The
Barbary CorsairCorsairs were French privateers . Since the corsairs gained a swashbuckling reputation, the word corsair is also used generically as a more romantic or flamboyant version of the word privateer, or even of the word pirate...
s, sometimes called
Ottoman Corsairs or
Barbary Pirates, were
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
pirates and
privateerA privateer was a private warship authorized by a country's government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping. Strictly, a privateer was only entitled by its state to attack and rob enemy vessels during wartime. Privateers were part of naval warfare of some nations from the 16th to the...
s who operated from
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
from the time of the
CrusadesThe Crusades were a series of religiously-sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between...
(
11th centuryAs a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century is the period from 1001 to 1100 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era.
...
) until the early
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
. Based in
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
n ports such as
TunisTunis is the capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1,200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the greater Tunis area...
,
TripoliTripoli is the largest and capital city of Libya.Tripoli has a population of 1.69 million...
,
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
,
SaléSalé is the twin city to Rabat, capital of Morocco. Today it is home to just over 900,000 people, mostly impoverished factory workers. It was once a self-contained, self-ruled Republic with international scope, situated on the mouth of the Bou Regreg river on the Atlantic coast...
, and other ports in
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, they sailed mainly along the stretch of northern Africa known as the
Barbary CoastThe Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to the Maghreb, the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa—what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The name is derived from the Berber people of north Africa...
. Their predation extended throughout the Mediterranean, south along
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
's Atlantic seaboard, and into the
North AtlanticThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
as far north as
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
, and they primarily commandeered
western EuropeWestern Europe is the collection of countries in the westernmost region of Europe, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a cultural entity—the region lying west of Central Europe...
an ships in the western Mediterranean Sea. In addition, they engaged in
Razzias, raids on European coastal towns, to capture
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
slavesSlavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation...
to sell at slave markets in places such as
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
and Morocco.
Pirates destroyed thousands of French, Spanish, and English ships, and long stretches of coast in Spain and Italy were almost completely abandoned by their inhabitants, discouraging settlement until the 19th century. From the 16th to 19th century, pirates captured an estimated 800,000 to 1.25 million
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
ans as slaves, mainly from seaside villages in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, and
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
, but also from
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
,
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
and as far away as
IcelandThe Turkish Abductions were a series of raids that took place in Iceland between July 4 – July 19 1627. Both Austurland and Vestmannaeyjar were raided by Barbary pirates; hundreds of the inhabitants were kidnapped, and 242 of them later were sold into slavery on the Barbary Coast...
and
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. The most famous corsairs were the brothers Hayreddin Barbarossa ("
RedbeardBarbarossa may refer to:In history:*Emperor Barbarossa or Frederick I , Holy Roman Emperor**Barbarossa city, the nickname for five cities in Germany*Barbarossa I or Oruç Reis , an Ottoman-Turkish privateer and Bey of Algiers...
") and Oruç Reis, who took control of Algiers in the early 16th century, beginning four hundred years of
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
presence in North Africa and establishing a centre of Mediterranean piracy.
Following the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
and the
Congress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
in 1815, as well as the involvement of the United States Navy in the
FirstThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States of America and the North African states known collectively as the Barbary States...
and
Second Barbary WarThe Second Barbary War was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, known collectively as the Barbary States...
s (1801–1805, 1815), European powers agreed upon the need to suppress the Barbary pirates and the effectiveness of the corsairs declined. France colonised much of the Barbary coast in the 19th century.
History
Although piracy had existed in the region throughout the decline of the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, the
barbarian invasionsThe Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions or Völkerwanderung , was a period of human migration that occurred roughly between the years 300 to 700 CE in Europe, marking the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
, the
Golden Age of PiracyThe Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in the early modern period. In its broadest accepted definition, the Golden Age of Piracy spans from the 1650s to the 1720s and covers three separate outbursts of piracy: 1) the buccaneering period of...
and the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, piracy became particularly flagrant in the 14th century due to the flourishing of the Mediterranean trade. The town of
BougieBéjaïa or Bougie Bejaya is a Mediterranean port on the Gulf of Béjaïa, capital of Béjaïa Province, Kabylia. Under French rule, it was formerly known under various European names, such as Budschaja in German, Bugia in Italian, and Bougie...
was then the most notorious pirate base.
For two centuries the seamanship of the Barbary Corsairs was as renowned as their cruelty. They gained their advantage from the use of oars, and their ships could sail much closer to a
headwindIn aerodynamics, a headwind is a wind that blows against the direction of travel of an object. A headwind reduces the object's speed and increases the time required to reach its destination. Headwinds are commonly measured in relation to the speed of vehicles — commonly air and watercraft...
than could European square-riggers, with oars and a sail arrangement that facilitated rapid turning.
After Spain conquered
GranadaGranada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.- Overview :The city of Granada is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, Beiro, Darro and Genil, at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
and expelled the
MoorsA morisco or mourisco , meaning "Moor-like", was a nominally Catholic inhabitant of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam...
in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, many Muslims from Spain emigrated to the coastal cities of North Africa. Under the tutelage of first the Islamic Mamelukes of Egypt and later the Muslim Ottomans, they, together with local Arab and Berber tribes, mounted expeditions called razzias to disrupt Christian sovereigns. Under the power of the Ottomans in the 16th century, who organized the privateers, the Barbary pirates became most powerful in the 17th century. They declined in the face of European power throughout the 18th century and were finally extinguished about 1830, when the French conquered
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
.
9th-13th centuries
Toward the end of the 9th century, Muslim pirate havens were established along the coast of southern
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and northern
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. In 846 Muslim raiders
sacked RomeOne of many sacks of Rome, that of the year 846 was the only instance of Muslims sacking the city.-Background:During the 8th and 9th centuries, Muslim Arabs had begun to aggressively expand into Southern Italy...
and damaged the Vatican. In 911, the bishop of
NarbonneNarbonne is a commune in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon région. It lies from Paris in the Aude département, of which it is a sous-préfecture. Once a prosperous port, it is now located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea...
was unable to return to France from Rome because the Muslims controlled all the passes in the
AlpsThe Alps are one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
.
With the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire and the rise of Islamic power in the eastern Mediterranean, piracy spread further, with Muslim pirates occupying
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....
,
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, and
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
in the 9th Century, and entering southern Italy. Muslim pirates operated out of the
Balearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula....
in the 10th century. From 824 to 961
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
pirates in
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
raided the entire Mediterranean.
Piracy increased in the 13th century as the Byzantine Empire collapsed.
14th-16th centuries
In the 14th century, raids by Muslim pirates forced the Venetian Duke of
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
to ask
VeniceThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
to keep its fleet on constant guard.
The
conquestThe Battle of Granada was a siege of the city of Granada fought over a period of months leading up to its surrender on January 2, 1492. The city was captured by the combined forces of Aragon and Castile from the armies of the Muslim Emirate of Granada...
of
GranadaGranada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.- Overview :The city of Granada is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, Beiro, Darro and Genil, at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
by the Catholic sovereigns of
SpainThe Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century...
in 1492 drove many
MoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim people of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from North Africa, some of whom came to conquer and occupy the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. The North Africans termed it Al Andalus, comprising most...
into
exileExile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return...
. They retaliated by piratical attacks on the Spanish coast, with help from Muslim adventurers from the
LevantThe Levant describes, traditionally, the Eastern Mediterranean at large, but can be used as a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia formed by the lands bordering the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, roughly bounded on the north by the Taurus Mountains, on the south by...
, of whom the most successful were Hızır and Oruç, natives of Mitylene. In response, Spain began to conquer the coast towns of
OranOran is a major city on the Mediterranean coast in northwestern Algeria. The name comes from the Berber word Uhran meaning The Lions....
,
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
and
TunisTunis is the capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1,200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the greater Tunis area...
. But after Oruç was killed in battle with the Spaniards in 1518, his brother Hızır appealed to
Selim ISelim I , also known as "the Excellent," "the Brave" or the best translation "the Stern", Yavuz in Turkish, the long name is Yavuz Sultan Selim; October 10 1465/1466/1470 September 22, 1520) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520...
, the
OttomanThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
, who sent him troops. In 1529, Hızır drove the Spaniards from the rocky, fortified island in front of Algiers, and founded the Ottoman power in the region. From about 1518 till the death of Uluch Ali in 1587, Algiers was the main seat of government of the
beylerbeyBeylerbey Beylerbey Beylerbey (from Beylerbeyi, Ottoman Turkish for "Bey of Beys", meaning "Commander of Commanders" or "Lord of Lords"; originally Beglerbeg(i) in older Turkic, is the Ottoman and Safavid title used for the highest rank in the hierarchy of provincial administrators (all military...
s of northern Africa, who ruled over Tripoli, Tunisia and Algeria. From 1587 to 1659, they were ruled by Ottoman
pashaPasha or pacha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries...
s, sent from
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
to govern for three years; but in the latter year a military revolt in Algiers reduced the pashas to nonentities. From 1659, these African cities, although nominally part of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, were in fact military republics which chose their own rulers and lived by plunder.
During the first period (1518-1587), the beylerbeys were admirals of the sultan, commanding great fleets and conducting war operations for political ends. They were slave-hunters and their methods were ferocious. After 1587, the sole object of their successors became plunder, on land and sea. The maritime operations were conducted by the captains, or
reises, who formed a class or even a corporation. Cruisers were fitted out by capitalists and commanded by the
reises. Ten percent of the value of the prizes was paid to the pasha or his successors, who bore the titles of
agha or
dey or
bey.
In 1544, Hayreddin captured the island of
IschiaIschia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples. The roughly trapezoidal island lies about 30 km from Naples and measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south with a coastline and a surface area of...
, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 9,000 inhabitants of
LipariLipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the north coast of Sicily, and the name of the island's main town...
, almost the entire population. In 1551,
Turgut ReisTurgut Reis was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral as well as Bey of Algiers; Beylerbey of the Mediterranean; and first Bey later Pasha of Tripoli...
enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island
GozoGozo is an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...
, between 5,000 and 6,000, sending them to
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
. In 1554, pirates sacked
ViesteVieste is a town and comune in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.thumb|left|200px|Cathedral of Vieste.A renowned marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has often received Blue Flags for the purity of its waters from the Foundation for Environmental Education.The town is...
in southern Italy and took an estimated 7,000 slaves. In 1555, Turgut Reis sacked
BastiaBastia , is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. It is also a city and the capital of the department...
,
CorsicaCorsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, taking 6,000 prisoners. In 1558, Barbary corsairs captured the town of
CiutadellaCiutadella de Menorca or just Ciutadella is a town and a municipality on the western side of Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands -History:...
(Minorca), destroyed it,
slaughteredMurder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
the inhabitants and took 3,000 survivors to
IstanbulIstanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
as slaves. In 1563, Turgut Reis landed on the shores of the province of
GranadaGranada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.- Overview :The city of Granada is placed at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, Beiro, Darro and Genil, at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Spain, and captured coastal settlements in the area, such as
AlmuñécarAlmuñécar is a municipality in the Spanish Autonomous Region of Andalusia on the Costa del Sol between Nerja and Motril . It has a subtropical climate...
, along with 4,000 prisoners. Barbary pirates often attacked the
Balearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula....
, and in response many coastal watchtowers and fortified churches were erected. The threat was so severe that the island of
FormenteraFormentera is the smallest and southernmost island of the Illes Pitiüses group and belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community . It is long and is located approximately south of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea...
became uninhabited.
Even at this early stage, the European states sometimes fought back:
LivornoLivorno or until recently in English Leghorn , is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno and the third-largest port on the western coast of Italy, having a population of approximately 170,000 residents as of the year...
's monument
Quattro Mori celebrates 16th Century victories against the Barbary corsairs won by the
Order of Saint StephenThe Order of Saint Stephen is a Tuscan dynastic-military order founded in 1561.-History:...
, of which the Grand Duke of Tuscany
Ferdinando I de' MediciFerdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I....
was Grand Master.
17th century
Later, in 1607, the Order even went into the offensive, capturing, with forty-five galleys, and pillaging the city of
Bona-Places:* BoNa Coffee Company, a coffeehouse chain in the Philippines* The former name of Annaba, a city in northeastern Algeria* Bona, Sweden, a town in Östergötland County, Sweden-Persons:* Richard Bona , Cameroonian jazz musician and bassist...
in
AlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country on the Mediterranean sea, the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area.It is bordered by Tunisia in...
. This victory is commemorated by a series of frescoes painted by
Bernardino PoccettiBernardino Poccetti, also known as Barbatelli, , was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker in etching ....
in the "Sala di Bona" of
Palazzo PittiThe Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
,
FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
.
From 1609 to 1616,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
lost 466 merchant ships to Barbary pirates. 160 British ships were captured by Algerians between 1677 and 1680. Later,
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ships were also attacked. During this period, the pirates forged affiliations with Caribbean powers, paying a "license tax" in exchange for safe harbor of their vessels.
Some pirates were
renegadeRenegade is a synonym for turncoat. Another definition from the Middle Ages is a fallen Christian or a knight without allegiance, from the Spanish renegado, from the medieval Latin word renegatus, the perfect participle of renego, meaning "deny"....
s or
moriscoA morisco or mourisco , meaning "Moor-like", was a nominally Catholic inhabitant of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam...
s. They usually used galley ships with slaves or prisoners at the oars. Two examples are Süleyman Reis, "De Veenboer", who became admiral of the Algerian corsair fleet in 1617, and his quartermaster Murat Reis, born
Jan Janszoon van HaarlemFor the cartographer, see Johannes Janssonius.Jan Janszoon van Haarlem was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salè, Governor of Oualidia, and a Dutch pirate who was considered one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of...
. Both worked for the notorious corsair Simon the Dancer, who owned a palace. These pirates were all originally
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
. The Dutch admiral
Michiel de RuyterMichiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter is the most famous and one of the best admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century. He fought the English and French in these wars and scored several major victories, the best known probably being the...
unsuccessfully tried to end their piracy.
The first half of the 17th century may be described as the flowering time of the Barbary pirates. This was due largely to the efforts of Simon de Dancer, who had introduced the latest Dutch sailing rigs to the corsairs, enabling them to brave Atlantic waters. More than 20,000 captives were said to be imprisoned in Algiers alone. The rich were allowed to redeem themselves, but the poor were condemned to slavery. Their masters would on occasion allow them to secure freedom by professing Islam. A long list might be given of people of good social position, not only Italians or Spaniards, but German or English travelers in the south, who were captives for a time.
IcelandThe Republic of Iceland is a European island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík, whose surrounding area is home to approximately two thirds of the national population...
was subject to raids known as the Turkish abductions in 1627. Murat Reis (
Jan JanszoonFor the cartographer, see Johannes Janssonius.Jan Janszoon van Haarlem was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salè, Governor of Oualidia, and a Dutch pirate who was considered one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of...
) is said to have taken 400 prisoners; 242 of the captives later were sold into slavery on the
Barbary CoastThe Barbary Coast, or Barbary, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to the Maghreb, the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa—what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The name is derived from the Berber people of north Africa...
. The pirates took only young people and those in good physical condition. All those offering resistance were killed, and the old people were gathered into a church which was set on fire. Among those captured was
Ólafur EgilssonÓlafur Egilsson was an Icelandic priest. He was abducted along with his wife and two sons by Barbary Pirates during their raid on Vestmannaeyjar. This raid is known in Icelandic history as Tyrkjaránið . He returned to Vestmannaeyjar in 1628 but his wife Ásta Þorsteinsdóttir did not return until...
, who was ransomed the next year and, upon returning to Iceland, wrote a
slave narrativeThe slave narrative is a literary form which grew out of the written accounts of enslaved Africans in Britain and its colonies, including the later United States, Canada and Caribbean nations...
about his experience. Another famous captive from that raid was
Guðríður SímonardóttirGuðríður Símonardóttir was one of 242 people abducted from the Westman Islands, Iceland in 1627. The attacks by Barbary corsairs came to be known as the Turkish abductions and Guðríður became known as Tyrkja-Gudda.-Life:...
. The sack of
VestmannaeyjarVestmannaeyjar is a small archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,036. The other islands are uninhabited, though two have single hunting cabins...
is known in the
history of Iceland-Early history:In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Iceland hotspot is likely partly responsible for the island's creation and continued existence.Iceland remained for a long...
as
Tyrkjaránið and is arguably the most horrible event in the history of Vestmannaeyjar.
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
was subject to a similar attack. In June 1631 Murat Reis, with pirates from
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
and armed troops of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, stormed ashore at the little harbor village of
Baltimore, County CorkBaltimore is located in western County Cork, Ireland. Baltimore is the principal village of the parish of Rath and the Islands, the southern most parish in Ireland...
. They
captured almost all the villagersThe Sack of Baltimore took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of Baltimore, West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by Algerian pirates from the North African Barbary Coast, led by a Dutch captain turned pirate, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Murat Reis the Younger...
and took them away to a life of slavery in North Africa. The prisoners were destined for a variety of fates — some lived out their days chained to the oars as galley slaves, while others would spend long years in the scented seclusion of the harem or within the walls of the sultan's palace. The old city of Algiers, with its narrow streets, intense heat and lively trade, was a melting pot where the villagers would join slaves and freemen of many nationalities. Only two of them ever saw
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
again.
Barbary pirate attacks were common in southern
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
, south and east
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, the
Balearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula....
,
SardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The nearest land masses to the island are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia, and the Spanish Balearic Islands...
,
CorsicaCorsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
,
ElbaElba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. Elba and the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago...
, the
Italian PeninsulaThe Italian Peninsula or Apennine Peninsula is one of the three peninsulas of Southern Europe , spanning 1,000 km from the Po Valley in the north to the central Mediterranean Sea in the south. The peninsula's shape gives it the nickname Lo Stivale...
(especially the coasts of
LiguriaLiguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and food.- Geography :...
,
TuscanyTuscany is a region in North-Central Italy. It has an area of and a population of about 3.6 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence.Tuscany is known for its landscapes and its artistic legacy...
, Lazio,
CampaniaCampania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
,
CalabriaCalabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the...
and
ApuliaApulia is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy...
),
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
and
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
. They also occurred on the Atlantic northwest coast of the
Iberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes modern-day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar and a very small area of France. It is the westernmost of the three major southern European peninsulas—the Iberian, Italian, and Balkan peninsulas...
. In 1617, the African corsairs launched their major attack in the region when they destroyed and sacked Bouzas,
CangasCangas is the first name of three municipalities in Spain.# Cangas de Onís and# Cangas del Narcea in Asturias.# Cangas do Morrazo in the province of Pontevedra in Galicia.-External links:**...
and the churches of
MoañaMoaña is a municipality of 18,709 inhabitants located in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra.It is one of the five municipalities with Bueu, Cangas do Morrazo, Marin and Vilaboa that forms the peninsula of O Morrazo...
and Darbo.
The chief victims were the inhabitants of the coasts of
SicilySicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy. Several much smaller islands surrounding it are considered to be part of Sicily....
,
NaplesNaples in Italy, is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old...
and Spain. But all traders of nations which did not pay tribute for immunity were liable to be taken at sea. This tribute, disguised as presents or ransoms, did not always ensure safety. The most powerful states in Europe condescended to pay the pirates and tolerate their insults. Religious orders — the
RedemptoristsThe Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Congregation founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.Members of the order are known as...
and
LazaristsCongregation of the Mission is a vowed order of priests and brothers associated with the Vincentian Family, a loose federation of organizations who claim St. Vincent de Paul as their founder or Patron...
— worked for the redemption of captives, and large legacies were left for that purpose in many countries.
The continued piracy was due to competition among European powers. France encouraged the pirates against Spain, and later Britain and Holland supported them against France. In the 18th century, British public men were not ashamed to say that Barbary piracy was a useful check on the competition of the weaker Mediterranean nations in the carrying trade. When
Lord ExmouthAdmiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...
sailed to coerce Algiers in 1816, he expressed doubts in a private letter whether the suppression of piracy would be acceptable to the trading community. Every power wanted to secure immunity for itself and was more or less ready to compel Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, Sale and the rest to respect only its own trade and subjects. In 1655, British admiral
Robert BlakeRobert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England, and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century....
was sent to punish the Tunisians, and he gave them a severe beating. During the reign of
Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
, the British fleet made many expeditions, sometimes together with the Dutch. In 1682 and 1683, the French bombarded Algiers. On the second occasion the Algerines blew the French consul from a gun during the action.
18th century
In 1783 and 1784 it was the turn of Spaniards to bombard Algiers. The second time damage to the city was so severe that the Algerian
DeyDey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
asked Spain to negotiate a peace treaty and from then on Spanish vessels and coasts were safe for several years.
Such
punitive expeditionA punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons. It is usually undertaken in response to percieved disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge. provides the following definition:...
s were never pushed home, and the aggrieved European state almost always agreed in the end to pay money to secure peace. The frequent wars among European states gave the pirates many opportunities of breaking their engagements, and they always took advantage of that.
Until the Declaration of Independence in 1776 British treaties with the North African states of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli protected American ships from the Barbary corsairs.
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, which in 1777 was the first independent nation to publicly recognize the United States, became in 1784 the first Barbary power to seize an American vessel after independence. That action got the attention the sultan sought; it followed several years of fruitless diplomatic efforts to get an American emissary to come negotiate a treaty. Thomas Barclay, American consul in France, went to Morocco in 1786 and negotiated a very satisfactory
treatyThe Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship was signed by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the Moroccan sultan Muhammad III in 1786. Muhammad III, or Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdallah, came to power towards the end of the 18th century...
based on the draft he had carried from Paris and requiring no future
tributeA tribute is wealth one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance...
or gifts. Experience with Algiers was different. In 1785 two ships (the
Maria of Boston and the
Dauphin of Philadelphia) were seized, the ships and cargo were sold and the crews were enslaved and held for ransom.
In 1786,
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
, then the ambassador to France, and
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American politician and the second President of the United States , after being the first Vice President for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution...
, ambassador to Britain, met in London with Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, a visiting ambassador from Tripoli. The Americans asked Adja why his government was hostile to American ships, even though there had been no provocation. They reported to the Continental Congress that the ambassador had told them “it was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave,” but he also told them that for what they considered outrageous sums of money they could make peace.
American ships sailing in the Mediterranean chose to travel close to larger convoys of other European powers who had bribed the pirates. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual expenditures in 1800. In the early nineteenth century, President Thomas Jefferson proposed a league of smaller nations to patrol the area, but the United States could not contribute. For the prisoners, Algeria wanted $60,000 (equivalent to millions in 2009 dollars), while America offered only $4,000. Jefferson said a million dollars would buy them off, but Congress would only appropriate $80,000. For eleven years, Americans who lived in Algeria lived as slaves to Algerian Moors. For a while,
PortugalThe Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history, with territories in South America, Africa, India and South East Asia...
was patrolling the Straits of Gibraltar and preventing Barbary Pirates from entering the Atlantic. But they made a cash deal with the pirates, and they were again sailing into the Atlantic and engaging in piracy. By late 1793, a dozen American ships had been captured, goods stripped and everyone enslaved. Portugal had offered some armed patrols, but American merchants needed an armed American presence to sail near Europe. After some serious debate, the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
was born in March 1794. Six
frigateA frigate is a warship. The term has been used for warships of many sizes and roles over the past few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and manoeuvrability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s were authorized, and so began the construction of the
United StatesUSS United States was the first frigate in the United States Navy in 1797.United States was the first of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. It was designed by naval architect Joshua Humphreys and William Doughty. She was built at the shipyard in...
, the
ConstellationUSS Constellation was a 38-gun frigate, one of the six original frigates authorized for construction by the Naval Act of 1794. She was distinguished as the first U.S. Navy vessel to put to sea and the first U.S. Navy vessel to engage, defeat, and capture an enemy vessel...
, the
ConstitutionUSS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named after the Constitution of the United States of America by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat in the world.
[ is the oldest commissioned vessel...]
and three other frigates.
19th century, United States-Barbary wars
One American slave reported that the Algerians had enslaved 130 American seamen in the Mediterranean and Atlantic from 1785 to 1793. Isolated cases of piracy occurred on the Rif coast of
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
even at the beginning of the 20th century, but the pirate communities which could only live by plunder vanished with the French conquest of
AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
in 1830.
This new military presence helped to stiffen American resolve to resist the continuation of tribute payments, leading to the two
Barbary WarsThe Barbary Wars were two wars between the United States of America and the Barbary States of North Africa in the early 19th century. At issue was the Barbary pirates' demand of tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea...
along the North African coast: the
First Barbary WarThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States of America and the North African states known collectively as the Barbary States...
from 1801 to 1805 and the
Second Barbary WarThe Second Barbary War was the second of two wars fought between the United States and the Ottoman Empire's North African regencies of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, known collectively as the Barbary States...
in 1815. It was not until 1815 that naval victories ended tribute payments by the U.S., although some European nations continued annual payments until the 1830s.
The
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
actions in these wars led to the line "to the shores of
TripoliTripoli is the largest and capital city of Libya.Tripoli has a population of 1.69 million...
" in the opening of the Marine Hymn. Because of the hazards of boarding hostile ships, Marines' uniforms had a leather high collar to protect against
cutlassA cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket shaped guard.-History and Use:...
slashes. This led to the nickname
Leatherneck for U.S. Marines.
After the general pacification of 1815, the European powers agreed upon the need to suppress the Barbary pirates. The sacking of
Palma-Shooting Sports:A discipline where a shooter lies in a prone position. Rifle caliber is limited to .308 and the marksman shoots out to distances of 1000 yards using iron sights.-In the Americas:*Palma, Minas Gerais, municipality in Brazil...
on the island of
SardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . The area of Sardinia is . The nearest land masses to the island are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Tunisia, and the Spanish Balearic Islands...
by a Tunisian squadron, which carried off 158 inhabitants, roused widespread indignation. Other influences were at work to bring about their extinction. The United Kingdom had acquired
MaltaMalta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed European country in the European Union. The Southern European island nation is an archipelago that includes the inhabited islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino, along with a number of smaller, uninhabited islands...
and the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called "Eptanisa", i.e...
and now had many Mediterranean subjects. It was also engaged in pressing the other European powers to join with it in the suppression of the slave trade which the Barbary states practiced on a large scale and at the expense of Europe. The suppression of the trade was one of the objects of the
Congress of ViennaThe Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...
. The United Kingdom was called on to act for Europe, and in 1816
Lord ExmouthAdmiral Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...
was sent to obtain treaties from Tunis and Algiers. His first visit produced diplomatic documents and promises and he sailed for England. While he was negotiating, a number of British subjects had been brutally treated at
BonaAnnaba is a city in the northeastern corner of Algeria near the river Seybouse and the Tunisian border. It is located in Annaba Province. With a population of 258,058 , it is the fourth largest city in Algeria...
, without his knowledge. The British government sent him back to secure reparation, and on the 17th of August, in combination with a Dutch squadron under Admiral Van de Capellen, he administered a significant
bombardment to AlgiersThe Bombardment of Algiers was an attempt by Britain to end the slavery practices of the Dey of Algiers. An Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Exmouth bombarded ships and the harbour defences of Algiers....
. The lesson terrified the pirates both of that city and of Tunis into giving up over 3,000 prisoners and making fresh promises. Within a short time, however, Algiers renewed its piracies and slave-taking, though on a smaller scale, and the measures to be taken with the city's government were discussed at the
Congress of Aix-la-ChapelleThe Congress or Conference of Aix-la-Chapelle , held in the autumn of 1818, was primarily a meeting of the four allied powers Britain, Austria, Prussia and Russia to decide the question of the withdrawal of the army of occupation from France and the nature of the modifications to be introduced in...
in 1818. In 1824 another British fleet under Admiral Sir Harry Neal again bombarded Algiers. The city remained a haven for and source of pirates until its conquest by France in 1830.
The thoroughness with which the French conquered and colonized Algeria put an effective end to piracy from the Barbary coast.
Barbary slaves
While Barbary corsairs naturally looted the cargo of ships they captured, their primary goal was to capture prisoners on land or at sea and turn them into slaves. Once captured, the slaves were often sold or put to work in various ways in North Africa. “It has been estimated that between 1530 and 1780 some one million, or one and a quarter million Europeans were captured and made slaves in North Africa, principally in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, with further captives in Istanbul and Sallee.” The high point of slave trade was between 1605 and 1634, when there were 35,000 captive slaves at any given time in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Furthermore, because of the high mortality rate in slaves, there was always a constant demand for more. The clever corsairs would raid ships or coastal areas and grab as many people as they possibly could. Then, they would come back a few days later and sell the villagers their own people back. If the families of the captives could not afford their family member back, merciless financiers would come and offer the families the extra cash they needed in exchange for their houses and land. If the families could not meet the deadline to get their family member back, it was of little concern to the corsairs, who knew they could sell the captives for a lot more money in the North African slave markets. However, they benefited from getting the family’s ransom because it meant instant cash for them.
Being captured was just the first part of a slave’s nightmare journey. Many slaves died on the ships during the long voyage back to North Africa due to disease or lack of food and water. For the “lucky” ones that did survive the journey, they were made a spectacle of as they walked through town on their way to the slave auction. The slaves would then have to stand from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon while buyers passed by and viewed them. Next came the auction, where the townspeople would bid on the slaves they wanted to purchase and once that was over, the governor of Algiers (the Dey) had the chance to purchase any slave he wanted for the price they were sold at the auction. During these auctions, the slaves would be forced to run and jump around to show their strength and stamina. After purchase, these slaves would either become slaves for ransom, or they would be put to work. There were a wide variety of jobs slaves had, from hard manual labor to doing housework (the job that almost all women slaves got). At night the slaves were put into prisons called ‘bagnos’ that were often hot and overcrowded. However, these bagnos began improving by the 1700s, and some bagnos had chapels, hospitals, shops, and bars run by slaves. Here, slaves were treated a little more fairly and were given the opportunity to run small businesses, and in some cases, make a small profit.
Galley slaves
Although the conditions in bagnos were harsh, they were nothing compared to what galley slaves had to go through. A galley is a ship that could be propelled solely by human power, and that is exactly what barbary pirates had the slaves do. Barbary galleys were at sea for around eighty to a hundred days a year, so the slaves were not on them constantly, but when they were not rowing the galleys they were forced to do difficult manual labor on land. However, there were some exceptions; “galley slaves of the Ottoman Sultan in Istanbul would be permanently confined to their galleys, and often served extremely long terms, averaging around nineteen years in the late seventeenth-century and early eighteenth-century periods. And these slaves simply never got off the galley but lived there for years.” During this time, rowers were shackled and chained where they sat, and were never allowed to leave. Sleeping (which was rare), eating, and even going to the bathroom took place right on the seats that they rowed on. There was normally around five or six rowers on each oar, but this did not mean that any of the slaves could get away with any lack of effort. Overseers would walk back and forth and whip the slaves who were not rowing up to par.
Yet, there were some benefits to being a galley slave. Galley slaves were entitled to a cut of the treasure if the ship was lucky enough to obtain any, but their masters were likely to take a percentage of their treasure anyway. Also, for the slaves who managed to survive long enough, there was a possibility to being promoted onboard to positions such as a scrivani or a vagovan. A scrivani was, “a slave secretary who kept track of the lives of the slaves, and kept the financial books of the voyage.” Vagovans were, “slaves who were the pace setters and organizers of the rowers.”
Freedom for slaves
Barbary slaves could hope to be freed through payment of a ransom. Despite the efforts of middlemen and charities to raise money to provide ransoms, they were still very difficult to come by. Just as charity funding for slave ransoms increased, North African states kept increasing the amount of money that each slave was worth. However, lack of money was not the only problem standing between slaves and their freedom. Slaves would often need to notify their families that they were captive and inform them of the ransom price, and they would also need to pay the hefty mailing charge (which few slaves could afford) and wait several months for the mail to be delivered.
For the slaves and their families who were able to come up with the money, actually returning home was not guaranteed either. Redeemed slaves often went through a port to wait for the ransom to be finalized, and in some cases in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, slaves were kept at these ports as a quarantine due to fear of the plague.
Clearly, not many barbary slaves could depend on being rescued by ransoms, and instead had to look for the chance to escape. This was obviously easier said than done, since only a handful of slaves were actually able to escape. The most famous of runaway slaves was Thomas Pellow, who had the story of his journey published in 1740. After several failed attempts (which nearly resulted in his death), Pellow was finally able to escape to Gibraltar in July of 1738.
Effects of barbary slavery on the world
Barbary piracy was not only an issue for the slaves, but for surrounding places as well. European oceanic trade and commerce was greatly affected by barbary pirates and privateers in the seventeeth and eighteenth centuries. After years of having ships raided, cargoes seized, and crews captured by the barbary corsairs, European states and eventually the U.S. took action. These countries “were forced to negotiate individual treaties with the sultan of Morocco and the governors (deys) of the Ottoman regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. The treaties consisted primarily of a yearly tribute to be paid to the North African rulers in exchange for safe passage of crews and goods.”
Many have argued that barbary slavery between 1625-1640 was one of the reasons for the outbreak of civil war in England. King Charles I succeeded to the throne in 1625, and immediately faced tension with the English sailors, ship owners, and other coastal inhabitants. At this time, there were already hundreds of captives in the Barbary States. Merchants would not only lose their employees to the barbary corsairs, but also their vessels and goods. They were furious that King Charles I was not putting enough of the money that was earned from taxes and other forms of revenue toward security along the coastline. Furthermore, many of the captives were members of distraught families, who thought that anything that could be done to have their family members returned should be done. The King attempted to appease the masses and pay ransoms for the captives, but his efforts were thwarted by corruption in his government. King Charles I proposed having members of his government collect ransom money from townspeople, but often, the government official would claim to have freed many captives but instead keep the collected money to himself. By 1640, there were thousands of English captives in North Africa. As a result, King Charles I was very unpopular around the coast of England, and this helped lead to the Civil War in 1642.
But this was not the end of England’s pirate issues. During the Napoleonic wars (1799-1815), the British relied on the Barbary States to supply its naval and commercial shipping with food and water so they chose to look the other way with regards to Barbary piracy and slavery. However, with the end of the Napoleanic wars, Britain decided it was time to take action and abolish slavery on the Barbary coastline. So in 1816, Great Britain commissioned Sir Edward Pellew (not related to Thomas Pellow) to negotiate a treaty with the Barbary states.
Sir Edward was able to negotiate with many of the Barbary States such as Tunis and Tripoli, to whom he paid large tributes and was able to free over 1700 slaves. He was also able to convince these states to treat Christian captives as prisoners of war rather than slaves. Algiers however was less co-operative. While attempting to negotiate with the Algerian Dey, a misunderstanding resulted in the death of 200 Sardinian fishermen that were under British protection. After this, it was clear that war with Algiers was inevitable. On August 27, Sir Edward and his fleet attacked Algiers with full force, and after nine hours of fighting, 51,356 rounds shot, and 118 tons of powder spent, the Dey of Algiers was finally ready to negotiate. The Algiers casualties totalled around 7,000 men, while the British and Dutch losses were only about 900. The Dey agreed to all of Britain’s demands, and a total of 1,211 slaves were released. Piracy declined substantially after the bombardment of Algiers but it was not until fourteen years later, in 1830, that the French annexed Algiers and piracy was ended forever in North Africa.
Oruç Barbarossa
The most famous of the pirates in North Africa were the four Barbarossa brothers, who all became Barbary corsairs. However, only two of the Barbarossas became famous, Oruç and Hızır Hayreddin. Oruç, the oldest who gave the Barbarossas their name because of his red beard, captured the island of Djerba for the Ottoman Empire in 1502 or 1503. Often, Oruç would attack Spanish territories on the coast of North Africa, and during one failed attempt in 1512, Oruç lost his left arm to a cannon ball. The oldest Barbarossa would also go on a rampage through Algiers in 1516 and capture the town with the help of the Ottoman Empire. He executed the ruler of Algiers and everybody he suspected would oppose him, including local rulers. However, his ruthlessness and high taxes turned Algiers against him, and he was finally captured and killed by the Spanish in 1518 and put on display.
Hızır Hayreddin Barbarossa
However, Oruç was not the most famous pirate of the Barbarossas since he was more of a land-based criminal. His youngest brother Hızır (later named Hayreddin, pronounced Kheir ed-Din) was a more traditional pirate, and was actually a more capable pirate as he was a clever engineer and spoke at least six languages. But Hızır was obviously very fond of his eldest brother, and dyed his hair and beard with a reddish tint to honor Oruç. After capturing many crucial coastal areas, Hayreddinwas appointed admiral in chief of the Ottoman sultan’s fleet. Under Hızır’s command, the Ottoman empire was able to gain control and keep control of the eastern Mediterranean for over thirty years. Barbaros Hızır Hayreddin Pasha died in 1546 of either the plague or fever.
Captain John Ward
Another famous Barbary corsair was Captain John Ward. He was once called, “beyond doubt the greatest scoundrel that ever sailed from England”, by the English Ambassador to Venice. Ward was born in Faversham, England, but traveled to Plymouth when he got older in hopes to become a privateer for Queen Elizabeth during her war with Spain. Once the war was over, Ward, like many other ex-privateers, soon became bored with his life. He and some of his mates who were serving on board a naval vessel, decided to capture a ship and sail it to Tunis in North Africa. Here, Ward’s ship was renamed Little John and he began his rather successful career as a pirate.
Ward captured many ships such as John Keyes’ and the Fursman brothers’ before he made his riches by capturing a 1500 ton Venetian vessel called Reneira a Soderina. He soon made it his primary boat and armed it with 60 cannons and 380 men. However, after an amazing voyage where he captured vessels whose combined value was around 400,000 crowns, Ward discovered an irreparable leak in the boat and he abandoned it along with most of his crew. Now an extremely wealthy man, Ward hoped to purchase a pardon and finally return home. But when his offer was denied, he stayed in Tunis and built himself a palace with his riches. Ward was the most notorious pirate in Tunis not only for his vast success as a pirate, but also for introducing the concept of using square-rigged and heavily armed ships (as opposed to galleys) to the North African area. This concept was a major reason for the Barbary’s future dominance of the Mediterranean. Before dying of the plague in 1622, John Ward (like many other Christians who sailed North Africa) abandoned his religion and adopted the Muslim religion of the Ottoman Empire.
In fiction
Barbary Corsairs are protagonists in
Le pantere di Algeri (the panthers of Algiers) by
Emilio SalgariEmilio Salgari was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction in Italy....
and appear in a number of other famous novels, including
Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe. It was first published in 1719, and is sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. The book, although based on the true story of a Scotsman, Alexander Selkirk, is a fictional autobiography of the title character, a castaway who spends 28 years...
by
Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain, and is even referred to by some as one...
,
The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, père. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas' most popular work. The writing of the work was completed in 1844...
by
Alexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, père, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
,
The Wind in the WillowsThe Wind in the Willows is a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. Alternately slow moving and fast paced, it focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters in a pastoral version of England...
by
Kenneth GrahameKenneth Grahame was a British writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature...
The Sea HawkThe Sea Hawk is a novel by Rafael Sabatini, originally published in 1915. The story is set over the years 1588-1593, and concerns a retired Cornish sea-faring gentleman, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is villainously betrayed by a jealous half-brother. After being forced to serve as a slave on a...
and the
Sword of Islam by
Rafael SabatiniRafael Sabatini was an Italian/British writer of novels of romance and adventure.-Life:Rafael Sabatini was born in Jesi, Italy, to an English mother and Italian father...
,
The Algerine CaptiveThe Algerine Captive: or the Life and Adventures of Doctor Updike Underhill: Six Years a Prisoner among the Algerines is a novel published anonymously in 1797 by early American playwright and novelist Royall Tyler...
by Royall Tyler,
Master and Commander by
Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician...
, the
Baroque Cycle by
Neal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. He has also written under the pseudonym of Stephen Bury.Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics,...
,
The Walking DrumThe Walking Drum is a novel by American author Louis L'Amour. Unlike most of his other novels, it is not set in the American West, but is a historical novel set in 12th century Europe and the Middle East....
by Louis Lamour and
Doctor Doolittle by
Hugh LoftingHugh John Lofting was a British author, trained as a civil engineer, who created the character of Doctor Dolittle — one of the classics of children's literature....
.
Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and is regularly regarded among the best novels ever written. His work is considered among the most important in all...
was captive in the
bagnioA Bagnio was originally a bath or bath-house.The term was then used to name the prison for hostages in Istanbul, which was near the bath-house, and thereafter all the slave prisons in the Ottoman Empire and the Barbary regencies...
of Algiers, and reflected his experience in some of his books, including
Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha , is a novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes...
.
One of the stereotypical features of a pirate in popular culture, the
eye patchAn eyepatch is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, or an adhesive bandage. It is often worn by people to cover a lost or injured eye, but it also has a therapeutic use in children for the treatment of...
, dates back to the
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
pirate Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah, who wore it after losing an eye in battle in the 18th century.
See also
- Islamic Raids
Ghazi or ghazah was originally an Arabic term referring to the battles in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad personally participated. It has since evolved into a term for battle associated with the expansion of Muslim territory...
- Knights of Rhodes
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta is a Roman Catholic order based in Rome, Italy...
- Order of Saint Stephen
The Order of Saint Stephen is a Tuscan dynastic-military order founded in 1561.-History:...
- Barbary treaties
The Barbary Treaties refer to several treaties between the United States of America and the semi-autonomous North African city-states of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, known collectively as the Barbary States....
- List of Ottoman & Barbary raids
- Stephen Decatur
Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr was an American naval officer notable for his heroism in the Barbary Wars and in the War of 1812...
- USS Hornet
The second USS Hornet, was formerly the merchant ship Traveller of Massachusetts, purchased at Malta by the United States Navy and then joined the American blockade of Tripoli in April 1805 with Lieutenant Samuel Evans in command...
- Dey of Algiers
Dey was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 onwards...
- Lundy
Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, lying off the coast of Devon, England, approximately one third of the distance across the channel between England and Wales. Lundy gives its name to a British sea area and is one of the islands of England....
- captured by Barbary pirates.
- Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, often considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature and is regularly regarded among the best novels ever written. His work is considered among the most important in all...
- spent five years as a slave in AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
.
- Barbary Slave Trade
The Barbary Slave Trade refers to the slave markets which flourished on the Barbary Coast, or modern day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Western Libya between the 16th and 19th centuries. These markets prospered while the states were nominally under Ottoman rule, but in reality were mostly autonomous...
- Islam and slavery
Historically, the major juristic schools of Islam traditionally accepted the institution of slavery. Muhammad and many of his companions bought, sold, freed, and captured slaves. Slaves benefited from Islamic dispensations which improved their situation relative to that in pre-Islamic society...
- Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century...
- Ottoman-Habsburg wars
The Ottoman–Habsburg wars refers to the military conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburg dynasties of the Austrian Empire, Habsburg Spain and in certain times, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. The war would be dominated by land campaigns in Hungary...
- History of the Ottoman Navy
Turkish naval forces have historically been among the largest sea powers in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean since the Medieval period.- General history :...
- Mathurin d’Aux de Lescout
Mathurin d’Aux de Lescout, called Romegas or Mathurin Romegas , was a scion of the aristocratic Gascony family of d'Aux and a member of the Knights of Saint John...
- Sack of Baltimore
The Sack of Baltimore took place on June 20, 1631, when the village of Baltimore, West Cork, Ireland, was attacked by Algerian pirates from the North African Barbary Coast, led by a Dutch captain turned pirate, Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, also known as Murat Reis the Younger...
- Barbarossa Hayreddin Paşa
- Turgut Reis
Turgut Reis was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral as well as Bey of Algiers; Beylerbey of the Mediterranean; and first Bey later Pasha of Tripoli...
- Piyale Paşa
Piyale Pasha , was an Croatian Ottoman admiral between 1553 and 1567 and an Ottoman Vizier after 1568. He was also known as Piale Pasha in the West or Pialí Bajá in Spain; )....
- Kemal Reis
Kemal Reis was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral. He was also the paternal uncle of the famous Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis who accompanied him in most of his important naval expeditions....
- Seydi Ali Reis
Seydi Ali Reis was an Ottoman admiral.He commanded the left wing of the Turkish fleet at the naval Battle of Preveza in 1538....
- Salih Reis
Salih Reis was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral.In 1529, together with Aydın Reis, he took part in the Turkish-Spanish War near the Isle of Formentera, during which the Ottoman forces destroyed the Spanish fleet, whose commander, Rodrigo Portundo, died in combat.In 1538 he commanded the...
- Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis
Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral, as well as the Sanjak Bey of Rhodes. He played an important role in the Ottoman conquests of Egypt and Rhodes during which he commanded the Ottoman naval forces...
- Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis
Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was an Ottoman admiral who is best known for commanding the Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra in Indonesia .- Background and family origins :...
- Oruç Reis
- Gedik Ahmed Paşa
Gedik Ahmet Pasha was a distinguished Ottoman grand vizier as well as an army and navy commander during the reigns of sultans Mehmed the Conqueror and Beyazid II....
- Uluç Ali Reis
- Murat Reis the Elder
- Çaka Bey
- Murat Reis the Younger
- Yusuf Reis
John Ward or Birdy , also known as Jack Ward and under his Muslim name Yusuf Reis, was a notorious English pirate around the turn of the 17th century who later became a Barbary Corsair operating out of Tunis during the early 1600s.-Early life:Not much, if anything, is known about Ward's early life...
- Tybalt Rosembraise
Born on the island of La Désirade in 1798, of a French hebertist father fleeing the repression of the Committee of public Salute, and of a slave mother descended from the Carib Indians...
On French language Wikipedia :
- :fr:Corso (brigandage maritime)
- :fr:Ali Bitchin
On Italian language Wikipedia :
- :it:Monumento dei Quattro mori
Further reading
- London, Joshua E. Victory in Tripoli: How America's War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. ISBN 978-0471444152
- The Stolen Village Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates by Des Ekin ISBN 978-0862789558
- Knights Hospitaller of St. John - Order of St John of Jerusalem Malta
- Pirates of the Mediterranean
- Lafi (Nora), Une ville du Maghreb entre ancien régime et réformes ottomanes. Genèse des institutions municipales à Tripoli de Barbarie (1795–1911), Paris: L'Harmattan, 2002, 305 pp.
- Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival by Dean King, ISBN 0-31615935-2
- The Pirate Coast: by Richard Zacks Publisher: HYPERION ISBN 1-4013-0849-X
- CHRISTIAN SLAVES, MUSLIM MASTERS:White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500-1800 by Robert C. Davis.
- New book reopens old arguments about slave raids on Europe
- White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves by Giles Milton (Sceptre, 2005)
- Piracy, Slavery and Redemption: Barbary Captivity Narratives from Early Modern England by D. J. Vikus (Columbia University Press, 2001)
- Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt
John Rodgers Jewitt was an armourer who entered the historical record with his memoirs about the 28 months he spent as a captive of Maquinna of the Nuu-chah-nulth people on the Pacific coast of what is now Canada...
, only survivor of the crew of the ship Boston, during a captivity of nearly three years among the savages of Nootka Sound: with an account of the manners, mode of living, and religious opinions of the natives.
- "To the Shores of Tripoli" by A.B.C. Whipple - great example of how the pirates were defeated and a defining moment on how radical Islam directly relates to the creation and growth of U.S. naval power and of the Marine Corps.
- The Barbary Pirates