Fun fact: after captain Phillips was freed from Somali pirates in 2009, the US Navy arrested the single surviving pirate and had him transported back to the U.S. for prosecution. He was prosecuted and sentenced based on the anti-piracy laws that Congress enacted to fight the Barbary pirates. The first in 180 or so years.
Maybe this law will be proposed for repeal by representative Ilhan Omar for oppressing pirates and Somalis or a double jeopardy points of oppressing Somali pirates. She really wants to defund the police. Especially the sea police.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Barbery pirates also had a habit of raiding the shores of any nation that didn't pay up. their shallow draft boats where perfect for costal raiding... not so good for going trans Atlantic meaning that they could never launch reprisal raids on the U.S. who could show up, shoot up the coasts and then go home without fear of being followed.
@@ddddddddddd5354Still not trans Atlantic You can get to Iceland via the North Sea which is shallow water. Sure, you could hug Greenland and Canada’s coasts to get to the US with shallow water boats, but that’s a bit ridiculously far. Meanwhile the US can shoot straight to the Med with deep water warships.
@@ddddddddddd5354 Yeah they could have raided the usa, but would it have really been worth it? I am not really sure about this, but wouldn't the usa have most of their navy back home while the colonial nations had theirs spread around the world? Raiding is all about avoiding resistance.
Another thing that I think should have been mentioned: the various Barbary states, though largely independent, were technically vassals of the Ottoman Empire, which meant that if you tried to "deal with them" effectively, the Ottomans could declare war on you. This was a big deterrent for Europeans; not so much for the US, who were a whole ocean away and thus pretty much safe from retaliation. The European nations only started invading/suppressing the Barbary states once Ottoman power started to wane.
Not really, They pretty much were independent, Far from being vassals, They just kept the name of the ottoman due to Islamic Caliph respect Add to that Ottomans did nothing when France invaded Algiers.
@@beatballmix4835 would the fact that the Ottomans did nothing potentially be caused also by the fact that Ottoman power was beginning to wane then, according to the original post?
So basically a Muslim coalition of pirate states with official backing from a world power enacted sanctioned piracy against non Muslim nations for the crimes of being non Muslim? Very cringe. Very stupid.
@@beatballmix4835North Africa was officially Turkish territory and for a time was governed by people appointed from Turkey. Later on the empire left it to the locals but they were still considered part of the empire.
Yeah, especially with the added caveat that no other European countries felt compelled to do something about the whole "getting hijacked and/or extorted" business going on in the Mediterranean. But I guess the Suez Canal was only built in the late 1860s, so at that point the Med was likely more of a backwater relative to the triangular trade going on in the Atlantic or the spices coming in from the Pacific. But that's really just a guess.
@@Handygamer the mediterranean wasn't shit since the african coast hugging/ atlantic trade started, it was even easier for nations like spain and their manila galeons.
I like how interconnected history is: the US fighting a small war in the early 19th century winds up somehow snowballing into France having to bring back de Gaulle because of a losing war in the mid 20th century. Never would have even guessed that.
@@Sam-pv1hz The youtuber already explained on how it lead to North Africa being colonized so I'll skip the part...Okay so after WW2 Algeria wanted independence.The French nationalistic army didn't want that so they threatened with a coup if Charles De Gaule (leader during WW2) wouldn't be president. They thought that he could solve this situation since he also "helped win WW2. It eventually failed Algeria fought hard and won its independence.
The United States Marine Corps Hymn's first verse mentions the Barbary war "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..." and the Marine Officer sword was adopted from the actions taken during the Marines' landing in Tripoli.
I'm British and I've known that for most of my life. Apparently, from some of the comments here, many Americans don't know it. There sure are a lot of uneducated Americans around.
Even more fun fact! That Swedish ship was send back to Sweden to help fight in the Russo-Swedish war of 1808-1809. The ship was able to free the island of Gotland from Russians. The Russians fled once they noticed the Swedish we're coming. The Swedes only lost a man because he fell from the mast. I just find it cute how the Sweden was trying to stop the Barbary Pirates with one ship.
I mean, look at the number of ships during the Opium wars - China had a HUGE numbers advantage, yet basically the entire fleet was sunk without issue. If that Swedish ship was high-tech at the time, then it could very much curbstomp fleets of older ships.
@@claymore484Sweden wasn’t as wealthy at this time due to the constant war and failed empire building the previous 150 years. However, their ships were extremely cutting edge and their crews well trained.
@@brandonlyon730 Congress doesn't deal with treaties, the Senate does, and he follows the constitution exactly in passing said treaty. It was all constitutionally legal.
I think it’s worth pointing out that the short intro to their crimes (they raided ships, stole cargo, sold crews into “bondage”) is a vast understatement. This piracy had been going on for centuries and was really centered around slavery. Initially it focused on enslaving people taken from their homes near the coasts and did over time move towards enslaving ship’s crews, though coastal raids never stopped. Though I realize it’s not really the focus of the video, the centuries of horrible crimes inflicted on people by these pirates really did feel almost purposefully minimized here which I found strange.
@@sahararaptor7600 The problem in so doing is it grossly distorts real history in favour of making Americans feel better about themselves. It claims the Europeans did squat, which is untrue. Britain enforced treaties upon the pirates from 1675 on, which endured until the end of the Barbary states in the 19th century (until the revolution American shipping was protected under those treaties). Other major powers in Europe went to war with the pirates too. The problem was the lesser powers in the Mediterranean weren't strong enough to enforce their will, and so the raids continued. The two wars involving America did not solve the problem. The Dey of Algeria repudiated the treaty signed with Decatur in 1815, and the American commissioner William Shaler had to flee onboard the Anglo-Dutch fleet which bombarded Algiers in 1816, and truly brought matters to an end. Even then raiding continued on a small scale, and as the video says, only ended when France invaded Algeria in 1830.
The last thing I would accuse this channel of doing is distorting history "in favour of making Americans feel better about themselves." Is this your first video, or are you too invested in the anti-America mentality to to let "real history" taint your opinions? @@ShanghaiRooster
Fun fact, the US only had a few ships at the time of the first war manly because it was a big issue as many saw a navy as imperialistic. They actually were lent gun boats from Naples to help in the fighting. After the war of 1812 the Navy became a point of national pride and they started building battleships. So when they went back to North Africa they had a lot more firepower
@@mendelkorf639 that’s what the democratic republicans thought. They believed that the USA did not need a fleet but militia gun boats to defend the coast at times of war. They were much want to abandon American merchants. The federalists very much wanted a navy. The navy was commissioned under Washington, when the Barbary states first started trouble, constructed under adams, both heavily used and downsized by Jefferson and then the war of 1812 happened
@@andrefasching1332 it was seen as imperialism by the democratic republicans but the federalists were able to construct a small fleet of frigates. After the success of the small navy against the British in 1812 public opinion changed. It also had to do with the idea of the federal government using the military to suppress the states and the people. But yes the whole creation of the navy was this ridiculous thing
The Barbary coast pirates even raided as far as the British isles. There are tales of them scooping up entire coastal villages. Younger females were sold into harems and sexual slavery while males were sold as slave labour or galley slaves. It's estimated that the Barbary coast pirates enslaved up to 1.2 million Europeans over the course of their existence, with most never living to see home again.
And let's not forget how many slaves the Ottomans took from central Europe during the same period, too. Facts that will never be taught in schools. No. It doesn't matter when White people are enslaved. White people are racists. Only White people can be racists.
I had heard about the Barbary Wars before, but never quite knew why no other state had just stopped them. I never considered that it was for a simple reason: Britain wanted them to live.
It's just that the UK payed the most. Essentially getting a monopoly of safe shipping in the Mediterranean. Or from a cynical perspective: perfidiously funding privateers to annoy Spain and France.
@@ToastieBRRRN No mate, it's all an evil British conspiracy pay no attention to Britain getting fed up with them and bombarding Algiers everything ever is Britain's fault.
Fun fact-the opening line of the US Marines hymn states: “ From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli. We fight our countries battles, on the land, on air and sea.” The shores of Tripoli paying respect to the fight against the Barbary Coast pirates by the US Marines. Semper Fi🇺🇸
@@jeffspaulding9834 It refers to the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The Marines stormed Chapultepec Castle and held it, suffering high casualties.
I appreciate seeing this topic being covered, however as a french, it sort of upsets me to see the role of the Barbary pirates being downplayed as just ''harassing ships''. They didn't do just that. They would also raid the coasts for slaves who would then be sold into slavery in Africa, and it lasted, as in the video, late into History. I have no idea why this wouldn't get brought up, these weren't just petty pirates.
Pirates raiding coastal settlements for slaves (among other expensive goods) is par for the course. That's just what pirates _do._ The Caribbean had some pirate crews who were exceptions (in part because the pirates there were far more often outlaws, and it's hard to have slaves without a state to enforce that slavery.)
Your understandable reaction might be more the result of all the great public relations work pirates have received over the years, especially recently. Piracy was always a heinous avocation, full of violence and cruelty. So unless each vile deed is spelled out, people today might assume that pirates weren't all bad, or that they were some kind of "Robin Hood" figures. There was a reason their crimes were punished with extreme measures, and their bodies often displayed as warning to others. Piracy was never petty, nor were they ever some kind of anti-hero. Interesting, certain north European pirates and raiders, i.e. Vikings, also enjoy this romanticized view, though they too were the lowest form of violent scum.
@@The_Lunch_Man yeah but it sound like they only took as slave the crew of ships, which is far FAR from reality. entire coastlines, entire islands were emptied of their population, reducted to slavery by these fuckers. they had it comming.
@@williampalmer8052indeed, Pittsburgh's baseball team is named the Pirates and even a century ago the naming made pirscy seem like it's just any normal graft. (They took a player from another league, and a newspaper article in the opposing team's city described the act as piratical.) And anyone who's ever eaten at a pirate themed restaurant, with names like Long John Silver, would figure they were just Sailors who were a little more aggressive, maybe with the attitude toward rules that John McGraw had toward umpires, hey why not continue the baseball theme :-)
Wow, as a Swede I had no idea that Sweden took part in the fight against the Barbary pirates. And I usually recognize everything on this channel that involves Sweden. Neat!
Let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen in Western countries. We just like to call it “trafficking”. Similar to the Antebellum South calling human property “servants”.
@@mjjoe76 not like wage slavery isn't a thing in capitalist nations as well. The ruling class simply figured out that it was cheaper to pay starvation level wages than it was to outright own the labor force.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 While there defenitely can be improvements if you think that so called "wage slavery" is anything like real slavery you are absolutely broken in the head or ideologically captured
The famous US raid against the Barbary Pirates in 1803 was to recapture or burn an American ship that had been seized. It’s immortalized in the Marine Corp Hymn: “to the shores of Tripoli.”
keep romanticising the US army as some sort of justice bringers when this same army was confiscating native lands and deporting them into what is essentially an early form of concentration camps
There is a famous phrase in Spanish related to the Barbary pirates: "No hay moros en la costa," which translates to "There are no Moors on the coast." Essentially, it is used to indicate that a place is safe, as in the past, many Spaniards were assaulted and abducted by these pirates.
Amazing video as always, really fascinating to learn about more obscure topics in history like these. One small nitpick though, at around 0:31 when you say Algiers, you highlight Tripolitania instead.
Script writing error. They do the voice overs separately from the animation so the dialogue occasionally doesn't align well since they don't always watch the footage when recording the voice.
I can't express how happy I get to see each of your new videos. Love from Iran. Also, would you ever consider making a video about Iranian history? You've only made one so far.
Yeah Im surprised the devs expanded the lore beyond the end date. Really thoughtful of PDX to do so, perhaps we have given them too much flak for lack of flavor.
I don't know if I've said this before - but for me in the videos is the part where you have one of your characters floating through a field of flowers, that just gives me joy and I look forward to it every time.
@@robertmoffett3486 I don't know - it's one part the animated figure as a historic figure, the way they bounce, and the flower field. That is just the bestest.
I really hope we get a 10 minute video on the Barbary states. It feels like one of those topics that isn’t fully discussed. Here in the US, we barely cover it anymore and this is a subject that has fascinated me for sometime. It’s not talked about enough in the public school system these days and I think it should be talked about more as to how it shaped isolationism and Monroe doctrine in the US.
Early US was in a similar situation to Japan after the Washington Naval Treaty in that if you can't beat your main rivals in quantity of battleships (/equivalent top rank), you try to obsolete what they already have. The US did this through the construction of ships such as the USS Constitution (which was a far more practical design for the US to implement than the British for a number of reasons) and Japan by building super battleships and capitalizing on air power as much as possible.
Congress initially authorized building only 6 frigates to constitute the entire Navy. So they built the largest, most technologically advanced frigates on the planet at the time, capable of defeating most other countries' ships of the line.
The Portuguese navy provided Convoy escort in the first Year after USA independence, and we also kept the moors trapped in the Mediterranean, but in 1793 we made a treaty with the pirates of algiere and the americans were left to fend for themselves
Actually U.S didn't made deal with the Barbary Pirates but with their overlord AKA the Ottomans, that agreement is the ONLY agreement that U.S signed in foreign language and Ottoman Empire is the only nation in history U.S actually paid tribute (to protect their ships.) But when Barbary Pirates continued to attack the American ships as you said, Ottomans pretty much stand aside and let Americans do anything they want to them.
While I do believe that the U.S. would entreat with the Ottomans, I find the idea that the Sublime Porte was an overlord of the Barbary States by the early 19th century laughable. Weren’t they dealing with Egypt at the time?
Actually, US didn’t pay a tribute to the ottoman empire and they deal with them later after the barbary wars. US were dealing and paying tribute with the governor of the barbary pirates independently from the empire even though they were officially ottoman provinces
Just a small error: when Algiers is mentioned, the map is highlighting Tripoli instead. Really enjoy your content just wanted to bring this to your attention!
You should do a video on the time the US saved a North Korean ship from Pirates, one of the only times North Korea actually thanked the US. The enemy of my enemy is my friend :)
@@gimmethegepgunnations may hate each other but trading is still happening especially when the world is more integrated than ever economically because all sides will loose if ships stop sailing. Pirates having a bad habit of ransacking goods from every cargo ship they can find is a really quick way to unite everyone against them
@@Bisexual_power Indonesia is quite okay and quite accomodating to piracy of all kinds. Not that preying on shipping between China and anything west of Thailand is going all that well, but Indonesia does f*ckall against it. The PLAN has had to sail well into disputed territory near Indonesia to go deal with pirates operating out of there, and if it wasn't for Singapore there'd be a pretty serious problem.
"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" -- always knew we must have done *something* in Tripoli for that line to make it into the Marines' Hymn, I just never knew what it was. Thanks!
The US never fought Morocco. Before fighting the Barbary Wars, America did the smart thing and tried diplomacy first, but Morocco was the only Barbary state to agree to a diplomatic solution.
00:34 Algiers is modern day Algeria situated in the middle between tunisia and morroco the one highlighted is Tripoli or modern day Lybia I think it’s a minor mistake by the creator
He was highlighting the Maghreb region, and maybe intended to mention that term before accidentally defaulting to Algeria. Also, the US Marines' song mentions the shores of Tripoli, even though Algers was the principle offender during that period, which further adds to the confusion.
I imagine Thomas Jefferson being told by the king of England about the pirates issue and internally fuming over why no one has done anything about them and responding with the line that every man hears from his wife when she wants something done that no one else cares about: “Fine, I’ll do it myself!”
One thing not mentioned is that not only that the Americans liberated US prisoners captured by the Barbary pirates but in the process liberated British prisoners as well.
Not sure there would have been many British prisoners as once the Royal Navy started to build up in size mid 1700's the Barbary Pirates generally looked at the number of warships based at Gibraltar, and agreed that they would leave all British flagged ships alone provided the Royal Navy would refrain from using their cannon to extend the Mediterranean Sea southwards. I believe that after a regime change in one of the North African pirate centres letters were sent to the various countries with a Mediterranean coastline saying that previous tributes were void and that they should pay again. The British Admiral at Gibraltar however got a letter wishing King George good heath and saying that the new ruler was more than happy to carry on with the previous arrangement of leaving each other alone. The problem for the USA started when after they refused to pay their share of the expense of a war started by an incompetent Colonial militia officer by the name of G. Washington, who fired on French troops during peacetime, and then rebelled on the spurious basis that they were being taxed without representation. (The average colonial Englishman paying about 1/10 of the tax paid by those living on the home islands, despite being in general better off.) But I suppose limited representation (local assemblies) for limited taxation is not that good a battle cry. I also note that a lot of those signing the Declaration of Independence were slave owners, and that it was the British Empire that was the main force behind the end of large scale slavery. Had they seen the way the wind was blowing in Britain and decided to get out before they were told no more slavery? After the unpleasantness of 1776 etc. I believe a certain Benjamin Franklin approached a British diplomat and asked if the threat of Royal Navy displeasure could be extended to cover American merchant ships in the Mediterranean area, the reply was why would we want to do that?
@@GreoGreo No we were not the largest slave traders, I think that the Portuguese shipped almost twice as many people as us. The Arab slave trade on the East coast of Africa was also even larger than the Portuguese but spread out over a longer period of time.
They sing about it in The Marines’ Hymn. From the Halls of Montezuma To the shores of Tripoli; We fight our country's battles In the air, on land, and sea.
That's right. I remember those words from when I was a little kid, when I had now idea of the meaning of Montezuma or Tripoli. (I guess "Montezuma" was a reference to the Mexican-American war?)
Couple of interesting sidenotes: 1. The second line of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn, “to the shores of Tripoli” references the invasion of Tripolitania mentioned at 1:40. For a long time I had always wondered when the Marines were ever in North Africa. 2. Before the first Barbary War, the U.S. signed a treaty with the Barbary states in 1796 just to ensure safe passage for American shipping in exchange for payment and which included Article 11, which begins, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” Christian nationalists in the U.S. will claim that the Article doesn’t appear in the Arabic version or that it was mistranslated into English. Nevertheless, the Senate (which at the time still included many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration or helped create the Constitution) unanimously approved the treaty, without debate, with the words “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” and John Adams signed it only a couple days later. Separation of church and state, yo. Hard separation.
2:21 Barbary States after losing to the United Sates: Well I know it’s been a rough time for us and losing to such a young country is embarrassing but I think we can still save thi- The European powers: (stop fighting each other and slowly turn to the Barbary States) The Barbary States: …
Haha your history is literally shameful let me tell you the truth they lied to you America lost against Algeria in the war of 1795 then lost again in 1815 in other words their victory against Libya in 1803 was a trick to silence public opinion in America and their victory over the Libyan pirates was because they were less than 5% of the pirates in the Mediterranean while Tunisia and Algeria constituted almost 80% they tried to cover up their failure with that victory but they failed in that too and the pirates of the Mediterranean were not defeated until after the Battle of Navarino in which the Ottoman fleet participated together against all of Europe and all of North America with Russia and the Greek Revolution and this was the defeat that made the European forces say: Look there are countries that have become weak let us occupy them
As a reminder, in your country there is a street called Emir Abdelkader Street. This was a mark of the Berber dominance over your country during that period.
More fun facts: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..." Words that start the Marine Corps Hymn. Also, Marines still wear the "Mameluke Sword" signifying this first defeat of the pirates in Libya. This cut and pasted from Wikipedia: Marine Corps history states that a sword of this type was presented to Marine First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon by the Ottoman Empire viceroy, Prince Hamet, on December 8, 1805, during the First Barbary War, in Libya, as a gesture of respect and praise for the Marines' actions at the Battle of Derna (1805).[4] Upon his return to the United States, the state of Virginia presented him with a silver-hilted sword featuring an eagle head hilt and a curved blade modeled after the original Mameluke sword given to him by Hamet. Its blade is inscribed with his name and a commemoration of the Battle of Tripoli Harbor.[5]
Fun fact: during the Barbary wars, the US marines went to the East Mediterranean to recruit roughly 800 greek and Turkish mercenaries to fight the Barbary pirates. It’s ironic because the turks were the ones who for centuries sponsored the barbary pirates (meanwhile almost none of the Barbary pirates were actually turks, but were from the balkans, predominantly greeks and Albanians and later North African Arabs).
@@savioblanc True Raïs Mohamme El-Roussy (The Russian) Raïs Murad (Peter lyle a defected Scottish) Raïs Al-Uljy* (a dutch) * = Ulj means a non arab person all served in Tripoli , Only the latter was from the 1600s.
A lot of people who were forced out of their normal lives ended up going "Well, I guess I can always be a pirate". Many Jews fleeing from the constant Holocaust attempts in Spain, ended up in the Barbary States, realising becoming a pirate would be an excellent way to get revenge against Spain.
0:32 Colouring the later French colonial possesions in blue, white, red. I see what you did there Also, isn't the green area Libya/Tripolitania, as opposed to Algiers?
And it was from this that part of the US Marine Corp got the first line of its song. "...to the shores of Tripoli." Seven marines were in charge of that second campaign. The beginning of a fine tradition of US marines kicking ass.
The book The Stolen Village by Des Ekin is utterly horrifying for what happened to the commoners who couldn't afford to buy their way out of slavery after being kidnapped by Barbary Pirates - and also the descriptions of how the Barbary Pirates were known to kill babies & toddlers because they wanted the women without children. It makes fictional stories out of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire sound tame. The aristocracy of Europe didn't need to worry about being sold into slavery by the Barbary Pirates - they could pay the ransom. The average people of England (especially Cornwall) and Ireland were the ones having entire villages rounded up and sold into slavery to never see their homes again. That significantly impacted those who immigrated to the US - since they were the ones terrified of the pirates. When the Barbary Pirates started raiding the US coast - especially the Carolinas - it was impacting immigrates from the same areas that had been badly hit in the British Isles. The village of Baltimore in Ireland which had the entire village rounded up and sold into slavery in 1631 - wasn't inhabited again until after the US stopped the Barbary Pirates.
No Barbary pirate ever came near the US. Pirates who attacked American shipping in the Caribbean, or enroute, were of European extraction, British, French, and Spanish
The Catholic church had an order - and it's still functioning by the way - called The Trinitarians. The entire point of this Order was to literally travel to North Africa and the Middle East to visit the slave markets and buy back Western Christian slaves that were taken from Europe.
Agreed! Over the past year, there have been several questions posed on this channel that: 1) I had never thought about; 2) once I read the question, I thought it was a great question; and 3) I had to know the answer and immediately watched the video.
Entertaining and informative as always thank you so much.❤😊 I just wish you would have also mentioned their enslaving of Europeans which is a horrible tragedy (no matter to whom it happens) and should not be overlooked or forgotten 😢
Two details: 1. The Barbary pirates prompted the construction of the ship USS Constitution and her sisters, which would serve with distinction (besides one) in the War of 1812. 2. The Barbary Wars are referenced in the second line of the Marines’ Hymn: “To the shores of Tripoli”.
“I caught strapped with six pistols and a dagger, walk under the black flag with a scallywag swagger. Ain’t no parrot on my shoulder, ain’t no rings in my ear, I’m an irate pirate real swashbuckling buccaneer!” Blackbeard
Sir, as much as I like your videoes I think you overlooked the Danish-Algerian War (1769-72) in this one. Yes, the danes lost spectacularly and payed their way out - but it was not for lack of trying to deal with the Barbary states.
There's a good book, The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa, for those who want a more details look at the story. Short version, at the end of the War of 1812 we had alotta ships and no money. The pirates declared war again and set an exorbitant price for peace. We said, "Ok, War then." We caught their flagship out at sea and effectively won the war in a brief engagement.
I always look forward to a History Matters video! Giving us answers we needed to know to questions nobody asked. (Also, good thing James Bisonette didn't exist back then or the pirates would have been wrecked by his infinite war coffers) Here's a future idea: Why did the Boston Tea Party colonists dress up like Native Americans?
I think it's interesting how Morocco was actually one of the first nations to recognize America as an Independent nation and actually signed the oldest active treaty with America
By this time period, Morocco wasn't as involved as Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, who were the main offenders when it came to piracy (although there was still some piracy, just not as much as the others).
It's not if you remember that the Boston Tea Party was an act of piracy and that the perpetrators were annoyed at the newly-lowered (yes, lowered) tax on tea threatened their illegal tea-smuggling business. A pirate-supporting nation like 1770s Morocco was always going to love a nation that celebrates such behaviour. Kindred spirits! ;)
Back when Americans were still British culturally and aesthetically but not politically, I love the late 18th American style of clothes, btw thanks for covering an aspect of Americans in the Mediterranean it's so underrated.
Morocco has nothing to do with this war. When the Moroccan Emperor rencognised the independance of the US, he also declared safe passage for American ships.
How does it go again? "The amount of historical events and decissions that can be explained by a guy holding up a sign that sais *this sounds expensive* or *this is cheaper*, is scarily common and accurate" Or something like that
Denmark-Norway had a fight with Algier around 1770, the issue being an increase in protection money. It was a complete failure and cost a lot of "gifts" to Algier to end it. And paying the no-pirate fee. We never learn. The Faroe Islands also fell victims to Algierean pirates. Though far way they were hardly protected (a small fortress was erected in Torshavn). So who knows - I might have an ancestor from Algier?
Explosives work better than Danegeld. Fortunately by that time, the Vikings had already turned to Scandinavians, placing Sweden on the *smart* side of a naval bombardment. 💣
Fun fact: the most notorious pirate (Murat Reis), a famous neighborhood named after him in current day Algeria, was a slave from Holland that was captured in one of the raids😂
0:31 The most notorious being Algiers. *Proceeds to show Tripolitania* In all seriousness, always wondered why the US led the charge on this one this early on. Thanks for explaining.
Spain in the 16th Century and later England in the 17th took Algiers for some years each, but they eventually gave up after some years. France was Eventually succesful, but at a high cost. Barbary Pirates were one of the reasons of the development of the Royal Navy after raiding the coast of England and Ireland in the 16th Century. There were French Privateers, but they didn't capture and enslave English people.
There is SO MUCH they don't touch on. I remember learning about the War of 1812 only be reading my history book in elementary school, but I never had a lesson on it. Spanish American War I only learned about through a documentary!!! We didn't even touch on World War One or World War Two in school!!! But I can give you a detailed account of the Revoluntionary War because we touched on that at least a dozen times.....
They are filling curriculum with so much now days that not everything can be covered. Core classes are often not even everyday now because they are pushing more art and music courses throughout the week.
In Tripoli ( the capital of Libya) We have the ship's mast of the philadelphia ship ( a ship of the USA Navy) that was captured by the tripolitania Navy back then, if you visit the heart of the city and you go to the port you will find the mast of the captured ship standing till this day
@@_blank-_ in terms of safety, Libya right now is much safer then it was for the last 10 years, but the thing is... Nothing is guaranteed for the peace to continue, but for now, everything in somehow is "okay"
At 0:34, the audio track states, “the most notorious of them was Algiers”, and the video at that point highlights the coastal region of modern day Libya, including Tripoli. Algiers is 631 miles to the west of Tripoli, Libya - between Morocco and Tunisia.
Left out that one of the major concerns of the USA was the fact that you had several sailors and CITIZENS being kidnapped by the pirates and sold into slavery. (Which is ironic seeing how the issue of slavery was a big deal in the USA at the time.) But it was this kidnapping for slavery in INTERNATIONAL WATERS that got the USA so worked up to begin with. And the raid that they did to "free the captives" was roughly 30 sailors/citizens captured off the coast of Denmark (I think), several DAYS away from the Mediterranean Sea at least. As well as the pirates ALSO threatening to block off the ENTIRE Mediterranean to USA trade. However, on a side-note. It is BECAUSE of the pirates, that the USA has taken the stance "Appeasement never works" seriously. It was something that we saw (during that time) as basically being victims of extortion with no course of action to address the issue EXCEPT for the use of force. Seeing how simply spending money wasn't providing the USA what it wanted, which was the stopping of capturing USA sailors and free trade through-out the Med. (Specifically Italy/Greece). Which is ONE of the reason that the USA led "invasion" into the area used Greek mercenaries... who themselves were sick and tired of the Barbary Pirates as well.
Fun fact: after captain Phillips was freed from Somali pirates in 2009, the US Navy arrested the single surviving pirate and had him transported back to the U.S. for prosecution. He was prosecuted and sentenced based on the anti-piracy laws that Congress enacted to fight the Barbary pirates. The first in 180 or so years.
Chad US Navy 🗿
I seem to remember a press release that he got a college degree in prison.
Maybe this law will be proposed for repeal by representative Ilhan Omar for oppressing pirates and Somalis or a double jeopardy points of oppressing Somali pirates. She really wants to defund the police. Especially the sea police.
Insha’Allah he makes it home
@@mahershala4015 He probably will, the US aren't barbarians, unlike Muslim slave raiders and pirates.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Barbery pirates also had a habit of raiding the shores of any nation that didn't pay up. their shallow draft boats where perfect for costal raiding... not so good for going trans Atlantic meaning that they could never launch reprisal raids on the U.S. who could show up, shoot up the coasts and then go home without fear of being followed.
American gunboats being chad
But didn't they raid as far as Iceland ?
@@ddddddddddd5354Still not trans Atlantic
You can get to Iceland via the North Sea which is shallow water. Sure, you could hug Greenland and Canada’s coasts to get to the US with shallow water boats, but that’s a bit ridiculously far. Meanwhile the US can shoot straight to the Med with deep water warships.
And that is why many small towns and villages on northern mediteranean coast are quite a distance from the shore
@@ddddddddddd5354 Yeah they could have raided the usa, but would it have really been worth it? I am not really sure about this, but wouldn't the usa have most of their navy back home while the colonial nations had theirs spread around the world? Raiding is all about avoiding resistance.
Another thing that I think should have been mentioned: the various Barbary states, though largely independent, were technically vassals of the Ottoman Empire, which meant that if you tried to "deal with them" effectively, the Ottomans could declare war on you. This was a big deterrent for Europeans; not so much for the US, who were a whole ocean away and thus pretty much safe from retaliation. The European nations only started invading/suppressing the Barbary states once Ottoman power started to wane.
Not really, They pretty much were independent, Far from being vassals, They just kept the name of the ottoman due to Islamic Caliph respect
Add to that Ottomans did nothing when France invaded Algiers.
@@beatballmix4835 would the fact that the Ottomans did nothing potentially be caused also by the fact that Ottoman power was beginning to wane then, according to the original post?
@@ThePurplePassageim from algeria [ barbary coast ] and the otmans They were just our allies
So basically a Muslim coalition of pirate states with official backing from a world power enacted sanctioned piracy against non Muslim nations for the crimes of being non Muslim? Very cringe. Very stupid.
@@beatballmix4835North Africa was officially Turkish territory and for a time was governed by people appointed from Turkey. Later on the empire left it to the locals but they were still considered part of the empire.
The US and Sweden fighting off pirates in North Africa sounds like some weird timeline from one of my Victoria 2 playthroughs
Yeah, especially with the added caveat that no other European countries felt compelled to do something about the whole "getting hijacked and/or extorted" business going on in the Mediterranean. But I guess the Suez Canal was only built in the late 1860s, so at that point the Med was likely more of a backwater relative to the triangular trade going on in the Atlantic or the spices coming in from the Pacific. But that's really just a guess.
yeah, obvious US+Sweden coop game
@@Handygamer the mediterranean wasn't shit since the african coast hugging/ atlantic trade started, it was even easier for nations like spain and their manila galeons.
I had to fight the king of norway for Land in middle africa once in crusader kings 3.
@@molybdaen11😂😂😂
I like how interconnected history is: the US fighting a small war in the early 19th century winds up somehow snowballing into France having to bring back de Gaulle because of a losing war in the mid 20th century. Never would have even guessed that.
That's the essence 👌
Mind explaining please? I don't wanna do extensive research, and you seem to know the topic.
My favourite is that you can connect the fall of Constantinople and the rise of ottoman power to the creation of anime
@@Eureka092how bro ? I mean I know the Constantinople anime intro 😅 but I don’t get the connex
@@Sam-pv1hz The youtuber already explained on how it lead to North Africa being colonized so I'll skip the part...Okay so after WW2 Algeria wanted independence.The French nationalistic army didn't want that so they threatened with a coup if Charles De Gaule (leader during WW2) wouldn't be president. They thought that he could solve this situation since he also "helped win WW2. It eventually failed Algeria fought hard and won its independence.
The United States Marine Corps Hymn's first verse mentions the Barbary war "from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..." and the Marine Officer sword was adopted from the actions taken during the Marines' landing in Tripoli.
Marine Corps basically have the Mamluk sword
The first ever Special Operations,
150 years before the Navy SEALS and Green Berets
I'm British and I've known that for most of my life. Apparently, from some of the comments here, many Americans don't know it. There sure are a lot of uneducated Americans around.
@@DieFlabbergast please. Brits don't even know the basics of the American Revolution from public school.
@@dab0331
Facts
Even more fun fact! That Swedish ship was send back to Sweden to help fight in the Russo-Swedish war of 1808-1809. The ship was able to free the island of Gotland from Russians. The Russians fled once they noticed the Swedish we're coming. The Swedes only lost a man because he fell from the mast.
I just find it cute how the Sweden was trying to stop the Barbary Pirates with one ship.
"Cute" 💀 Sweden's national pride is in shambles with that one
I mean, look at the number of ships during the Opium wars - China had a HUGE numbers advantage, yet basically the entire fleet was sunk without issue. If that Swedish ship was high-tech at the time, then it could very much curbstomp fleets of older ships.
Sweden sent 3 frigate ships, not just one.
I want to jokingly believe the Viking spirit was in the Swedes when they went sailing to the Mediterranean
@@claymore484Sweden wasn’t as wealthy at this time due to the constant war and failed empire building the previous 150 years. However, their ships were extremely cutting edge and their crews well trained.
I've always found this conflict so funny thinking that Jefferson said "you know what? Let's go blow up the Barbary ports because nobody else will"
Somebody gotta do it
Well Jefferson was also about following the constitution strictly, but then also went around Congress’s back to conduct the Louisiana purchase.
@@brandonlyon730
It was a no brainer deal. Buying Louisiana was a massive dub and Congress would have 100% fumbled the bag.
@@brandonlyon730 Congress doesn't deal with treaties, the Senate does, and he follows the constitution exactly in passing said treaty. It was all constitutionally legal.
*”Fine… I’ll do it myself.”*
I think it’s worth pointing out that the short intro to their crimes (they raided ships, stole cargo, sold crews into “bondage”) is a vast understatement. This piracy had been going on for centuries and was really centered around slavery. Initially it focused on enslaving people taken from their homes near the coasts and did over time move towards enslaving ship’s crews, though coastal raids never stopped. Though I realize it’s not really the focus of the video, the centuries of horrible crimes inflicted on people by these pirates really did feel almost purposefully minimized here which I found strange.
The video is a few minutes long and focuses on American history, it doesn't have time to explore centuries of conflict.
@@sahararaptor7600 The problem in so doing is it grossly distorts real history in favour of making Americans feel better about themselves. It claims the Europeans did squat, which is untrue. Britain enforced treaties upon the pirates from 1675 on, which endured until the end of the Barbary states in the 19th century (until the revolution American shipping was protected under those treaties). Other major powers in Europe went to war with the pirates too. The problem was the lesser powers in the Mediterranean weren't strong enough to enforce their will, and so the raids continued.
The two wars involving America did not solve the problem. The Dey of Algeria repudiated the treaty signed with Decatur in 1815, and the American commissioner William Shaler had to flee onboard the Anglo-Dutch fleet which bombarded Algiers in 1816, and truly brought matters to an end. Even then raiding continued on a small scale, and as the video says, only ended when France invaded Algeria in 1830.
The use of bondage instead of slavery is straight up disingenuous ngl. And leave it to the Americans to edit history to fulfil their saviour complex
@jakesadler7266 the creator of the video is English and lives in England
The last thing I would accuse this channel of doing is distorting history "in favour of making Americans feel better about themselves." Is this your first video, or are you too invested in the anti-America mentality to to let "real history" taint your opinions? @@ShanghaiRooster
Fun fact, the US only had a few ships at the time of the first war manly because it was a big issue as many saw a navy as imperialistic. They actually were lent gun boats from Naples to help in the fighting. After the war of 1812 the Navy became a point of national pride and they started building battleships. So when they went back to North Africa they had a lot more firepower
others are doing it = imperialism
we are doing it = national pride
Americans truly are flexible thinkers
@andrefasching1332 stopping pirates from attacking citizens is imperialism? 😂
@@mendelkorf639 that’s what the democratic republicans thought. They believed that the USA did not need a fleet but militia gun boats to defend the coast at times of war. They were much want to abandon American merchants. The federalists very much wanted a navy. The navy was commissioned under Washington, when the Barbary states first started trouble, constructed under adams, both heavily used and downsized by Jefferson and then the war of 1812 happened
@@andrefasching1332 it was seen as imperialism by the democratic republicans but the federalists were able to construct a small fleet of frigates. After the success of the small navy against the British in 1812 public opinion changed. It also had to do with the idea of the federal government using the military to suppress the states and the people. But yes the whole creation of the navy was this ridiculous thing
@@generalsmite7167 ah yes, the small skirmish delusional American's turned into a mythology
I'd always wondered why the US Marines ended up so far from home so early in the country's history.
You were wondering when you should have been MOTIVATED to go fight Americas battles on the land, in the air, and on the sea.
@@remhawk73 😅😅
Wait until you find out about their adventure with a time machine. how else do you think they got to go to the halls of Montezuma?
@@remhawk73 Absolutely true, and ultra-based, and ultimately, just good.
@@TheGM-20XXAnd who could forget the shores of Tripoli?
Minor details like "James 'he's mad, son' Maddison" at 2:12 are one of the best things in these videos.
The Barbary coast pirates even raided as far as the British isles. There are tales of them scooping up entire coastal villages. Younger females were sold into harems and sexual slavery while males were sold as slave labour or galley slaves. It's estimated that the Barbary coast pirates enslaved up to 1.2 million Europeans over the course of their existence, with most never living to see home again.
That doesn't compare to the 15 million Africans enslaved by the Europeans and sent to America, millions dying in the ocean.
When I was in Iceland, they told me about the Ottomans raiding Iceland 😱
We should demand Morocco, Algiers, Libya and Turkiye to pay reperations....wait a minute.
They never mention this because they hate white people; it is that simple
And let's not forget how many slaves the Ottomans took from central Europe during the same period, too. Facts that will never be taught in schools. No. It doesn't matter when White people are enslaved. White people are racists. Only White people can be racists.
I had heard about the Barbary Wars before, but never quite knew why no other state had just stopped them.
I never considered that it was for a simple reason: Britain wanted them to live.
It's just that the UK payed the most. Essentially getting a monopoly of safe shipping in the Mediterranean. Or from a cynical perspective: perfidiously funding privateers to annoy Spain and France.
@@ToastieBRRRN No mate, it's all an evil British conspiracy pay no attention to Britain getting fed up with them and bombarding Algiers everything ever is Britain's fault.
@@ToastieBRRRNit’s amazing how much of British history is “France can’t have nice things. Maybe also Spain. And *insert current form of Germany*”.
@@DestructivelyPhased and they were right to knee cap all of them
@@DestructivelyPhasedWell in fairness France pretty much did the same with the likes of the Prussia, even though that only worked half the time.
Fun fact-the opening line of the US Marines hymn states: “
From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli. We fight our countries battles, on the land, on air and sea.”
The shores of Tripoli paying respect to the fight against the Barbary Coast pirates by the US Marines.
Semper Fi🇺🇸
I always wondered about the "halls of Montezuma" bit. My history isn't the best, but I don't remember the U.S. Marines marching with Cortez.
@@jeffspaulding9834
It refers to the Battle of Chapultepec in 1847, during the Mexican-American War. The Marines stormed Chapultepec Castle and held it, suffering high casualties.
@@MDR-hn2yz Ah, that makes sense then. Thanks for the info!
I appreciate seeing this topic being covered, however as a french, it sort of upsets me to see the role of the Barbary pirates being downplayed as just ''harassing ships''. They didn't do just that. They would also raid the coasts for slaves who would then be sold into slavery in Africa, and it lasted, as in the video, late into History. I have no idea why this wouldn't get brought up, these weren't just petty pirates.
It was mentioned that they not only raided cargo, but also took slaves
Pirates raiding coastal settlements for slaves (among other expensive goods) is par for the course. That's just what pirates _do._
The Caribbean had some pirate crews who were exceptions (in part because the pirates there were far more often outlaws, and it's hard to have slaves without a state to enforce that slavery.)
Your understandable reaction might be more the result of all the great public relations work pirates have received over the years, especially recently. Piracy was always a heinous avocation, full of violence and cruelty. So unless each vile deed is spelled out, people today might assume that pirates weren't all bad, or that they were some kind of "Robin Hood" figures. There was a reason their crimes were punished with extreme measures, and their bodies often displayed as warning to others. Piracy was never petty, nor were they ever some kind of anti-hero. Interesting, certain north European pirates and raiders, i.e. Vikings, also enjoy this romanticized view, though they too were the lowest form of violent scum.
@@The_Lunch_Man yeah but it sound like they only took as slave the crew of ships, which is far FAR from reality. entire coastlines, entire islands were emptied of their population, reducted to slavery by these fuckers. they had it comming.
@@williampalmer8052indeed, Pittsburgh's baseball team is named the Pirates and even a century ago the naming made pirscy seem like it's just any normal graft. (They took a player from another league, and a newspaper article in the opposing team's city described the act as piratical.) And anyone who's ever eaten at a pirate themed restaurant, with names like Long John Silver, would figure they were just Sailors who were a little more aggressive, maybe with the attitude toward rules that John McGraw had toward umpires, hey why not continue the baseball theme :-)
Wow, as a Swede I had no idea that Sweden took part in the fight against the Barbary pirates. And I usually recognize everything on this channel that involves Sweden. Neat!
Thanks Sweden that America didn't have to do it all by itself!
If I ever visit I'll get someone a pint in honor of the occasion
We were also one of the first nations to recognise the independence of the US.
"Selling them into bondage" is a pretty polite way to put it. The rich tradition of slavery is alive and well across the Arab world today too.
Let’s not pretend it doesn’t happen in Western countries. We just like to call it “trafficking”. Similar to the Antebellum South calling human property “servants”.
"Selling into bondage" is litterally Slavery.
if someone doesn't know what it means to be sold into bondage then that's their fault.
@@mjjoe76 Don't forget Asia with it's debt slaves and child labor. Which is the reason why China is so big in factories trading.
@@mjjoe76 not like wage slavery isn't a thing in capitalist nations as well. The ruling class simply figured out that it was cheaper to pay starvation level wages than it was to outright own the labor force.
@@ashleighelizabeth5916 While there defenitely can be improvements if you think that so called "wage slavery" is anything like real slavery you are absolutely broken in the head or ideologically captured
Great video as always but there's one mistake 0:33 this isn't Algiers this is Tripoli
US-grade geography skills in action.
Well he got it right later, so at least it was probably just bad editing.
@@markmaki4460 More likely. Confused when he mentioned Algiers but highlighted Tripoli.
Rectified with bombing at a later date.
@@andrewklang809 History Matters is quite clearly British.
The famous US raid against the Barbary Pirates in 1803 was to recapture or burn an American ship that had been seized. It’s immortalized in the Marine Corp Hymn: “to the shores of Tripoli.”
Marines began as infantry that operates on ships.
@@silenthunteruk ...yes?
keep romanticising the US army as some sort of justice bringers when this same army was confiscating native lands and deporting them into what is essentially an early form of concentration camps
@@silenthunterukAnd?
@silenthunteruk So The USMC started from fighting Barbary Pirates?
There is a famous phrase in Spanish related to the Barbary pirates: "No hay moros en la costa," which translates to "There are no Moors on the coast." Essentially, it is used to indicate that a place is safe, as in the past, many Spaniards were assaulted and abducted by these pirates.
Enslaved
“The coast is clear” comes from this saying.
Aren’t Spaniards just Christian moors?
No. Most of the population were conquered visigoths.
@@DavidWalls-sr1pg Actually, the visigothic population was less than 5%, most spaniards were romanized celtics and iberians.
as a former Barbary Pirate i can confirm that James Bissonette was a very skilled pirate
Meh, not really
@@jamesbissonette8002 omg its James Bissonette
He is perhaps the best pirate I've ever heard of!
Nah, the best pirate is Jan Janszoon (Reis Murad the Younger) his story is wild af 💀 I recommend reading about his life
So was Kelly Moneymaker.😂
Amazing video as always, really fascinating to learn about more obscure topics in history like these.
One small nitpick though, at around 0:31 when you say Algiers, you highlight Tripolitania instead.
Script writing error.
They do the voice overs separately from the animation so the dialogue occasionally doesn't align well since they don't always watch the footage when recording the voice.
@DaBurger1411 jesus christ it's one tiny error lol. Chill
@@vercot7000pretty major error tbh
yes and for a moment in this video i was algerian
I can't express how happy I get to see each of your new videos. Love from Iran. Also, would you ever consider making a video about Iranian history? You've only made one so far.
As a big eu4 player the destruction of these pirates really warms my heart
Honestly I have never seen a comment I agree with more
Yeah Im surprised the devs expanded the lore beyond the end date. Really thoughtful of PDX to do so, perhaps we have given them too much flak for lack of flavor.
damn right
I don't know if I've said this before - but for me in the videos is the part where you have one of your characters floating through a field of flowers, that just gives me joy and I look forward to it every time.
I like them, but the ones fleeing in flames are better
@@robertmoffett3486 I don't know - it's one part the animated figure as a historic figure, the way they bounce, and the flower field. That is just the bestest.
I really hope we get a 10 minute video on the Barbary states. It feels like one of those topics that isn’t fully discussed. Here in the US, we barely cover it anymore and this is a subject that has fascinated me for sometime. It’s not talked about enough in the public school system these days and I think it should be talked about more as to how it shaped isolationism and Monroe doctrine in the US.
I love the race car engines fitted to the first American fleet. It shows how advanced the US Navy was even at that time.
That's the high-calibre historical accuracy we've come to expect from History Matters. (Oversimplified is great for that sort of detail too.)
Early US was in a similar situation to Japan after the Washington Naval Treaty in that if you can't beat your main rivals in quantity of battleships (/equivalent top rank), you try to obsolete what they already have. The US did this through the construction of ships such as the USS Constitution (which was a far more practical design for the US to implement than the British for a number of reasons) and Japan by building super battleships and capitalizing on air power as much as possible.
How do you turn this on?
James Bisonette was key in getting race car engines for the American ships because he knew they’d help the US win the war
Congress initially authorized building only 6 frigates to constitute the entire Navy. So they built the largest, most technologically advanced frigates on the planet at the time, capable of defeating most other countries' ships of the line.
It’s because the US had James Bisonette with them
Real
all hail james bisonette
They raided one of his ships, so he helped the Americans gain independance so they could take out the pirates for him.
Mighty boogity woogity is the protector
Is someone writing the history of James Bisonette?
The Portuguese navy provided Convoy escort in the first Year after USA independence, and we also kept the moors trapped in the Mediterranean, but in 1793 we made a treaty with the pirates of algiere and the americans were left to fend for themselves
Actually U.S didn't made deal with the Barbary Pirates but with their overlord AKA the Ottomans, that agreement is the ONLY agreement that U.S signed in foreign language and Ottoman Empire is the only nation in history U.S actually paid tribute (to protect their ships.)
But when Barbary Pirates continued to attack the American ships as you said, Ottomans pretty much stand aside and let Americans do anything they want to them.
While I do believe that the U.S. would entreat with the Ottomans, I find the idea that the Sublime Porte was an overlord of the Barbary States by the early 19th century laughable. Weren’t they dealing with Egypt at the time?
@@CMitchell808yeah, no. After napoleon had his adventure, a bit of time passed until the egyptian issues.
Actually, US didn’t pay a tribute to the ottoman empire and they deal with them later after the barbary wars. US were dealing and paying tribute with the governor of the barbary pirates independently from the empire even though they were officially ottoman provinces
Just a small error: when Algiers is mentioned, the map is highlighting Tripoli instead. Really enjoy your content just wanted to bring this to your attention!
Hey! I _did_ enjoy that video. Thanks!
As an American, this was surprising to learn. No idea we did battle outside the US/Americas long before 1896!
You folks need to learn your republican roots
The left have destroyed your history
*Notice they want to remove all your statues*
Check out the first two lines of the US marines march
It will all fit together then
It's funny, because you lost the first Barbary war
@@محمديونس-7 so?
@@mauricefrost8900 I am European and know that shores of Tripoli are not mentioned as a tourist attraction. Americans amaze me
Statements like “opted out of taxation without representation” are the reason I keep coming back to this channel’s content!
Having someone NOT say “begs the question” makes me smile. Every time.
You should do a video on the time the US saved a North Korean ship from Pirates, one of the only times North Korea actually thanked the US. The enemy of my enemy is my friend :)
Like half of the international laws of the seas can basically be summed up as "fuck pirates"
@@gimmethegepgunnations may hate each other but trading is still happening especially when the world is more integrated than ever economically because all sides will loose if ships stop sailing. Pirates having a bad habit of ransacking goods from every cargo ship they can find is a really quick way to unite everyone against them
Every nation: I hate you
Pirates: good morning
Every nation: Time for your death
@@Bisexual_power
Indonesia is quite okay and quite accomodating to piracy of all kinds.
Not that preying on shipping between China and anything west of Thailand is going all that well, but Indonesia does f*ckall against it. The PLAN has had to sail well into disputed territory near Indonesia to go deal with pirates operating out of there, and if it wasn't for Singapore there'd be a pretty serious problem.
Only a fool believes that the enemy of my enemy,is my friend.
"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli" -- always knew we must have done *something* in Tripoli for that line to make it into the Marines' Hymn, I just never knew what it was. Thanks!
Thank you for being clear and concise while keeping it short and sweet! 👍🏼
It's funny how Morocco was technically the first nation to recognize the US, yet it's first foreign war was technically fought on Moroccan land.
Morocco recognized the US so early so they could raid US-ships without technically raiding British vessels.
Not on Moroccan land, It was on Lybia, Morocco declared wae on US and blowed their ships forcing them to peace out with Lybia
The US never fought Morocco. Before fighting the Barbary Wars, America did the smart thing and tried diplomacy first, but Morocco was the only Barbary state to agree to a diplomatic solution.
The US never fought against Morocco, it was only against Algiers ans Tripoli.
In fact, Morocco and the US have always been in good terms.
@@ibracadabra882 This is why Americans and Moroccans are good friends to this day
00:34 Algiers is modern day Algeria situated in the middle between tunisia and morroco the one highlighted is Tripoli or modern day Lybia
I think it’s a minor mistake by the creator
Yes, just bad editing, as he got it right later in the video.
He was highlighting the Maghreb region, and maybe intended to mention that term before accidentally defaulting to Algeria. Also, the US Marines' song mentions the shores of Tripoli, even though Algers was the principle offender during that period, which further adds to the confusion.
I never known much about the history of pirates. Just the folklore and the fantasy and stuff. This was really interesting to find out
Can we all just stop for a moment and thank James for the awesome graphics and the subtle humor therein.
I imagine Thomas Jefferson being told by the king of England about the pirates issue and internally fuming over why no one has done anything about them and responding with the line that every man hears from his wife when she wants something done that no one else cares about: “Fine, I’ll do it myself!”
Except British kings lost their last vestiges of power in 1689, so in the early 1800s their prime minister made the decisions.
@@Dave_Sisson🤓
@@clouds-rb9xt"🤓"🤡
@@clouds-rb9xtFace it, mate: on this channel, we're all 🤓
@@ShaunCheah This is a fun channel 🤓🥳
One thing not mentioned is that not only that the Americans liberated US prisoners captured by the Barbary pirates but in the process liberated British prisoners as well.
Not sure there would have been many British prisoners as once the Royal Navy started to build up in size mid 1700's the Barbary Pirates generally looked at the number of warships based at Gibraltar, and agreed that they would leave all British flagged ships alone provided the Royal Navy would refrain from using their cannon to extend the Mediterranean Sea southwards. I believe that after a regime change in one of the North African pirate centres letters were sent to the various countries with a Mediterranean coastline saying that previous tributes were void and that they should pay again. The British Admiral at Gibraltar however got a letter wishing King George good heath and saying that the new ruler was more than happy to carry on with the previous arrangement of leaving each other alone.
The problem for the USA started when after they refused to pay their share of the expense of a war started by an incompetent Colonial militia officer by the name of G. Washington, who fired on French troops during peacetime, and then rebelled on the spurious basis that they were being taxed without representation. (The average colonial Englishman paying about 1/10 of the tax paid by those living on the home islands, despite being in general better off.) But I suppose limited representation (local assemblies) for limited taxation is not that good a battle cry. I also note that a lot of those signing the Declaration of Independence were slave owners, and that it was the British Empire that was the main force behind the end of large scale slavery. Had they seen the way the wind was blowing in Britain and decided to get out before they were told no more slavery?
After the unpleasantness of 1776 etc. I believe a certain Benjamin Franklin approached a British diplomat and asked if the threat of Royal Navy displeasure could be extended to cover American merchant ships in the Mediterranean area, the reply was why would we want to do that?
@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 The British Empire also had the biggest role of making slave trades huge.
@@GreoGreo No we were not the largest slave traders, I think that the Portuguese shipped almost twice as many people as us. The Arab slave trade on the East coast of Africa was also even larger than the Portuguese but spread out over a longer period of time.
@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 Wrong.
@GreoGreo "Wrong".
They sing about it in The Marines’ Hymn.
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country's battles
In the air, on land, and sea.
That's right. I remember those words from when I was a little kid, when I had now idea of the meaning of Montezuma or Tripoli. (I guess "Montezuma" was a reference to the Mexican-American war?)
@@MalnatiFamily That is correct
@@samwallace6509How exactly did we lose in Iraq?
Updated by DJ Khalid in "All I Do Is Win."
@@calmbbaer New national anthem? 🤣🤣🤣
Always a good day when you upload
Couple of interesting sidenotes:
1. The second line of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn, “to the shores of Tripoli” references the invasion of Tripolitania mentioned at 1:40. For a long time I had always wondered when the Marines were ever in North Africa.
2. Before the first Barbary War, the U.S. signed a treaty with the Barbary states in 1796 just to ensure safe passage for American shipping in exchange for payment and which included Article 11, which begins, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” Christian nationalists in the U.S. will claim that the Article doesn’t appear in the Arabic version or that it was mistranslated into English. Nevertheless, the Senate (which at the time still included many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration or helped create the Constitution) unanimously approved the treaty, without debate, with the words “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” and John Adams signed it only a couple days later. Separation of church and state, yo. Hard separation.
2:21
Barbary States after losing to the United Sates: Well I know it’s been a rough time for us and losing to such a young country is embarrassing but I think we can still save thi-
The European powers: (stop fighting each other and slowly turn to the Barbary States)
The Barbary States: …
Haha your history is literally shameful let me tell you the truth they lied to you America lost against Algeria in the war of 1795 then lost again in 1815 in other words their victory against Libya in 1803 was a trick to silence public opinion in America and their victory over the Libyan pirates was because they were less than 5% of the pirates in the Mediterranean while Tunisia and Algeria constituted almost 80% they tried to cover up their failure with that victory but they failed in that too and the pirates of the Mediterranean were not defeated until after the Battle of Navarino in which the Ottoman fleet participated together against all of Europe and all of North America with Russia and the Greek Revolution and this was the defeat that made the European forces say: Look there are countries that have become weak let us occupy them
As a reminder, in your country there is a street called Emir Abdelkader Street. This was a mark of the Berber dominance over your country during that period.
Love your work.
I know you probably don't care but you are the first comment
@@catfAtT you are right
More fun facts: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli..." Words that start the Marine Corps Hymn. Also, Marines still wear the "Mameluke Sword" signifying this first defeat of the pirates in Libya. This cut and pasted from Wikipedia: Marine Corps history states that a sword of this type was presented to Marine First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon by the Ottoman Empire viceroy, Prince Hamet, on December 8, 1805, during the First Barbary War, in Libya, as a gesture of respect and praise for the Marines' actions at the Battle of Derna (1805).[4] Upon his return to the United States, the state of Virginia presented him with a silver-hilted sword featuring an eagle head hilt and a curved blade modeled after the original Mameluke sword given to him by Hamet. Its blade is inscribed with his name and a commemoration of the Battle of Tripoli Harbor.[5]
Fun fact: during the Barbary wars, the US marines went to the East Mediterranean to recruit roughly 800 greek and Turkish mercenaries to fight the Barbary pirates. It’s ironic because the turks were the ones who for centuries sponsored the barbary pirates (meanwhile almost none of the Barbary pirates were actually turks, but were from the balkans, predominantly greeks and Albanians and later North African Arabs).
And some European converts to Islam as well
@@savioblanc True
Raïs Mohamme El-Roussy (The Russian)
Raïs Murad (Peter lyle a defected Scottish)
Raïs Al-Uljy* (a dutch)
* = Ulj means a non arab person
all served in Tripoli , Only the latter was from the 1600s.
This same army was confiscating native lands and deporting them into what is essentially an early form of concentration camps.
A lot of people who were forced out of their normal lives ended up going "Well, I guess I can always be a pirate".
Many Jews fleeing from the constant Holocaust attempts in Spain, ended up in the Barbary States, realising becoming a pirate would be an excellent way to get revenge against Spain.
Many jews that fled spain also got lynched in north africa like in fez. Its hard to love a jew during a time wherein usury was outlawed by most states
Great video and interesting information thought never really about it
Love these, thank you.
0:32 Colouring the later French colonial possesions in blue, white, red.
I see what you did there
Also, isn't the green area Libya/Tripolitania, as opposed to Algiers?
Well he got it right later, so at least it was probably just bad editing.
@@markmaki4460Presumably. He probably inserted the wrong animation/picture.
And it was from this that part of the US Marine Corp got the first line of its song. "...to the shores of Tripoli." Seven marines were in charge of that second campaign. The beginning of a fine tradition of US marines kicking ass.
This, of course, refers to the Tripoli in present-day Libya, not the one in Lebanon. We don’t talk about Lebanon.
@@matthewbrotman2907 No one thinks of the Tripoli in Lebanon when talking about Tripoli. Most people probably don't even know there's another Tripoli.
Do not forget the auxileries that were with the Marines.
@1:19
man those US Navy ship were really booking it.
The book The Stolen Village by Des Ekin is utterly horrifying for what happened to the commoners who couldn't afford to buy their way out of slavery after being kidnapped by Barbary Pirates - and also the descriptions of how the Barbary Pirates were known to kill babies & toddlers because they wanted the women without children. It makes fictional stories out of Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice & Fire sound tame. The aristocracy of Europe didn't need to worry about being sold into slavery by the Barbary Pirates - they could pay the ransom. The average people of England (especially Cornwall) and Ireland were the ones having entire villages rounded up and sold into slavery to never see their homes again. That significantly impacted those who immigrated to the US - since they were the ones terrified of the pirates. When the Barbary Pirates started raiding the US coast - especially the Carolinas - it was impacting immigrates from the same areas that had been badly hit in the British Isles. The village of Baltimore in Ireland which had the entire village rounded up and sold into slavery in 1631 - wasn't inhabited again until after the US stopped the Barbary Pirates.
that is messed up... they could have obliterated those pirates had they worked together...
They never raided the Americas, what are you on about. They started hitting American shipping in the 1780s in the Mediterraneanz
No Barbary pirate ever came near the US. Pirates who attacked American shipping in the Caribbean, or enroute, were of European extraction, British, French, and Spanish
@robertmoffett3486 I don't know if they reached America, but they most definetely launched attacks as far as Iceland.
The Catholic church had an order - and it's still functioning by the way - called The Trinitarians.
The entire point of this Order was to literally travel to North Africa and the Middle East to visit the slave markets and buy back Western Christian slaves that were taken from Europe.
I love how this channel always has answers to questions I never thought to ask but am definitely curious about.
Agreed! Over the past year, there have been several questions posed on this channel that: 1) I had never thought about; 2) once I read the question, I thought it was a great question; and 3) I had to know the answer and immediately watched the video.
This is the best one in a long time 👍🏼 and they are all great
Entertaining and informative as always thank you so much.❤😊 I just wish you would have also mentioned their enslaving of Europeans which is a horrible tragedy (no matter to whom it happens) and should not be overlooked or forgotten 😢
He did. Subtly.
Two details:
1. The Barbary pirates prompted the construction of the ship USS Constitution and her sisters, which would serve with distinction (besides one) in the War of 1812.
2. The Barbary Wars are referenced in the second line of the Marines’ Hymn: “To the shores of Tripoli”.
3. The USS Constitution is the world's oldest still-floating ship! She can be found at the former Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
@@scythal Yep! Went there a few years back. Beautiful ship.
always love learning about these problems
This makes John Adams’s comment about how he’d rather be resident minister to the Barbary pirates then serve Hamilton a lot clearer!
I love his passive humor
I have ALWAYS wondered this thank you!
“I caught strapped with six pistols and a dagger, walk under the black flag with a scallywag swagger. Ain’t no parrot on my shoulder, ain’t no rings in my ear, I’m an irate pirate real swashbuckling buccaneer!” Blackbeard
A fellow ERBOH connaisseur I see. 👌
Yeah we all watch ERB.
Sir, as much as I like your videoes I think you overlooked the Danish-Algerian War (1769-72) in this one. Yes, the danes lost spectacularly and payed their way out - but it was not for lack of trying to deal with the Barbary states.
There's a good book, The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War against the Pirates of North Africa, for those who want a more details look at the story.
Short version, at the end of the War of 1812 we had alotta ships and no money. The pirates declared war again and set an exorbitant price for peace. We said, "Ok, War then." We caught their flagship out at sea and effectively won the war in a brief engagement.
As of always, a great video from history matters
I always look forward to a History Matters video! Giving us answers we needed to know to questions nobody asked. (Also, good thing James Bisonette didn't exist back then or the pirates would have been wrecked by his infinite war coffers)
Here's a future idea: Why did the Boston Tea Party colonists dress up like Native Americans?
Another great video 😁 FYI though, at 0:33 you show Tripolitania instead of Algiers on the map 👍🏻
I think it's interesting how Morocco was actually one of the first nations to recognize America as an Independent nation and actually signed the oldest active treaty with America
By this time period, Morocco wasn't as involved as Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, who were the main offenders when it came to piracy (although there was still some piracy, just not as much as the others).
It's not if you remember that the Boston Tea Party was an act of piracy and that the perpetrators were annoyed at the newly-lowered (yes, lowered) tax on tea threatened their illegal tea-smuggling business. A pirate-supporting nation like 1770s Morocco was always going to love a nation that celebrates such behaviour. Kindred spirits! ;)
-America- The United States of America
@@phoule76 You're goddam right. o7 🇺🇸
Back when Americans were still British culturally and aesthetically but not politically, I love the late 18th American style of clothes, btw thanks for covering an aspect of Americans in the Mediterranean it's so underrated.
Another amazing video
Morocco has nothing to do with this war.
When the Moroccan Emperor rencognised the independance of the US, he also declared safe passage for American ships.
There were a number of different Barbary treaties. it is worth reading them.
I love these videos! Always entertaining!
We need a video on the life and times of James "He's mad, son!" Madison.
I don’t know what you are talking about, Spain usually conquers the whole of North Africa pretty quickly in my play throughs
Vicky 2?
1:20 I die laughing every time those ships zoom by with car engine sounds 😂
How does it go again?
"The amount of historical events and decissions that can be explained by a guy holding up a sign that sais *this sounds expensive* or *this is cheaper*, is scarily common and accurate"
Or something like that
Number of events. There cannot be an "amount" of events.
@@robertmoffett3486 whichever
@@ethribin4188 Not if you think about it. Not wanting to be pedantic, but the misuse of these terms is epidemic, and it makes no sense
"The most notorious being Algiers."
*Map proceeds to center on Tripolitania*
This is as an effective way to teach history as any. HM channel deserves every sub it has and more.
Denmark-Norway had a fight with Algier around 1770, the issue being an increase in protection money. It was a complete failure and cost a lot of "gifts" to Algier to end it. And paying the no-pirate fee. We never learn.
The Faroe Islands also fell victims to Algierean pirates. Though far way they were hardly protected (a small fortress was erected in Torshavn). So who knows - I might have an ancestor from Algier?
Hello from algeria
"Pay them off." Because it worked so well with the Vikings.
Or anyone. Paying off raiders and rebels only kicks the can down the road.
As a former viking I am in complete agreement
Explosives work better than Danegeld. Fortunately by that time, the Vikings had already turned to Scandinavians, placing Sweden on the *smart* side of a naval bombardment. 💣
Fun fact: the most notorious pirate (Murat Reis), a famous neighborhood named after him in current day Algeria, was a slave from Holland that was captured in one of the raids😂
0:31 The most notorious being Algiers. *Proceeds to show Tripolitania*
In all seriousness, always wondered why the US led the charge on this one this early on. Thanks for explaining.
I had to do a double take, thought I was going schizophrenic for a moment
As a berber, I confirm that we still use these tactics to land safely on italian chores
Yea, you really like to cause mess everywhere you go
@@anonymous-hz2un I'm just kidding those are my imazighen brothers visiting their italian neighbours !!!
So we agree they need to be treated the same way as pirates then?
Based
Very interesting context 🤔
"And you see, I took that personally." -- America, since forever
"Damn I only killed 500.000 civilians of the worlds poorest people this war" - _Murica, land of the brave_
Spain in the 16th Century and later England in the 17th took Algiers for some years each, but they eventually gave up after some years. France was Eventually succesful, but at a high cost.
Barbary Pirates were one of the reasons of the development of the Royal Navy after raiding the coast of England and Ireland in the 16th Century. There were French Privateers, but they didn't capture and enslave English people.
I now understand that line in the song, “from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli…”
It perplexed me that they NEVER teach about this war in schools now unlike in the 50s when they used to!
There is SO MUCH they don't touch on. I remember learning about the War of 1812 only be reading my history book in elementary school, but I never had a lesson on it. Spanish American War I only learned about through a documentary!!! We didn't even touch on World War One or World War Two in school!!! But I can give you a detailed account of the Revoluntionary War because we touched on that at least a dozen times.....
They are filling curriculum with so much now days that not everything can be covered. Core classes are often not even everyday now because they are pushing more art and music courses throughout the week.
In Tripoli ( the capital of Libya)
We have the ship's mast of the philadelphia ship ( a ship of the USA Navy) that was captured by the tripolitania Navy back then, if you visit the heart of the city and you go to the port you will find the mast of the captured ship standing till this day
Is it safe though?
@@_blank-_ in terms of safety, Libya right now is much safer then it was for the last 10 years, but the thing is... Nothing is guaranteed for the peace to continue, but for now, everything in somehow is "okay"
Wow! I wonder why we left it up after the North African Campaign in WW2.? Probably didn't realized it was a trophy.
At 0:34, the audio track states, “the most notorious of them was Algiers”, and the video at that point highlights the coastal region of modern day Libya, including Tripoli. Algiers is 631 miles to the west of Tripoli, Libya - between Morocco and Tunisia.
never underestimate the trauma that has resulted from 1200 years of conflict.
Left out that one of the major concerns of the USA was the fact that you had several sailors and CITIZENS being kidnapped by the pirates and sold into slavery. (Which is ironic seeing how the issue of slavery was a big deal in the USA at the time.)
But it was this kidnapping for slavery in INTERNATIONAL WATERS that got the USA so worked up to begin with. And the raid that they did to "free the captives" was roughly 30 sailors/citizens captured off the coast of Denmark (I think), several DAYS away from the Mediterranean Sea at least. As well as the pirates ALSO threatening to block off the ENTIRE Mediterranean to USA trade.
However, on a side-note. It is BECAUSE of the pirates, that the USA has taken the stance "Appeasement never works" seriously. It was something that we saw (during that time) as basically being victims of extortion with no course of action to address the issue EXCEPT for the use of force. Seeing how simply spending money wasn't providing the USA what it wanted, which was the stopping of capturing USA sailors and free trade through-out the Med. (Specifically Italy/Greece).
Which is ONE of the reason that the USA led "invasion" into the area used Greek mercenaries... who themselves were sick and tired of the Barbary Pirates as well.
Casus belli for destroying Iraq and Lybia to the ground: some pirates 200 years ago hurt me.
Europe: doing nothing about some pirates
America: fine... I'll do it myself
I can imagine a 2050s video of "Why did the Wagner Group stop at Moscow?"
Was there a Wagner Group on the Barbary Coast? This appears to have left the thread. Strange?
0:30 Small mistake, when you say Algiers the animation shows Tripoli instead 👍