This video is sponsored in part by World of Warships.
I’m Mr. Beat
And it’s time for pirates.
(Peter Pan clip)
Muppet Treasure Island clip
No, not those pirates.
I’m talkin’ about real pirates.
From the early 1800s.
Who actually started a couple wars with the United States.
Specifically, the Barbary pirates, who operated from the coast of North Africa and pretty
much terrorized ships sailing in the Mediterranean Sea.
They came from the Ottoman Empire provinces of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, as well as
the Sultanate of Morocco, collectively known as the Barbary States.
The pirates, also known as corsairs, seized ships mainly in order to kidnap passengers
to sell them as slaves.
Historians estimate that the Barbary pirates captured at least 1 million Europeans between
the 1500s and 1800s.
For centuries, European countries had been fighting these pirates.
And now these pirates set their eyes on a new target- merchant ships from the brand new
country of the United States.
You see, countries like Britain and France were able to avoid the pirates by bribing
the Barbary state governments and simply just having an intimidating navy force.
The United States, did not have much of a navy, and could not afford to bribe the Barbary
States, and so...pirates constantly preyed on American merchant ships.
Throughout the 1790s, however, the United States government did start paying the Barbary
state governments to protect its ships.
In 1801, the leader of Tripoli, Yusuf Qaramanli, demanded more money from the Americans, but
Thomas Jefferson, the American President at the time, refused to pay him.
In response, Qaramanli declared war on the United States.
This was the beginning of the Barbary Wars, and it was the first time the United States
encountered the Islamic world.
But before I get into the details of these wars, two things…
First, I wanted to let you know that this video is part of a collaboration with
the wonderful YouTube channel Hikma History
who is looking at the Barbary pirates more in depth.
Be sure to check out his video after your done watching this one.
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So back to the Barbary Wars….
So yeah, Yusuf Qaramanli demanded $3.5 million in today’s money and Thomas Jefferson refused
to pay it so Yusuf declared war on the United States.
Jefferson didn’t know he had declared war, though, and sent some battleships, under the
command of Commodore Richard Dale, with gifts and heartfelt letters to attempt to keep the
peace with the Barbary states.
Now, that said, Jefferson suspected a declaration of war might have been possible, and told Dale
to defend his ships if they were attacked and to blockade the harbors of any states
who had declared war on the United States in order to protect merchant ships.
A group of Swedish ships joined them, but here’s the thing..the Swedes were already
at war with Tripoli.
After they got to the Mediterranean Sea, they found out about the declaration of war.
But the Americans got lots of help from King Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and
confidently sailed toward the Barbary States.
On August 1, 1801, the Americans defeated and captured a Tripolitan pirate ship.
The next year, Congress gave President Jefferson more resources to continue fighting the pirates,
slowly building up a navy.
Throughout 1803, Commodore Edward Preble created several successful blockades of Barbary ports,
while also organizing raids against Barbary cities that protected the pirates.
However, in October, Tripoli was able to capture the USS Philadelphia and take its crew as
hostages.
But before Tripoli could do much with the ship, an American navy team under Lieutenant
Stephen Decatur snuck into the harbor and set fire to it on February 16, 1804.
On July 14, Preble led a full on attack on Tripoli which led to the Second Battle of
Tripoli Harbor.
Master Commandant Richard Somers led a bold attack with his fire ship USS Intrepid.
That ship didn’t make it, however.
Though it was not entirely clear, it’s likely it was Tripoli who destroyed the ship through
gunfire hitting explosives on it.
After this, Jefferson was able to persuade Congress to get him more ships to send to
the Mediterranean.
The navy appointed Commodore Samuel Barron to lead eleven ships to enforce its biggest
blockade yet of Tripoli.
Did it work?
Well, it definitely put the pressure on Tripoli.
Still, though, up to this point the Americans did not have a decisive victory.
That changed with the Battle of Derna.
On April 27, 1805, a former Army captain named William Eaton and a US Marine Corps 1st Lieutenant
named Presley O’Bannon, led a force of eight Marines and 500 mercenaries to take over the
city of Derna.
For the first time in history, American soldiers raised a flag in victory on foreign soil.
This victory would give American negotiators leverage in trying to get those hostages back,
and also for ending the war.
Besides, by this time Yusuf Qaramanli was getting worried about the blockade, continued
raids, and a conspiracy by many to put his brother back in charge of Tripoli.
So based on all of that, on June 10, 1805, both sides agreed to a peace deal.
The United States agreed to pay Tripoli $60,000 for the hostages to be returned, which is
kind of crazy if you think of the United States doing something like that today.
And the war was over.
But this story is not over.
You see that was just the First Barbary War.
Yep, just like Hollywood tryna cash in, there was a sequel.
After the First Barbary War, the United States had turned their attention to Britain, who
was attacking American merchant ships and kidnapping their sailors, even forcing them
to join the British navy.
This was known as impressment.
Not only that, but they were aiding American Indian resistance against the Americans out
west.
This, among other things, all caused the United States to declare war on Britain, in what
became known as the War of 1812.
Ok, so the War of 1812.
What does that have to do with the Barbary Wars?
Maybe Hikma History can help us.
Hikma History: Ok, Mr. Beat. So here's all this all relates to the Barbary Wars. During the War of 1812, Britain asked the Barbary States
to resume attacking American merchant ships.
The Barbary states jumped on the opportunity and said "why not?" They had a powerful friend in the shape of the British and they stood to make some money from it.
So the pirates once again attacked American merchant ships in the Mediterranean, holding
several American prisoners.
However, even after the War of 1812 ended, they kept doing it.
In particular, most of these pirates came from Algiers.
Mr. Beat: Thanks Hikma History.
And, at this time, James Madison was now in charge.
On February 23, 1815, Madison asked Congress to declare war on Algiers.
Congress said sure, and Madison quickly sent out a Navy squadron under Stephen Decatur,
who was now Commodore Stephen Decatur.
Madison told Decatur to sail to Algiers and attack any Algerine ships he encountered.
Decatur’s fleet left New York on May 20 and got to the Mediterranean on June 15.
Soon after, he came across two Algerine ships.
His men attacked them, captured the crews, and killed their commander.
In late June, Decatur’s fleet arrived in Algiers with the two captured ships, acting
all like “what up now?” and “peace on our terms, punks.”
The ruler of Algiers agreed to sign a new treaty on July 3, 1815.
Decatur agreed to return the two captured ships, as well as the 500 Algerians on those
ships.
The Algerians agreed to return all American prisoners and paid the Americans $10,000 for
stuff they stole in the past.
Most importantly, the treaty guaranteed American ships would no longer have to pay pirates
in order to travel the Mediterranean sea.
They’d have full shipping rights.
Decatur then took his fleet on to Tunis and Tripoli to make sure they understood there
would be no pirates coming from there, either dad gomit.
Decatur returned home to the United States later that year a freaking national hero.
So yeah, the Second Barbary War was much shorter.
Just over three months, as matter of fact.
And it showed that by this time the United States was much more confident, and definitely a force you didn't want to mess around with.
But again, this is an American perspective of the Barbary Wars.
And so I might be a bit biased. I’m a bloody American.
So go ahead and check out Hikma History's video about the Barbary pirates
in more depth.
Right now. Go ahead!
For this channel, next week marks the return of Supreme Court Briefs.
Thanks for watching. I usually don't dress like a pirate. I'm trying to mix it up here a little bit, to make it exciting so you can learn.
You're judging me, aren't you?