Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

CHAPTER IV
From Colonies to States:
America in the Mediterranean
War and peace, alliances and treaties, and commerce and navigation
were conducted and regulated without our advice or control. … While
we had liberty and justice, and in security enjoyed the fruits of our “vine
and fig-tree,” we were in general too content and too much occupied to
be at the trouble of investigating the various political combinations in
this department [foreign policy], or to examine and perceive how
exceedingly important they often were to the advancement and
protection of our prosperity. 1 John Jay (1787)
Introduction
From the start one may ask this question: what brought American
vessels into the vicinity of the North African coast so that Algiers came to clash
with the United States over such issues as captured ships, enslaved prisoners,
passports, and tributes? As already discussed, part of the answer to this
question is deeply rooted in the history of the Regency of Algiers and its
diplomatic relations with the European powers; a long history that was shaped
1 John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of First Chief-Justice of the United States, Member
and President of the Continental Congress, Minister to Spain, Member of Commission to Negotiate
Treaty of Independence, Envoy to Great Britain, etc, edited By Henry P. Johnston, 4 vol. (New
York/London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890), 3:299, An Address to the People of the State of New York,
September 17, 1787. (Hereafter cited as CPPJJ).
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