The Wars of the Barbary Pirates: To the shores of Tripoli: the rise of the US Navy and Marines (Essential Histories)

The Barbary War - the first American war against Libya - was the first war waged by the United States outside national boundaries after gaining independence and unification of the country. The four Barbary States of North Africa - Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli - had plundered seaborne commerce for centuries. This was piracy on an extraordinary scale: they controlled all trading routes through the Barbary waters and North Africa: demanding ransom and booty for safe passage. In 1801 the newly elected President Jefferson ordered a naval and military expedition to North Africa in order to put down regimes that endorsed piracy and slavery. The Pasha of Tripoli declared war on the United States. Under the leadership of Commodores Richard Dale and Edward Preble, the US Navy blockaded the enemy coast and engaged in close, bitterly contested gunboat actions. On 16 February 1804 LT Stephen Decatur led 74 volunteers into Tripoli to burn the captured American frigate The Philadelphia . British Admiral Lord Nelson called the raid "the most daring act of the age". In 1805 Marines stormed the Barbary pirates' harbor fortress stronghold of Derna (Tripoli), commemorated in the Marine Corp Hymn invocation "To the Shores of Tripoli." The US Navy troops were recalled before they could secure their gains, but returned after the War of 1812. Their success then won worldwide admiration for the Americans and their Navy. They marked the way for the European nations to finally quash the Barbary States and end the piracy. This event marks the true birth of the US Navy and Marines and is ever remembered in the Marines' battle hymn. 0......Page 1 01......Page 2 02......Page 3 03......Page 4 04......Page 5 05......Page 6 06......Page 7 08......Page 8 09......Page 9 10......Page 10 11......Page 11 12......Page 12 13......Page 13 14......Page 14 15......Page 15 16......Page 16 17......Page 17 18......Page 18 19......Page 19 20......Page 20 21......Page 21 22......Page 22 23......Page 23 24......Page 24 25......Page 25 26......Page 26 27......Page 27 28......Page 28 29......Page 29 30......Page 30 31......Page 31 32......Page 32 33......Page 33 34......Page 34 35......Page 35 36......Page 36 37......Page 37 38......Page 38 39......Page 39 40......Page 40 41......Page 41 42......Page 42 43......Page 43 44......Page 44 45......Page 45 46......Page 46 47......Page 47 48......Page 48 49......Page 49 50......Page 50 51......Page 51 52......Page 52 53......Page 53 54......Page 54 55......Page 55 56......Page 56 57......Page 57 58......Page 58 59......Page 59 60......Page 60 61......Page 61 62......Page 62 63......Page 63 64......Page 64 65......Page 65 66......Page 66 67......Page 67 68......Page 68 69......Page 69 70......Page 70 71......Page 71 72......Page 72 73......Page 73 74......Page 74 75......Page 75 76......Page 76 77......Page 77 78......Page 78 79......Page 79 80......Page 80 81......Page 81 82......Page 82 83......Page 83 84......Page 84 85......Page 85 86......Page 86 87......Page 87 88......Page 88 89......Page 89 90......Page 90 91......Page 91 92......Page 92 93......Page 93 94......Page 94 95......Page 95 99......Page 96 The wars against the Barbary pirates not only signaled the determination of the United States to throw off its tributary status, liberate its citizens from slavery in North Africa, and reassert its right to trade freely upon the seas: they enabled America to regain its sense of national dignity. The wars also served as a catalyst for the development of a navy with which America could project its newly acquired power thousands of miles away. By the time the fighting was over the young republic bore the unmistakable marks of a nation destined to play a major role in international affairs