Americas First Overseas Invasion: The Barbary Wars.

The Barbary wars was the first major military action taken by the newly independent United States. A short naval war with France in the late 1700's, saw the re-creation of an American navy, and action against the Barbary coast, was the first time that American soldiers, landed on foreign soil, and would prove to be a major staple, in the unity that would eventually bond the country.

Amazon shop (I earn commission on any purchase)

______________________

Support The Channel:

Second Channel ►

Have a topic you want to suggest? Say so in the comments below. Subscribe if you enjoyed the video as well, would be super appreciated

But before going into the wars themselves, you may be wondering where exactly these pirates came from, as when most people think of pirates, they assume action in the Caribbean. But these pirates operated out of North Africa, and had done so for centuries. These region was refereed to as the Barbary coast to the Europeans from the 16th century onward, and had been derived from the indigenous Berber people, following the 1500's and the Ottoman conquest, the region was largely divided into three entities of the Algiers, Tunis, and Tripolitania. The piracy thrived on the competition among European powers. France encouraged them against Spain, and later Britain and and the Dutch supported them against France. For this reason, even when a nation had naval dominance in the Mediterranean, strict cession of the activity was never enforced. The English and later British, managed to get long-standing treaties of protection from the ship raids.

During the American Revolutionary War, the pirates attacked American ships, as they were no longer under British or French protection. On December 20, 1777, Morocco's sultan Mohammed III declared that merchant ships of the new American nation would be under the protection of the sultanate and could enjoy safe passage into the Mediterranean. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as America's oldest unbroken friendship treaty with a foreign power. And in 1787, Morocco became one of the first nations to recognize the independence of the United States of America.

Following the American Revolution, the US had disbanded its navy due to cost, but rebuilt one in the late 1790's due to the constant raids, and the US paying over a million dollars annually in tribute to the Berber states, amounting to over 10% of the budget of the new nation. Upon Thomas Jefferson winning the presidency, he stood fast in her refusal to paying tribute, and ordered a squadron of American Frigates to guard American merchant ships in the Mediterranean. This resulted in the Algerian Dey unoffically declaring war against the US and the first Barbary war erupted.