Hi ahhaha; Re: "Yes, consider what happened to the Barbary pirates or what we did with the Maine."
Well, the Maine is still at the bottom of the harbor, or was cut up for scrap, I think. As far as what we did to the Barbary pirates, we had an inconclusive serious of naval battles with various rulers, losing the frigate Philadelphia in the process, and we finally paid them tribute just like the European powers and ended the fiasco.
Ah, here's a good reference, to the original treaty document, no less:
The Barbary Treaties : Tripoli 1805
Hunter Miller's notes, Avalon Project, Yale Law Shool
This treaty concluded the Tripolitan War, which commenced in 1801. The treaty was negotiated by Col. Tobias Lear, Consul General at Algiers, whose account of the negotiations, dated on board the U. S. frigate Constitution July 5, 1805, is in the archives of the Department of State (7 Consular Despatches, Algiers) and is printed in American State Papers, Foreign Relations, II, 716-18.
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The opposite right page is of Arabic text, but with no signatures or seals; and finally, there is the receipt for $60,000 ransom, in English and Arabic.
yale.edu
Some inflation has gone by since 1805, and the economic size of the countries involved has increased as well. $60 grand was a lot of money in 1805, as a comparison, the USS Constitution cost $302,718 to build. This was about 3x what they had planned, military spending has a long history of cost overuns: (this is a great article to read):
When construction on the frigates began it had been estimated the 44 gun frigates would cost $100,000 each and require only 18 months to build. Construction costs ran far overbudget (the eventual cost paid for each frigate was more than England spent in the construction of her 74 gun ships of the line) and was much slower than anticipated.
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The pay for U.S. sailors was better than their English counterparts and at $10 to $17 dollars per month was as much or more than a skilled artisan on shore could earn
geocities.com
I love the United State, and its early history. To truly love this country, you have to love her despite, at the same time, being able to admit her many defeats and conceits.
-- Carl |
