Hi ahhaha; Re: "What we did to the Barbary pirates was use a naval attack force to force them to agree to stop the raids and "tribute". This was during the War of 1812. What we were doing in 1804 was to protect American ocean going commerce when we sent the frigates there to clean out the pirates. The Philadelphia was lost more by bungling than by battle."
The Philadelphia ran "ran aground while chasing a Tripolitan war vessel", and the Tripolitans were able to force its surrender. Most ship losses are a bungle of some sort, but when it happens during a battle it's usually called a "battle". At least I'd bet that that's how Algerian text books refer to it. The U.S. then burned it by sending a captured Tripolitan merchant vessel into the harbor where it was anchored, and setting it on fire. The Algerians, no doubt, call that incident, (which Lord Nelson referred to as "the most bold and daring act of the age"), a "bungle", as they should have been guarding the vessel more carefully...
Other great ship losses of the time come to mind. My own favorite is that of the privateer that captured the merchantman loaded with rum. The victorious crew got drunk, and lost control of it to their prisoners, if I remember correctly. Now that was a bungle.
As far as cleaning out the pirates, we did no such thing. First of all, there were no Tripolitan "pirates", except in the loose definition of the term used in modern diplomacy. (That is, the opposing side's forces are always referred to as "pirates".) In particular, the ships preying on our merchantmen were sanctioned by the government of the country they operated under. That is, they had letters of marque. So the correct term for them was "privateers", or maybe "corsairs", but not pirates. Here's a great link on the Tripolitan battles, with a few choice quotes selected:
We provided our first tribute (of $80,000) in 1784, following the lead of virtually every European nation, to provide protection money.
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In 1785, the Dey of Algiers took two American ships, and held 21 men for a ransom of nearly $60,000. It would be 10 years before America completed negotiations for the ransom of these men (more precisely, the survivors).
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In 1795, the Americans who were taken 10 years earlier were finally ransomed (11 of the 21 had died) at the sum of $642,500 plus yearly naval supplies equaling over $21,000, not to mention gifts twice yearly equaling sums paid by the Scandinavian countries, and $40,000 for those Americans taken in 1793. Over the next few years, America also gave Algeria 4 ships.
To the Dey of Tunis, went $107,000 along with other presents. As for Tripoli, we did not meet their demands of $100,000 a year, but did pay $80,000 in 1796 and 1799 (and later $6500 for a crew held in prison). The United States continued to pay the tributes and sign soon-to-be-broken treaties instead of using their new navy, for the ships were busy fighting skirmishes with France (due to France seizing American ships even after the Non-Intercourse Act was signed). As the year of 1800 approached, we had paid more than $2,000,000 in tribute, about 1/5 of the income of our government.
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At the turn of the century, American vessels, somewhat protected with the tributes, were quickly making large increases in the amount of goods transported. The Barbary leaders began whining that the tributes should be increased, with the Bashaw (pasha) of Tripoli in particular. In 1801 he demanded the tribute be raised to $225,000 plus $25,000 in goods.
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1815 War With Algiers
Although the war with Tripoli was over, the others kept whining about this and that. On August 1, Captain Rodgers shut up the Bey of Tunis with a parade of ships. Algiers held three ships in 1807, and Counsel Lear again paid off ($18,000). When in 1810 the U.S. tried to take back a ship taken by the French and sold to the Bey of Tunis, he threatened war and the U.S. backed off.
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As the War of 1812 began, the Dey of Algiers took advantage, and not only wrangled a tribute, but also threatened to lock up Tobias Lear. When Lear paid off $11,000 to stay out of bondage, Lear was bodily deported, relations were broken off with the United States, and the Dey's naval commander was sent out to get American ships.
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On March 2, 1815 [War of 1812 now over], the United States declared war on Algiers. 10 tall ships were sent under the command of Stephen Decatur...
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Now all the humiliations the Americans received 15 years earlier were to be reversed. With the Dey's shock upon hearing that his frigate was lost, his crew captured, and Decatur's 10 ships pointing their cannons at him, he was dumbfounded upon hearing Decatur's demands. This United States that his family had scorned since the former's inception now demanded that tribute would forever cease; any capture of America ships, or enslavement of American citizens will also cease; all U.S. captives must be surrendered; the United States must now enjoy "most-favored nation" status; and the survivors of the brig Edwin, must be compensated to the amount of $10,000. Decatur demanded immediate agreement to be signed aboard the Guerriere. Upon refusing the Dey's request for 3 hour truce, a white flag was sent. The truce, although signed in 1816, was not ratified for 6 years due to it being mislaid in the State Department.
Further actions were taken at Tunis and Tripoli, both coming up with money (at Tripoli, a 31-gun salute was demanded and received).
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americanhistory.about.com
americanhistory.about.com
The link that tells more about the 1805 treaty:
yale.edu
I agree that the U.S. has a checkered (and fascinating) history when it comes to foreign military entanglements. But I don't think that's different from the history of any other significant nation. (Sorry Papal States, you're no longer significant... But you do have a checkered history of foreign military entanglements.)
-- Carl |
