The Barbary Pirates were an alliance of Muslim pirates and privateers who operated along the coast of North Africa (known as the Barbary Coast) from the time of the Crusades (11th century) until the early 19th century. Based in Berber North African ports such as Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Salé, and other ports in Morocco, they sailed mainly along the stretch of northern Africa; however, at the height of their skullduggery in the 16th and 17th centuries, their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along West Africa’s Atlantic seaboard, and into the North Atlantic as far north as Iceland. In addition, they engaged in Razzias, raids on European coastal towns, to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in places such as Algeria and Morocco.

Flummoxed by this well-organized scourge the plagued the High Seas, Europe did not muster the courage to fight back against the Barbary Pirates for some times. However, the pirates sustained a serious blow to their “empire” following the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna in 1815, when European powers agreed upon the need to unite to bring down the Barbary pirates. Moreover, the involvement of the United States Navy in the First and Second Barbary Wars to protect US interests (1801–5, 1815) all but assured the end of their watery reign.

Still, even the United States had to compromise with these powerful pirates in order secure their ships by signing several treaties with the Barbary States between 1786 and 1836. In fact, it was not until the second war with Algiers, in 1815, that naval victories by Commodores William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur led to treaties ending all tribute payments by the United States, and European nations continued annual payments until the 1830s.

What Do You Think? »

       

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.