803 Preble set up and maintained blockade of the Barbary ports and executed a campaign of raids and attacks against the cities' fleets.
Burning of the USS PhiladelphiaIn October of 1803, the fleet of Tripoli was able to capture the Philadelphia intact, holding its captain, William Bainbridge, and all officers and crew as hostages. On February 16, 1804, a small contingent of sailors -- the precursors to the modern United States Marine Corps -- led by the redoubtable Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr were able to invade the harbor of Tripoli and burn the Philadelphia, denying her use to the enemy. Decatur's bravery in action made him a hero to Americans back home.
Preble attacked Tripoli outright on July 14, 1804 in a series of inconclusive battles, including a courageous but unsuccessful attack by the fire ship USS Intrepid under Captain Richard Somers. The Intrepid, packed with explosives, was to enter Tripoli harbor and destroy itself and the enemy fleet; it was destroyed by enemy guns before achieving that goal.
The turning point in the war came with a remarkably daring overland attack on the Tripolitan city of Derna by a combined force of American marines and Arab, Greek and Berber mercenaries, under the command of ex-consul William Eaton and Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon. This action, memorialized in the Marine Hymn -- "to the shores of Tripoli" -- gave the American forces a significant advantage.
Wearied of the blockade and raids, and now under threat of a continued advance on to Tripoli proper and a scheme to set up his brother as ruler, the pasha of Tripoli signed a treaty ending hostilities on June 10, 1805. Although the Senate did not approve the treaty until the following year, this effectively ended the First Barbary War.
Legacy of War
In many ways, the First Barbary War did not meet its implicit goals. It did not, in fact, end America's position of tributary to the Barbary pirates. In fact, part of the treaty of 1805 was an agreement to pay ransom for sailors taken hostage by Algiers -- part of the reason it took so long for the Senate to ratify. The Barbary states emerged relatively unscathed. For them, the First Barbary War was one in a series of punitive wars that signalled their weakened status and foreshadowed eventual colonialization by France in the 1820s.
For the United States, however, it was an important campaign. America's military command and war mechanism had been up to that time relatively untested. The First Barbary War proved that America could execute a war far from home, and that American forces had the cohesion to fight together as Americans rather than Georgians or New Yorkers. The United States Navy and Marines became a permanent part of the American government and the American mythos, and Decatur returned to the US as its first post-Revolutionary war hero. The war also forced the pacifist President Jefferson to reevaluate the importance of military might in making the United States a world power. In some ways, America's success during the First Barbary War made the nation overly confident in its own ability -- a confidence made manifest in the War of 1812.
The more immediate problem of Barbary piracy, however, was not fully settled. By 1807, Algiers had gone back to taking American ships and seamen hostage. Distracted by the preludes to the War of 1812, the Americans were unable to respond to the provocation until 1815, with the Second Barbary War.
Second Barbary War
The Second Barbary War (1815, also known as the Algerian War) was one of two wars fought between the United States of America and the semi-autonomous North African city-states of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, known collectively as the Barbary States. It brought to a conclusive end the American practice of paying tribute to the pirate states.
After its victory in the First Barbary War (1801 - 1805), the attention of the United States had been diverted to its worsening relationship with France and United Kingdom, culminating in the War of 1812. The unchastened Barbary pirate states took this opportunity to return to their practice of attacking American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea and holding the crew and officers for ransom. Unable to devote military resources and political will to the situation, the United States quietly recommenced paying ransom for return of prisoners.
The expulsion of American vessels from the Mediterranean during the War of 1812 by the British navy further emboldened the brigandine nations. The Dey of Algiers expelled the US consul general Tobias Lear and declared war on the United States for failing to pay its required tribute. Since there were no American vessels in the region at this time, the challenge went unheeded.
The Napoleonic wars of the early nineteenth century diverted the attention of the maritime powers from suppressing what they derogatorily called piracy. But when peace was restored to Europe in 1815, Algiers found itself at war with Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, Denmark, Russia, and Naples.
At the conclusion of the War of 1812, however, America could once again turn its sights on North Africa. On March 3, 1815 the US Congress authorized deployment of naval power against Algiers, and a force of ten ships was dispatched under the command of Commodores Stephen Decatur, Jr and William Bainbridge -- both heroes of the first war.
Decatur and Bainbridge used the pirates' tactics against them. Taking hundreds of prisoners in an attack on Algiers, Decatur bargained for a treaty releasing the United States from any tribute obligations in perpetuity, as well as $10,000 in reparations for damages to the US. By June 30, 1815 the treaty was signed and the threat of Barbary pirates to American vessels was at an end.
No sooner had Decatur set off for Tunis to enforce a similar agreement than the dey repudiated the treaty. The next year, an Anglo-Dutch fleet, commanded by British admiral Viscount Exmouth, delivered a punishing, nine-hour bombardment of Algiers. The attack immobilized many of the dey's corsairs and obtained from him a second treaty that reaffirmed the conditions imposed by Decatur. In addition, the dey agreed to end the practice of enslaving Christians.
Regards,
Hist2004