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The Eagle against the Crescent

History 212

Duncan Stone

The predatory pirate states of the North African coast had long presented a threat to the

commerce of European nations. Striking from ports along the North African coast, the barbary

pirates were the scourge of the Mediterranean. Their power had never been broken, and the states

that sponsored them grew wealthy from the plunder and slaves that they captured. After its

independence from Great Britain, America entered this world of piracy with no experience or

navy to its name. However, when faced with repeated demands for more money, and with

American citizens enslaved by these pirate states America responded in a totally unheard of way,

forging a political coalition with Sweden, Naples, and Great Britain, and deploying their newly

developed super-frigates of their equally new navy to the North African coast. The maturity and

force with which the American state and military forces acted in this endeavor, marked it as one

of the rising powers in the world, and helped to make Americas first war across the Atlantic end

in triumph.

When America first became independent from Great Britain, they lost their access to the naval

protection provided by the Royal Navy and the French provided during both their time as a

colony and as a member of an alliance during the revolution, and in 1785, American flagged

merchantmen began to be plundered and their crews enslaved by the various Barbary nations.

This led to the infamous meeting between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison with the Tripoli

ambassador in London, 1786, where they discovered that they had no recourse but diplomacy to
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protect our bold merchantmen1. Initially, the American congress authorized the paying of

ransoms (for the freeing of captured or enslaved US citizens) and tribute (to prevent or lessen the

numbers of American ships that would be attacked by the pirates). However, this policy was

hugely unpopular with American officials and military officers whose job it was to bring this

tribute to the barbary pirates2, as they believed that it would only encourage these states to

demand more and affected the view that other nations had towards the United States.

This diplomacy however, was only a temporary situation, as the American government and in

particular Thomas Jefferson had no desire to continue to pay tribute. On the 27th of March 1794

congress passed an act for the creation of a naval force due to the depredations committed by

the Algerine corsairs on the commerce of the United States render it necessary that a naval force

should be provided for its protection.3. this would consist of four super frigates of forty-four

guns built out of the strongest materials using cutting edge technology and designs. These ships

were built for one purpose only: to patrol the Mediterranean and prevent future attacks on

American shipping by the Barbary pirates. It was because of the Barbary pirates that the United

States Navy as we know it today came into being, and it was because of this same threat that one

of the most famous ships in the world, the USS Constitution, was constructed. However, the

United States would continue to pay tribute and let their ships be seized by the pirates until 1801.

1 Knox, Dudley W., comp. Naval Documents related to the United States wars with
the Barbary powers. Vol. 1. Washington D.C: US Government Printing office, 1939.
(page iii)

2London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's war with the barbary pirates
established the US Navy and shaped a nation. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons Inc., 2005. (page 3)

3 Knox, Dudley W., comp. Naval Documents related to the United States wars with
the Barbary powers. Vol. 1. Washington D.C: US Government Printing office, 1939.
(page 69)
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Under president Jefferson, however, the United States refused to pay any further tribute to the

Barbary states, causing the sultan of Tripoli to declare war against the United States, and send

ships out to capture American vessels & make slaves of the citizens of the U.S in orderthat

his exorbitant demands will be complied with4 . This presented numerous problems for

American government and military as they had no experience in naval and land operations along

the North African coast, and had neither a base of operations or local contacts to help them.

However, through the usage of clever diplomacy, and exploitation of the eagerness of European

powers to be rid of the pirates themselves, the United states was able to not only travel in safety

to the Mediterranean, but also was able to send ships into British5 and Neapolitan harbors and

received financial and political advice from Nations such as Britain and Sweden. Although the

United States would be only nation to deploy a military force against the barbary pirates, their

political alliances and understandings with the nations of Europe gave them access to ports and

supplies that they needed to maintain their presence along the North African coast, and also

provided American diplomats and military commanders with intelligence on who did or did not

support these nations along the North African coasts, allowing them to make informed decisions,

and stressing the high level of competency with which these leaders acted.

The actual military actions undertaken by the United States Navy and Marine Corps during the

First Barbary War marked the mixture of boldness and doctrine that has become a hallmark of

the military forces of the United States. The Navy initially began by blockading the ports of the

4 Knox, Dudley W., comp. Naval Documents related to the United States wars with
the Barbary powers. Vol. 1. Washington D.C: US Government Printing office, 1939.
(page 60)

5 Knox, Dudley W., comp. Naval Documents related to the United States wars with
the Barbary powers. Vol. 1. Washington D.C: US Government Printing office, 1939.
(page 471)
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Barbary pirates and engaging their ships where they found them at sea. However, their finest

hour of the war came when the frigate Philadelphia was captured after it ran aground on a

hidden reef outside the port of Tripoli6, it seemed that a disaster had occurred that would destroy

the United States naval operations before they had achieved their goals. Instead of accepting

failure, however, a daring raid by the navy was conducted on February 16th destroying the ship in

the middle of Tripolis harbor after having boldly bluffed their way in during the day by using a

type of vessel common to the area without the loss of a single American life. This action received

wide praise throughout Europe and admiral Nelson stated that the action was the most bold and

daring act of `the age7. The Marine Corps detachment (despite only consisting of nine men and

a few Greek cannoneers), also achieved remarkable success both in maintaining order amongst

the rebel Arab army that they accompanied8, and during the battle of Derna, where they routed a

superior enemy force in a matter of hours9. Despite having only been formed less than a decade

before, and with less ships and forces than the enemy had, the American Navy and Marine Corps

was able to not only defeat the Barbary pirates, but to utter humiliate them as well. The

technological superiority and the leadership of the Navy were remarked upon throughout Europe,

6 Knox, Dudley W., comp. Naval Documents related to the United States wars with
the Barbary powers. Vol. 3. Washington D.C: US Government Printing office, 1939.
(page 169)

7 London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's war with the barbary pirates
established the US Navy and shaped a nation. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons Inc., 2005. (page 165)

8 London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's war with the barbary pirates
established the US Navy and shaped a nation. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons Inc., 2005. (page 205-207)

9 London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's war with the barbary pirates
established the US Navy and shaped a nation. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley &
Sons Inc., 2005. (page 211-213)
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and received widespread acclaim. The audacity, and courage with which the nine marines

exhibited, and the astonishing success that they achieved during the battle of Derna is also

unequaled by any contemporary European army. The First Barbary War was not only a success in

that it had achieved its objectives, but that the European nations were able to see US military

forces achieve the impossible, enhancing the power and prestige of the country in the eyes of

Europe, making them less likely to meddle with the young nation in the future.

The First Barbary War was Americas first military operation overseas as an independent nation.

Although the war had its roots in the transition that America underwent from being a colony of

Great Britain to an independent nation, they still faced several major obstacles as a nation

without a navy, and with no bases or ports in the Mediterranean from which to conduct

operations if they even had had a navy. However, the American government began to prepare for

this conflict seven years before it began with the establishing of the United States Navy, and the

building of four super frigates, each equal in armament to contemporary European ships of the

line, but faster that the fastest European frigate due to the cutting-edge design of the ships and

materials with which they were built. Diplomacy was also used, initially with the Barbary states

in the form of payment of tribute and ransoms to lessen the numbers of American ships that were

seized by the pirates, but also to latter acquire intelligence, permission to use ports, equipment,

supplies, and financial aid in order to support American military operations off the North African

coast. Finally, the fledgling American Navy and Marine Corps preformed extraordinarily well

both in the unfamiliar area and terrain, and while engaged in combat with the Barbary pirates

themselves, be it on land or sea. This high level of professionalism, tactical expertise, audacity,

and boldness were noticed both by the enemies that they faced in this particular conflict, and by

the nations of Europe. The First barbary War not only resolved an issue that had been a thorn in
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the side of the US Government, but also showed the world that although it was small and new,

the American eagle had both a wise head, and wickedly sharp talons, and that it would be best to

respect the former so as not to be on the receiving end of the latter.

URL LINKS TO PRIMARY SOURCES

Naval Documents related to the United States wars with the Barbary powers. Vol. 1:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015009297113;view=2up;seq=8
Naval Documents related to the United States wars with the Barbary powers. Vol. 2:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000007386396;view=2up;seq=1