![]() ![]() If they refuse, why not go to war with them?" A month later, having learned that a small American brig had been seized by a Moroccan corsair in the Atlantic, he emphasized the hard line: "Our trade to Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean is annihilated unless we do something decisive. "Would it not be better to offer them an equal treaty. In November 1784, he doubted the American people would be willing to pay annual tribute. Jefferson's early view guided him in future years. The Barbary challenge to American merchant shipping sparked a great deal of debate over how to cope with corsair aggression, actual or threatened. The commissioners reported this practice to Congress and sought guidance. The merchant vessels of any country without such a treaty were at the mercy of the state-sponsored maritime marauders known as corsairs, sometimes mislabeled pirates. Already in Europe, the commissioners quickly learned that the Europeans made peace with the Barbary powers through treaties that involved annual payments of tribute - sometimes euphemistically called annuities. In 1784 Congress had appointed Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin as peace commissioners to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with the principal states of Europe and the Mediterranean - including the Barbary states. In 1790, as secretary of state, he had reported to Congress on the subject in some detail, and he had been directly involved in the region even earlier. ![]() for the Cost of a maritime force amply sufficient to keep all those Pirates in Awe, and also make it their interest to keep faith." The new president was fully aware of the situation. They regularly, if less eloquently, echoed the 1793 view of their colleague in Lisbon: "When we can appear in the Ports of the various Powers, or on the Coast, of Barbary, with Ships of such force as to convince those nations that We are able to protect our trade, and to compel them if necessary to keep faith with Us, then, and not before, we may probably secure a large share of the Meditn: trade, which would largely and speedily compensate the U.S. ![]() The United States had treaties with all four, but tension was high and rising.Īmerican representatives in the region wanted an American naval presence. When Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated in March of 1801, he inherited troubled relations with the Barbary states - the Ottoman Regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, along with independent Morocco. ![]()
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