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
North African states known collectively as the
Barbary States. These were the independent Sultanate of
Morocco, and the three Regencies of
Algiers,
Tunis, and
Tripoli, which were quasi-independent entities nominally belonging to the
Ottoman Empire.
Since the 17th century, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, although nominally governed by the
Ottoman Empire, had been largely independent states, run by military strongmen and financed by plunder, tribute, and ransom. The monarchy of Morocco, which, by the time of the Barbary Wars, dated back more than one thousand years, was equally well-known for supporting piracy.
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 French flag 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.
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 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 their crews. 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.
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 the resulting 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 now sufficient to protect the nation's interests.
The
Knights Hospitaller, also known as the Knights of St. John, began their occupation of Rhodes in
1309. They began a new identity as the "Knights of Rhodes" and began to engage the Barbary Pirates in naval warfare, as part of their greater war on the
Ottoman Empire.
To protect Rome from Islamic invasion, in
1530 Charles V deeded the island stronghold of
Malta to the knights. The newly christened "Knights of Malta" widened their war against the pirates and their Ottoman masters to include the entire
Mediterranean. From the 16th century until 1798, Malta served as a bastion defending Europe against the corsairs and pirates of Algeria and Barbary, and Christian nations respected her and kept friendly relations with the Order. Thus, Malta flourished in this golden age of the Order's history, and the pirate's booty was brought to the island, sold, and the money filled the Treasury of the Order. [
1]
In
1798, Napoleon seized Malta enroute to his campaign in Egypt. Requesting safe harbor to resupply his ships, he waited until his ships were safely in port, and then brazenly turned his guns on his hosts. The Knights of Malta were unable to defend themselves from this internal attack and were forced to leave their island stronghold. Having held the Barbary Pirates in check for centuries, Napoleon's treachery created a power vacuum in the Mediterranean which the pirates greedily exploited.
On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801,
Yussif Karamanli, the
Pasha (or Bashaw) of
Tripoli demanded $225,000 from the new administration. Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, in May of 1801, the Pasha declared war on the United States, not through any formal written documents, but by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate. Morocco, Algiers, and Tunis soon followed their ally in Tripoli.
In response, Jefferson sent a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean, and informed
Congress. Although Congress never voted on a formal declaration of war, they did authorize the President to instruct the commanders of armed vessels of the United States to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli "and also to cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify."
Algiers and Tunis backed down almost immediately on the show of force by the Americans, but Tripoli and Morocco remained committed. The American navy went unchallenged in the sea, and as yet 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.
USS Constitution,
USS Constellation,
USS Philadelphia,
USS Chesapeake,
USS Argus,
USS Syren and
USS Intrepid all saw service during the war under the overall command of Commodore
Edward Preble. Throughout 1803, Preble set up and maintained a blockade of the Barbary ports and executed a campaign of raids and attacks against the cities' fleets.
In October of 1803, Tripoli's fleet was able to capture the USS
Philadelphia intact after the frigate ran aground while patrolling Tripoli harbor. Efforts by the Americans to float the ship while under fire from shore batteries and Tripolitanian naval units were unsuccessful. The ship, its captain,
William Bainbridge, and all officers and crew were taken ashore and held as hostages. On
February 16,
1804, a small contingent of U.S. sailors in a disguised
USS Intrepid and led by 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 one of the first American military heroes since the Revolution.
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.
Intrepid, packed with explosives, was to enter Tripoli harbor and destroy itself and the enemy fleet; it was destroyed, perhaps by enemy guns, perhaps accidentally, before achieving that goal, killing Somers and his crew.
The turning point in the war came with the
Battle of Derna (April-May 1805), after 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 Hymnâ€""to the shores of Tripoli"â€"gave the American forces a significant advantage.
Wearied of the blockade and raids, and now under threat of a continued advance on Tripoli proper and a scheme to restore his deposed, older brother
Hamet Karamanli as ruler, Yussif Karamanli 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.
Article 2 of the Treaty reads:
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; and as the number of Americans in possession of the Bashaw of Tripoli amounts to Three Hundred Persons, more or less; and the number of Tripolino Subjects in the power of the Americans to about, One Hundred more or less; 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.
In agreeing to pay a ransom of sixty thousand dollars for the American prisoners, the Jefferson administration drew a distinction between paying
tribute and paying
ransom. At the time, some argued that buying sailors out of slavery was a fair exchange to end the war. William Eaton, however, remained bitter for the rest of his life about the treaty, feeling that his efforts had been squandered by diplomat
Tobias Lear. Eaton and others felt that the capture of Derna should have been used as a bargaining chip to obtain the release of all American prisoners without having to pay ransom. Furthermore, Eaton believed the honor of the United States had been compromised when it abandoned Hamet Karamanli after promising to restore him as leader of Tripoli. Eaton's complaints generally fell on deaf ears, especially as attention turned to the strained international relations that would lead to the
War of 1812.
The First Barbary War was beneficial to the military reputation of the United States. 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 U.S. as its first post-Revolutionary war hero.
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.
*
Military history of the United States*
Military history of the Barbary States*
Barbary treaties*
Second Barbary War*London, Joshua E.
Victory in Tripoli: How America's How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0471444154
*
Adams, Henry.
History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson. Originally published 1891;
Library of America edition 1986. ISBN 0940450348.
*De Kay, James Tertius.
A Rage for Glory: The Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN. Free Press, 2004. ISBN 0743242459.
*Smethurst, David.
Tripoli: The United States' First War On Terror. New York: Presidio Press, 2007. ISBN 0891418598.
*Wheelan, Joseph.
Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801â€"1805. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003. ISBN 0786712325.
*Zacks, Richard.
The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805. New York: Hyperion, 2005. ISBN 1401300030.
*
Treaties with The Barbary Powers : 1786-1836* http://www.deanesmay.com/archives/000374.html#000374
* http://www.victoryintripoli.com/
* http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/hl940.cfm
