thedrifter
04-25-09, 08:44 AM
Hidden history: Pirates have long bedeviled presidents
By Robert Watson
April 26, 2009
Two weeks ago, America celebrated the compelling rescue of the captain of a ship being held for ransom by Somali pirates. But, the killing of three pirates by Navy SEAL sharpshooters marked only the latest in a long conflict with African and Muslim pirates.
Even the lyrics of the well-known Marine Corps hymn were inspired by a victory over North African pirates in the early days of our Republic:
"From the halls of Montezuma
To the shorts of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea."
The first line refers to a "castle" the Marines seized in the bloody Battle of Chapultepec in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The second line honors the handful of U.S. Marines who, with Arab volunteers, marched hundreds of miles across the desert in a daring and successful attack of a port city near Tripoli. The engagement marked the first recorded land battle of U.S. forces on foreign soil and occurred in 1805 during the First Barbary War.
North African maritime travel and commerce were plagued in the 17th and 18th centuries by Barbary pirates — Muslim and African privateers operating along the port cities of northern Africa. Thousands of European ships were captured, their merchandise confiscated, officers ransomed, and sailors enslaved by brutal and opportunistic pirates form Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
The same fate befell ships from the new United States, as the price of freedom from Britain meant that American ships were no longer protected by the royal navy. During the 1790s, several American ships were plundered and their sailors imprisoned. Like the European powers, America was now forced to pay bribes to the sultans in return for safe passage on the seas.
American presidents quickly tired of the bribery, harassment and ransoms and called for force. Both Thomas Jefferson — during the First Barbary War (1801-1805) — and James Madison — during the Second Barbary War (1815) supported a mix of diplomacy and naval attacks to eliminate the threat. Jefferson long advocated naval and diplomatic cooperation among European powers, all of whom were paying ransoms and bribes to the Barbary pirates.
And now piracy has come to Somalia, a place where no trace of civil society exists and the populace suffers from stifling poverty and a brutal civil war. Tragically, some of the western aid designed to build boats and a fishing industry in Somalia is being used for piracy. But, in calling for international cooperation to combat piracy, refusing to pay bribes, and recognizing the need for force to protect our ships and sailors, we can appreciate that President Obama has acted in concert with his predecessors.
One of the touchstone incidents in America's struggle against African pirates occurred in 1803, when the U.S. warship Philadelphia ran aground on the Tunisian coast and it's crew of 300 were imprisoned. One of those on the Philadelphia was an officer named William Bainbridge, who spent roughly two years in prison. A dashing historical figure, Bainbridge would later command the legendary Constitution during the War of 1812, be wounded multiple times in the line of duty, and earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Bainbridge was a hero in both Barbary Wars, so it is altogether fitting that, in the current conflict with Somali pirates, it was the USS Bainbridge that played a key role in rescuing an American hostage. Two centuries after Bainbridge defeated the Barbary pirates, the destroyer named in his honor patrols the waters off Somalia.
History has a strange way of repeating itself.
Robert Watson, Ph.D., runs the American Studies program at Lynn University. Twitter: ProfessorWatson.
Ellie
By Robert Watson
April 26, 2009
Two weeks ago, America celebrated the compelling rescue of the captain of a ship being held for ransom by Somali pirates. But, the killing of three pirates by Navy SEAL sharpshooters marked only the latest in a long conflict with African and Muslim pirates.
Even the lyrics of the well-known Marine Corps hymn were inspired by a victory over North African pirates in the early days of our Republic:
"From the halls of Montezuma
To the shorts of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea."
The first line refers to a "castle" the Marines seized in the bloody Battle of Chapultepec in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The second line honors the handful of U.S. Marines who, with Arab volunteers, marched hundreds of miles across the desert in a daring and successful attack of a port city near Tripoli. The engagement marked the first recorded land battle of U.S. forces on foreign soil and occurred in 1805 during the First Barbary War.
North African maritime travel and commerce were plagued in the 17th and 18th centuries by Barbary pirates — Muslim and African privateers operating along the port cities of northern Africa. Thousands of European ships were captured, their merchandise confiscated, officers ransomed, and sailors enslaved by brutal and opportunistic pirates form Morocco, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.
The same fate befell ships from the new United States, as the price of freedom from Britain meant that American ships were no longer protected by the royal navy. During the 1790s, several American ships were plundered and their sailors imprisoned. Like the European powers, America was now forced to pay bribes to the sultans in return for safe passage on the seas.
American presidents quickly tired of the bribery, harassment and ransoms and called for force. Both Thomas Jefferson — during the First Barbary War (1801-1805) — and James Madison — during the Second Barbary War (1815) supported a mix of diplomacy and naval attacks to eliminate the threat. Jefferson long advocated naval and diplomatic cooperation among European powers, all of whom were paying ransoms and bribes to the Barbary pirates.
And now piracy has come to Somalia, a place where no trace of civil society exists and the populace suffers from stifling poverty and a brutal civil war. Tragically, some of the western aid designed to build boats and a fishing industry in Somalia is being used for piracy. But, in calling for international cooperation to combat piracy, refusing to pay bribes, and recognizing the need for force to protect our ships and sailors, we can appreciate that President Obama has acted in concert with his predecessors.
One of the touchstone incidents in America's struggle against African pirates occurred in 1803, when the U.S. warship Philadelphia ran aground on the Tunisian coast and it's crew of 300 were imprisoned. One of those on the Philadelphia was an officer named William Bainbridge, who spent roughly two years in prison. A dashing historical figure, Bainbridge would later command the legendary Constitution during the War of 1812, be wounded multiple times in the line of duty, and earn the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Bainbridge was a hero in both Barbary Wars, so it is altogether fitting that, in the current conflict with Somali pirates, it was the USS Bainbridge that played a key role in rescuing an American hostage. Two centuries after Bainbridge defeated the Barbary pirates, the destroyer named in his honor patrols the waters off Somalia.
History has a strange way of repeating itself.
Robert Watson, Ph.D., runs the American Studies program at Lynn University. Twitter: ProfessorWatson.
Ellie