The Tripolitan War

America’s first foreign war

From the Halls of Montezuma,

Background• Jefferson’s primary

military action was to reduce the force

• Wanted America to have a reputation for ‘peaceful coercion’

• Pirates of Barbary States had been pillaging naval merchants for a while

To the shores of To the shores of Tripoli;Tripoli;

Hostile Friction• But now the United States was not

under the wing of GB, who had been paying off the pirates

• The U.S. refused to pay tribute, and due piracy commenced

• Naval Act of 1794 ordered new frigates to take on the pirates

We fight our country's battles

Showdown - 1801

• Pasha of Tripoli informally declared war by cutting down US flagpole

• Jefferson reluctantly dispatched the infant army

In the air, on In the air, on land, and sea; land, and sea;

Onslaught• Fighting went on intermittently for the next four years

• Treaty of Peace extorted from Tripoli in 1805

• $60,000 – representing ransom payment for captured Americans

• Battle of Derne – 1st/deciding

First to fight for right and freedom

Jeffs

• Small gunboats made up the “mosquito fleet”• Fast but frail• Jefferson instituted about 200• To guard American shores• Often mounting only one unwieldy gun, more of a menace to the crew than the prospective enemy

And to keep our honor clean;

During a hurricane and tidal wave in Savannah, Georgia, a small gunboat was deposited eight miles inland in a cornfield, to the derisive glee of the Federalists

We are proud to claim We are proud to claim the titlethe title

How the Tripolitan War affected United States Foreign Policy and

Dependence• Use of British-held Gibraltar as a logistical base was essential to U.S. operations during the Barbary Wars.

• The loan of shallow-draft vessels from the Kingdom of Sicily enabled the U.S. Navy to operate in shallow waters to enforce a blockade of Tripolitan ports.

• During the Tripolitan War, American leaders supported the ruling Bashaw's brother, a rival for the throne, in an attempt to persuade the Bashaw to negotiate.

Of United States Marine.