The international turmoil surrounding the French Revolution, the
Napoleonic wars and attempts by European monarchies to oppose the spread
of liberal republicanism throughout Europe, present a serious challenge
to American shipping and commercial interests. American shippers
attempt to engage in international trade and commerce in spite of the wars,
blockades, counter-blockades and French and English bans on neutral shipping
which are enforced by the powerful navies of both nations. But, this is
not the only challenge to freedom of the seas and to free trade experienced
by the Americans.
The rulers of North African states and principalities engage in state-sponsored
piracy during the 1780s and 1790s, targeting American shipping as well
as shipping from all other nations. Ships are boarded and the captain is
given the choice either to pay tribute or to have the cargo seized and
the crew held for ransom. The United States negotiates treaties with
Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli and Tunis and pays a national tribute to each each of
these North African powers in its efforts to secure
free passage for American flagged vessels, but the treaties are not honored.
Shipping continues to be delayed, tribute extracted, sailors imprisoned,
and ransom and blackmail demanded. American flagged ships are repeatedly
fired upon by North African warships. Finally, in 1801, President
Thomas Jefferson constructs and dispatches a naval squadron to the Barbary
Coast to deal forcefully with the excessive demands made by the most extreme
of the rulers, the Pasha of Tripoli. Several years of naval skirmishes
and a U. S. Marine march "to the shores of Tripoli," lead to a treaty of
peace without tribute, although $60,000 of blackmail is paid for the release
of American prisoners held by the Pasha. Some of those prisoners
are held in North African jails for 20 years! From 1805 until the
end of the War of 1812, conditions in the Mediterranean gradually deteriorate again.
The North Africans again delay shipping, commandeer ships, imprison sailors
and merchants, demand tribute, ransom and bribes, and engage in armed confrontations
with American ships.
In 1815, fresh from victory in the War of 1812, the United States
sends a fleet of warships and marines to North Africa in a show of force
that brings the piracy and payment of tribute to an end. The British
also send ships to North Africa and, with their involvement, the era of
Barbary power in the Mediterranean and the East Atlantic finally comes to an end.
