The Barbary Wars, Part 5: U.S. Navy Triumphant in Tripoli

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

After the city of Derne fell to General William Eaton’s expedition on April 27, 1805, Yusef Karamanli, the Pasha of Tripoli, knowing his capital city was next, again sent word to Tobias Lear, the American Consul to Algiers that he wanted peace. The final terms included an exchange of prisoners and the end of all tribute payments to Tripoli, the first agreement of its kind ever reached with a Barbary State. But old habits die hard, and consequently, when America declared war on Great Britain in the summer of 1812 and the United States Navy was occupied with the British, the Barbary States again began to seize American merchant ships.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the United States took a principled stand that broke the spirit of the Barbary States, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of Wikimedia, New York Public Library, Naval History and Heritage Command, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Library of Congress.

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