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

y religious antagonism and struggle for control of the Mediterranean Basin.
The other part of the answer, however, is closely linked to the history of the
United States and its common colonial past with Great Britain. In fact, these
two countries shared a common history which ended up in total breach and
caused repercussions on relations with Mediterranean countries, including
Algiers. The answer can also be found in the shift in policies which
characterized relations between Great Britain and its North American colonies,
on the one hand, and the former and the United States after the latter declared
its independence, on the other. The year 1776 is the divide between different
views and interests that came into collision and culminated in separation of the
colonies from the mother country; hence further complications in
Mediterranean relations. Therefore, understanding some of the aspects which
characterized British-American relations, mainly economic and political
aspects, is of paramount importance to this work.
1. The North American Colonies and the Mediterranean World
1. 1. Colonial Commerce
Commerce was an important feature in American colonial life; it was as
important as self-government, elective institutions, or westward expansion.
Indeed, during most of the colonial period “commerce and the colonies were
correlative terms, unthinkable each without the other.” 2
It was also the
cornerstone of colonial relations with England and other maritime powers.
2 Charles Andrews, “Colonial Commerce,” The American Historical Review, 20: 1 (Oct., 1914), p. 43.
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