“[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
The Barbary Pirates go back for centuries, with privateering still being legal in Europe
The Barbary raids actually began back in the eighth century, soon after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the term is applied mainly to raids from the sixteenth century onwards. As Wikipedia puts it, “The European pirates brought advanced sailing and shipbuilding techniques to the Barbary Coast around 1600, which enabled the [Barbary] corsairs to extend their activities into the Atlantic Ocean.” (see source) In 1607, the English created a temporary settlement in Jamestown, Virginia. In 1620, their Pilgrims were creating a more permanent colony at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts. This was the beginning of the American colonies. As Wikipedia also puts it, “The effects of the Barbary raids [there and elsewhere] peaked in the early-to-mid-17th century.” (see source) But the Barbary Pirates began to diminish somewhat during the late seventeenth century. Ironically, some historians consider this to be the beginning of the “Golden Age of Piracy.” But, for the more specific term of the Barbary Pirates, it was more like the beginning of the end. This “Golden Age of Piracy” peaked in the early eighteenth century, but then declined soon afterwards. Privateering, however, would continue to be used by many European powers for decades to come. That is, nations would give their own ships the legal right to raid against the shipping of an enemy nation. This legal right was granted in the form of a “letter of marque and reprisal” (more about those here). Naturally, the victim nations still considered this to be “piracy.” But the nations granting these “letter of marque and reprisal” would then reward these privateers with some (or even all) of the spoils captured from these raids. These rewards could then add up to a sizable amount for the privateers.
Christian victims of the Barbary slave trade
The American-Algerian War (1785-1795) humiliates President George Washington
In the distant American colonies, a rebellion against British authority began in 1775. This was the “American Revolution.” Soon afterwards, the thirteen colonies declared their independence in 1776. They now had to fight against the might of the British Empire. In 1777, the Americans won a much-publicized victory at Saratoga. Thus, France entered the war on the American side in 1778. In 1781, the French navy hammered the British navy off of the coast of Virginia. This was the Battle of the Chesapeake. This allowed the French and American armies to win their great victory at Yorktown in that same year. But the war actually continued until 1783, when a peace treaty was finally signed in Paris. In 1784, the “Continental Army” was changed to the United States Army. Prior to the American Revolution, American shipping had been (at least partially) protected by the Royal Navy. But America’s “Continental Navy” was then a joke, compared to its British counterpart. In distant North Africa, there was an Ottoman province called the “Regency of Algiers.” The Ottoman Algerians sensed the weakness of the American merchant shipping. Thus, Algiers declared war on the United States in 1785. This was the “American-Algerian War.” America did not even have a president yet. The war was fought in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. During the war, the United States had its Constitutional Convention in 1787. The Constitution was soon ratified in 1788. This made it possible for the Americans to elect their first president: George Washington. In 1789, Mr. Washington took office, inheriting the war with Algiers. The French Revolution began soon afterwards in Europe. In 1791, the United States Bill of Rights was ratified back at home. But, in 1792, the “French Revolutionary Wars” broke out in Europe. The domestic problems in France were now having international consequences. The American-Algerian War was mostly unconnected to these “French Revolutionary Wars.” But, regardless, the United States was taking a beating from the pirates. This led the United States to replace the “Continental Navy” with the United States Navy in 1794. Regardless, President George Washington must have found these Algerian problems to be a little embarrassing. But there was little that our first president could do about them. America was still a tiny backwater at this time, and was a little outnumbered. Thus, as Wikipedia puts it, “US diplomats Joel Barlow, Joseph Donaldson, and Richard O'Brien secured treaties with Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, involving tribute payments.[footnotes] The Algiers treaty also released 83 American sailors out of 130 seamen.” (see source) Thus, by 1795, the American-Algerian War ended in an embarrassing American defeat, complete with paying tribute. George Washington remained popular despite this, but this must have been a humiliation for the president.
Brigantine Polly of Newburyport captured by Algerine Pirates, 1793
John Adams refuses to fight the Barbary Wars, because of the “Quasi-War” with France
In 1796, George Washington was again ready to retire to Mount Vernon. Thus, the United States then elected its second president: John Adams. Mr. Adams then took office in 1797. In 1798, Congress changed the “Continental Marines” into the “United States Marine Corps.” But the “French Revolutionary Wars” sucked in the United States in that same year. This took the form of a forgotten “Quasi-War” with France. This was basically an undeclared naval war on the high seas. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte then became the new ruler of France: a sort of regime change. 1800 was another election year in America. In that same year, Napoleon would eventually make peace with the Americans. But the news of the peace arrived in the United States too late to save the American elections. Thus, John Adams was replaced with his old friend (now bitter enemy) Thomas Jefferson. Perhaps partially because of his predecessor’s humiliating Algerian War, Adams had been unwilling to fight against the Barbary Pirates. Adams’ own “Quasi-War” with France also served to keep his forces a little busy. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson formally entered the White House. And trouble with the Barbary Pirates was already brewing in distant North Africa.
An artist’s depiction of the Philadelphia aground off Tripoli, October 1803
1897 painting of the burning of the USS Philadelphia in 1804
Thomas Jefferson fights the First Barbary War (1801-1805), paying $60,000 to Tripoli
Ottoman Tripolitania demanded tribute from the United States. President Jefferson refused to pay this tribute. Thus, in 1801, Tripolitania declared war on the United States. This was the “First Barbary War.” As it turned out, Sweden had already been fighting Ottoman Tripoli since 1800. And, almost immediately, Sicily agreed to support the United States with ships and bases. Sadly for the United States, though, its Swedish allies ceased fighting the war in 1802. But the Sicilians continued to support the Americans. In 1802, the “French Revolutionary Wars” ended in Europe. But they were soon followed by the Napoleonic Wars in 1803. In 1805, President Jefferson concluded the Treaty of Tripoli. This ended the First Barbary War. But there was a major concession. As the treaty itself put it, “The Bashaw of Tripoli shall deliver up to the American squadron now off Tripoli, all the Americans in his possession; and all the subjects of the Bashaw of Tripoli now in the power of the United States of America shall be delivered up to him … The Bashaw of Tripoli shall receive from the United States of America, the sum of sixty thousand dollars, as a payment for the difference between the prisoners herein mentioned.” (Source: Article 2) Jefferson maintained that the sixty thousand dollars were a “ransom” for the prisoners, rather than a tribute. But, regardless of the exact classification, it must have been a humiliation.
1850 painting of Americans boarding a Tripolitan gunboat during a naval engagement in 1804
United States Marines at the Battle of Derna – Cyrenaica, shores of Tripoli (1805)
James Madison’s “War of 1812” ends in 1815, with a Second Barbary War in June 1815
In 1806, the aforementioned Treaty of Tripoli took effect. And, in 1807, the Congress gave Jefferson an embargo on both the British and the French. In 1808, the country elected James Madison as the next president. Mr. Madison then took office in 1809. The British were then violating American sovereignty, through the policy of “impressment.” This meant that they were then drafting American sailors into the Royal Navy. This was an act of war that could not be responsibly ignored. Thus, in 1812, the United States declared war on Britain. The “War of 1812” had begun. But, in 1814, Napoleon abdicated the throne of France. Thus, Napoleon was soon exiled to the island of Elba. The “War of 1812” then ended in February of 1815. America’s war with Britain was now wrapped up. Thus, President Madison now asked the Congress to declare war on the Barbary Pirates in that same February. The United States was a little tired of paying tribute to Algiers. But Napoleon escaped from his captivity in Elba only nine days later. In March of 1815, Congress passed legislation authorizing the United States Navy to use force against the Barbary Pirates. In May 1815, American ships then set sail for Algiers. On June 17th, 1815, American ships arrived off of the coast of Algeria and attacked. The Second Barbary War had begun. On the following day (June 18th), the Battle of Waterloo was fought back in Europe. This ended in Napoleon’s defeat and capture. And, on June 19th, the Second Barbary War ended. It had lasted for only two or three days in all (depending on what time of day is being used here). The United States had thus won the war, and it had done so without allies this time. This was the last of the “Barbary Wars.”
Commodore Decatur’s Squadron capturing the Algerian pirate ship Mashuda, 1815
Subsequent bombardment of Algiers by the Royal Navy in August 1816
All American tribute to Algiers ceases, all prisoners are freed, and the Barbary piracy ends
There was soon a Treaty of Algiers. All American prisoners in Algerian hands (83 of them) were released as a result of this. The Algerians later repudiated the treaty, but soon changed their minds when an Anglo-Dutch force attacked Algeria in 1816. When an American squadron arrived around that time, a new treaty was negotiated in December of 1816. It was only ratified in 1822, when James Monroe was president. Thus, the United States ceased to pay tribute to the Algerians. As Wikipedia puts it, the Second Barbary War “marked the beginning of the end of piracy in the Mediterranean. It also further elevated U.S. military prestige and power projection capabilities that had been demonstrated in the prior Barbary War. Western nations built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships that the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology, and the French conquest of Algeria in 1830 fully ended any vestige of piracy in the region.” (see source) In 1856, a number of European nations made a Declaration of Paris. This ended privateering between them. The United States refused to sign the agreement, but it would stop licensing the privateers during the American Civil War. In 1907, the United States agreed to the terms of the Second Hague Conference. Thus, the United States agreed to stop privateering for itself. Spain became the last major power to formally ban privateering soon afterwards in 1908. The Barbary Wars were now mostly forgotten to history.
The attack of the French navy, during the taking of Algiers in 1830
The Siege of Constantine, 1837 – part of the French conquest of Algeria
Footnote to this blog post:
There are some interesting relics of the Barbary Wars in the United States “Marines’ Hymn.” The hymn would declare “From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli; We fight our country’s battles in the air, on land, and sea.” (see source) The part about “to the shores of Tripoli” is a reference to the First Barbary War – and, specifically, to the Battle of Derna. Thus, the United States Marine Corps still commemorates its part in the Barbary Wars today.
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