How our Founding Fathers fought the Barbary Pirates

“[The Congress shall have the power] To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations …”

– Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 10 of the United States Constitution – ratified in 1787, during the American-Algerian War

Militarily speaking, the Founding Fathers are most famous today for fighting the British. During the American Revolution, they fought to become independent from Great Britain. But, when four of our Founding Fathers became presidents, they had to deal with the Barbary Pirates. These were a group of (mostly Muslim) pirates from distant North Africa. Many of them would capture Christians, and sell them into slavery. Thus, it’s a small wonder that the Barbary Pirates would become somewhat unpopular in America (not to mention elsewhere) as a result. This post will thus tell the forgotten story of the Barbary Wars. But, in order to understand them, we must understand the Barbary Pirates themselves. And it turns out that their story goes back for many centuries.

An Algerine pirate ship, during the prior actions of the Barbary Pirates

Why is French spoken on five different continents? (Answer: History)

Spanish and Portuguese are found mainly in the Americas today, but French is spread out

You might already know that Spanish and Portuguese both have far more native speakers than French. With 250 million native speakers, Portuguese is the fifth-most-spoken language in the world by this measure. And, with 480 million native speakers, Spanish is the second-most-spoken language in the world by this measure. (Only Mandarin Chinese has more.) Both of them attained this status by aggressive colonization in past centuries. Obviously, both of them originated in Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula – which includes both Spain and Portugal. But, outside of Europe, Spanish and Portuguese are each spoken mainly in the Americas. Portuguese has a strong presence in South America through Brazil. Spanish has a strong presence in North America through Mexico. And Spanish is, of course, spoken in Central America and South America as well – not to mention the Caribbean. With the exception of some Portuguese colonies in Africa, both are fairly rare on other non-European continents.

One group of King’s Daughters arrives at Quebec – French Canada, 1667

The “Quasi-War”: The only war between France and the United States

“There shall be a firm inviolable and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship between His Britannick Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the United States of America; and between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns and people of every degree, without exception of persons or places.”

“It is agreed between His [Britannick] Majesty and the United States of America, that there shall be a reciprocal and entirely perfect liberty of navigation and commerce, between their respective people, in the manner, under the limitations, and on the conditions specified in the following articles.”

– Articles 1 and 11 of the Jay Treaty (signed in 1794, and proclaimed in 1796), as negotiated by ambassador John Jay under President George Washington – which angered the French enough for France to fight the “Quasi-War” with the United States

That time that the United States went to war with France (sort of)

You might already know that the American colonies rebelled against Britain, in our “Revolutionary War.” You might further know that we fought against Britain again during our “War of 1812.” In both of these wars, we were thus allied with distant France. Thus, many Americans would feel some degree of “gratitude” to France for helping us with these wars. But the situation may actually be a little more complicated. In the late eighteenth century, we fought a small (but still important) war with France on the high seas. This is a lesser-known conflict, which was between the American Revolution and the War of 1812. During this conflict, we had to make some difficult choices about whom we would choose as allies. And we had to make some equally difficult choices … about whom we would choose as our enemies. Had the war gone a little differently, our “War of 1812” might have instead been against France – and who knows what the war’s consequences would have been in that case? This had the potential to change American history, if it had been navigated a little less delicately.

Fire at Port-Royal following Samuel Argall’s attack – French Acadia, 1613

A review of Ken Burns’ “The American Revolution” (PBS)

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.”

– The United States Declaration of Independence (July 4th, 1776)

My prior concerns about this series, and how my hopes for this series were restored

When I first saw Ken Burns’ prior series “The Civil War,” I was mesmerized by it. I still consider it to be among the greatest series ever made, of any kind. And, in many ways, I was looking forward to seeing Ken Burns’ coverage of the American Revolution as well. But I confess that I also had some concerns about how he would cover this massive (and important) topic. These concerns were partially stoked by his biographical film about Thomas Jefferson, which could almost be described as a hatchet job. The film had so much coverage of his slaveholding, and his relationship with Sally Hemings (both legitimate topics), that it drowned out his considerable role in drafting the Declaration of Independence. But, thankfully, my confidence in Ken Burns’ coverage was restored somewhat, when I saw his biographical film about Benjamin Franklin. This proved far more sympathetic, and gave me hope that he would cover the American Revolution in a (somewhat) more sympathetic light. Ken Burns definitely covers the slavery issues, and he also covers the comparable issues surrounding Native American involvement. Both of these receive a lot of time in this series. But he also shows that the British were willing to sacrifice Black and Native American interests to their own war aims, even if they still tended to offer a better deal to these two ethnic groups than the Patriot side did. And he shows that there were many Blacks and Native Americans who fought for the Patriot side, even if there were still far more of them who fought for the British and Loyalist side.

Why there are still American Revolution and Civil War buffs

“And there was Cap’n Washington,

And gentle folks about him;

They say he’s grown so ‘tarnal proud

He will not ride without ‘em.

Yankee Doodle keep it up,

Yankee Doodle dandy,

Mind the music and the step,

And with the girls be handy.”

– “Yankee Doodle,” written in 1755 – although some verses (like the one before the famous chorus above) were later added, when this became the first American patriotic song

Our Revolution and Civil War (particularly the latter) receive much interest in America …

This might seem a strange way to begin a blog post about these American topics … but, in nearby Canada, people strongly remember the “Seven Years’ War,” including the portion known to Americans as the “French and Indian War.” Canadians also strongly remember the War of 1812 – in which they fought against the United States. But Canadians usually forget the American Revolution (where they had been fighting against the Americans), and the American Civil War (which coincided with the peaceful Confederation period in Canada). Conversely, Americans usually forget the “Seven Years’ War” (including the “French and Indian War” portion thereof), and they usually forget the War of 1812 as well. But the American Revolution is considered a big deal here in the United States, and so (to an even greater degree) is the American Civil War. Why is this? Why are there still many American Revolution buffs here – and why is our Civil War still one of the most popular historical topics in the United States? And why do these subjects remain important today, all of these years after both of these conflicts ended – one in 1865, and the other even earlier in 1783? These are the questions that this post will try to explore. I will try to show how both of these subjects can shed some light on the American identity – by telling us who we are as Americans. They are related to promises about liberty and equality, and what they mean for Americans today. To some extent, this may explain why Americans are still interested in these conflicts today.

Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge

How decades of conflicts sucked Europe into the Great War

Germans annex the Alsace-Lorraine region, and Germany becomes a unified nation

In 1870, France declared war on Prussia, in an attempt to assert its dominance over the continent of Europe. They soon invaded German territory, and seemed to do well for a period of some two days. But the Germans soon counterattacked, and were routing the French before too long. After some months, the German troops made it all the way to Paris, eventually causing the war to end in 1871. The Franco-Prussian War, as it is now called, had profound consequences for the continent of Europe. It enabled the Germans to annex Alsace-Lorraine, which would be a thorn in Franco-German relations during both of the upcoming world wars. And, even more importantly, it completed the process of unifying the German states into a single nation. That is, the process was completed in 1871. Some would date this as the beginning of the road to the Great War. This road would have a seminal effect upon both of the upcoming world wars. In this post, I will try to examine a series of minor wars and crises that (arguably) led up to World War One. Their effect seems to be far more than the sum of their parts, because they eventually caused Europe to explode … into the truly “Great War.”

Prussian field artillery column at Torcy – France, 1870

A review of “The Korean War” (audiobook)

In 1950, the Cold War suddenly became hot. North Korea launched a full-scale invasion of South Korea. The Korean War would soon draw in nations from throughout the world. 33,000 Americans died in battle in Korea. When you include people who died in prison camps, or who simply froze to death, the total American deaths go up even higher to 54,000. How did the Korean Peninsula become the epicenter of a raging storm? How did that storm suck in the United States and its various allies? And what was the ultimate legacy of the Korean War? These are the questions that a brief (but entertaining) audiobook tries to answer. They examine the philosophies of both sides, and the series of events that pulled the war-weary free world into yet another conflict.