The United States at War with the Barbary States

copyright 2003

Chapter 1

The resolve of the people of the United States and their belief in liberty and free commerce remains true to a two-century national belief in "millions for defense, not one cent for tribute" that was born in the birth of the new republic and defined by men whose faith in the fledgling  republican and in the rights of man nurtured that belief.  It is that belief today that energies our nation in its struggle against global terror and the nations and institutions that continue to foster a global environment that would perpetuate conditions for terrorism, tyranny and the states that sponsor them.  This is the story of the birth of those convictions and our national commitment to liberty as a new nation.

This national commitment to liberty grew out of the moral convictions of our early citizens and statesmen and was forged by war, the naval wars with the Barbary States from 1803 to 1815. These wars, conducted in the early days of our government, produced significant diplomatic, military, and moral results.  They were a portent of our current struggle.

These early citizens, diplomats, sailors, and marines provided a challenge to a centuries old ancien regime, by the fledgling United States republic, that prompted European powers to action and the future abolishment of tribute; secured, through diplomacy and arms, the right of freedom of the American flag under which our Navy and merchantmen could sail; established the need for a standing navy and provided for some of the nations first military conquests and victors which would prove valuable in the war with Great Britain in 1812.


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