for centuries Barbary pirates from northern Africa had been capturing ships and enslaving citizens around the Mediterranean Sea and beyond the Barbary States comprised of Algiers Tunis Tripolitania and Morocco and although Morocco was independent the other three states lay under Ottoman control however the leaders often acted somewhat independently by the late eighteenth century their power was dwindling but European power still feared the Pirates and offered them tribute in return for peace so what America achieved its independence their ships were no longer protected and US ships were quickly captured by Barbary pirates however Morocco was one of the first nations to recognize American independence but the Americans ended a pain over one-sixth of their national budget to the other states in order to release hostages and pay tribute for free passage through the Mediterranean this crisis resulted in the creation of the US Navy and a resentment of the north african states plus from 1798 1800 americans fought revolutionary france in the quasi war at sea which gave their new navy valuable experience and then in 1801 when Thomas Jefferson became president the Pasha of Tripoli Yusef Cara manly demanded that he should be paid as much tribute as the other Barbary States but Jefferson declined this so war was declared in may the American Navy was dispatched without Congress having voted meaning there was no declaration of war but the conflict did have the backing of Congress in the end once in the Mediterranean they met up with the Swedish Navy who were fighting the Tripolitania mem selves plus the kingdom of Two Sicilies who while having just made peace with the French supplied ships and men to the Americans to help destroy their old enemies across the Mediterranean Commodore prevail then blockaded Tripoli but the well defended city was largely unaffected by it so the Americans soon lifted the blockade there were a couple of small naval battles in 1801 and 1802 but they also proved indecisive and in October 1803 the Philadelphia ran aground and was captured by the Triplett Amiens the Americans were unwilling to see their ship used by the enemy so raid at the harbor of Tripoli and set fire to the ship before fleeing then with reinforcements the Americans were able to effectively blockade Tripoli again and in mid 1804 the Americans bombarded the city harbor but their fire ship intrepid was destroyed before could inflict substantial damage so the Americans changed tactics they learned that use of Kara manly had exiled his own brother in order to become Pasha so Marines landed in Alexandria in Egypt gathered a group of 500 mercenaries and marched on Tripoli looking to replace use of Kara manly with his brother in late April 1805 - they arrived at and successfully captured the city of Derna so facing the prospect of an invasion of Tripoli Pasha Kara manly soon for peace the Americans agreed to pay the ransom for all the hostages but the Tripolitania pnes could no longer demand tribute however after the war in the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars which Europe was embroiled US shipping was attacked again this time by the Algerians but the Americans were focused on tension - with the British in North America and eventually the war of 1812 so the emboldened Algerians refused the ransom payments and declared war on the US and 1812 it was only in 1815 when America ended their war with Britain that President Madison dispatched the now large US Navy to North Africa they arrived in June and quickly defeated the Algerians in naval battles and forced them to pay reparations plus the Napoleonic Wars ended that year and the European powers agreed that they should suppress the Pirates so a combined British and Dutch fleet set sail for Algiers and bombarded the city in 1816 forcing the day to free thousands of Christian slaves so the Barbary States no longer threatened the Europeans as they once had and eventually in 1830 the French annexed Algeria effectively ending Barbary pirates II and as a quick bit of trivia the Marines hymn references these Wars when they sing about the shores of Tripoli and you too can be as fit as a marine if you sign up to Skillshare and join their many fitness courses okay that was a bit of a stretch but I am currently taking art courses to improve my poor drawing skills to help improve these videos and you can find classes in a whole range of subjects from business design to web development so like me you can try and improve your career and future prospects or just quench your thirst for more knowledge and if you sign up at the link in the description you can get a free two month trial and after that it is just less than $10 a month plus there are even history courses out there like the complete guide to the Renaissance or maybe even how to complete your own family tree to find out what your relatives were doing during this period I'm sure you'll find something like [Music]