First American Campaign in North Africa

Abstract

ARDLY was the ink on the Declaration of Independence dry 11 before the youngest of nations found its commerce menaced by predatory corsairs from the oldest region of western civilization-the Mediterranean. Out of the coves and creeks of the north coast of Africa, the fast-sailing ships of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli swooped down upon vessels flying a flag never before seen in those latitudes and forced American ships to take refuge in Italian harbors. On the Atlantic, American sailors had to run the gauntlet of British men-of-war, and in the Mediterranean they risked their lives and liberties on approaching the haunts of the fierce Moslem pirates of Africa. In the face of these twin perils, commerce with southern Europe came to a standstill as vessels which reached the safety of Genoa, Naples, and Palermo rotted in port. So long as the colonies had remained a part of the British imperial system, American ships engaged in the Mediterranean trade enjoyed such immunities as the British government bought from the Barbary pirates by the customary payment of tribute to the rulers of those separate states. Once the colonies had declared their independence, however, this protection was withdrawn, and the pirates proved useful to Britain in throttling the commerce of the rebellious colonies. For exactly forty years after the Declaration of Independence the United States engaged in a tortuous series of negotiations with the piratical despots of North Africa and at last learned that the only effective argument with a buccaneer was force. In the end,