The Barbary Pirates were corsairs from the North African states of Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli who raided European commerce unchecked for nearly three centuries. Not only did they capture ships, cargo, and weapons from their victims, but they also enslaved their Christian captives. Despite all the naval might projected by Europe’s powerful military elite, it was the fledgling United States that ultimately dealt with the pirates. The Barbary Wars became America’s first overseas war and its first overseas military victory.
The First U.S. Overseas Conflict Began Over Pirate Tribute
Although nominally under the rule of the Ottoman Empire (except for independent Morocco), the Barbary States largely acted independently of their Sultan in Constantinople. Europe, for all its naval might, decided it was far easier and cheaper to buy off the pirates with an annual tribute than it was actually to fight a war over such a vast coastline. When the United States declared its independence from Britain, it lost the protection of British tribute payments, and the pirates began attacking American merchant ships. It wasn’t long before the United States also started paying off the pirates.
By the time Thomas Jefferson entered the White House, the cost of not being pirated had ballooned to a fifth of the country’s budget. Since spending was less than $11 million, it meant the United States was giving around $2.2 million to pirates, equivalent to $55 million in today’s dollars. (Of course, today’s budget is $6.75 trillion so we would be giving $1.35 trillion to the pirates, which is still cheaper than the War in Afghanistan). American merchantmen, sick of paying off thieves, argued that it would just be cheaper to invest in the Navy to go over there and show the Barbary States who’s boss. It just so happened that the U.S., relatively fresh from the Quasi-War with France, had an experienced Navy available to the president by 1800.
Bold Naval Action Defined the First U.S. Overseas Conflict
So the U.S., Sweden, and Sicily went to war. The USS Philadelphia, USS President, and USS Enterprise were dispatched to North Africa in 1801. It began with the blockade and shelling of ports on the Barbary Coast. In October 1803, Philadelphia ran aground in Tripoli harbor after hitting an uncharted reef. The ship was captured and its crew enslaved. To prevent the pirates from using the 36-gun frigate, a raiding party of Americans and Sicilians, led by Stephen Decatur, raided Tripoli in February 1804 and burned the Philadelphia in the harbor.
In 1805, William Eaton, an Army veteran and former U.S. consul, teamed up with Marine Corps 1st Lt. Presley O’Bannon, along with a force of Marines and foreign mercenaries, to capture the Tripolitan city of Derna. It was the first time the Stars and Stripes were ever raised over a captured enemy city on foreign soil (and gave the Marines’ Hymn its “shores of Tripoli” lyric). The Americans threatened to depose the Bashaw of Tripoli in favor of his older brother. The Basahaw agreed to a prisoner exchange and a payment of $60,000 to end the fighting, reminding him that the payment was a ransom and not a tribute.
The First U.S. Overseas War Defeated Barbary Piracy
The American victory cowed the pirates for a few years, but it wasn’t long before they started attacking Americans again, around 1807. This time, however, the U.S. Navy was a bit busy building up for the War of 1812. But when that was over, the Navy was even more experienced. The U.S. sent Stephen Decatur back to North Africa in 1815. With 10 ships, Decatur and company wiped the floor with Algiers at Cape Gata and again at Cape Palos, capturing two ships.
When they arrived in Algeria, they forced the Dey of Algiers to quit taking American ships, return American prisoners, and pay for the cargo stolen. In return, Decatur returned the Algerian ships and prisoners. Not only did it end Mediterranean piracy for the United States, but it also helped Europe garner the courage to fight the pirates, too. It was a prelude to the U.S. Navy’s ongoing mission to keep sea lanes open and free, securing economic prosperity and fighting piracy and terrorism.
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