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

“jingoistic and melioristic” American character which was imbued by national
pride, self-congratulation, and bombastic rhetoric. 66 This may let one presage
that, after they acquired their independence, the Americans, blinded with pride,
egoism, and self-inflated patriotism, would not refrain from quarrelling in a
Jingo 67 and Rambo-like manners 68 for the advancement of their own interests
whenever an opportunity offered itself to them regardless of the laws and usage
of nations. More, to judge from the numbers of armed merchantmen and
cruisers operating in American waters during the revolution and the damage
they caused to British shipping, one may imagine the swarms of armed
merchantmen the Americans were going to throw into Mediterranean
businesses after independence. This naval force is also indicative of the extent
of post-independence American assaults, both economic and political, not only
on Mediterranean markets but also on the whole geo-political concerns of the
region.
As statistics are available on the Algerian side, one may attempt to make
a comparison between the two maritime forces, American and Algerian, for the
period 1776-1782. That was the period which immediately preceded the
66 John Engell, “Narrative Irony and National Character in Royall Tyler’s The Algerine Captive,”
Studies in American Fiction, 17: 1 (Spring 1989), p. 19; for American character see also, Matthew R.
Hale, “‘Many who Wandered in Darkness’: The Contest over American National Identity, 1795–1798,”
Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1: 1 (Spring 2003), pp. 127-175.
67 This term has its roots in British foreign policy of the late 1870s when Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime
Minister, orchestrated a gunboat show against Russia. A music-hall song (1878) coined the term ‘jingo’
for the occasion; the opponents of Disraeli’s gunboat policy used it to denounce ‘blind patriotism.’
From ‘jingo’ was extracted the term ‘Jingoism,’ which means belligerent nationalism or zealous
patriotism; jingoism expresses itself in the form of hostility towards other countries. “Jingoism,”
Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. (Accessed 12 Jul. 2008).
68 ‘Rambo’ stands for one “who is extremely aggressive or readily resorts to violence, willingly
breaking rules, laws, or other generally accepted regulations to achieve what he or she believes to be
right;” this stand is named after John Rambo, the aggressive protagonist in the film First Blood (1982).
“Rambo,” Microsoft Encarta Premium Suite 2005. (Accessed 12 Jul. 2008).
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