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

increasing insurance rates on American ships to squeeze them out of the
Mediterranean trade, 100 a view which was also shared by Jefferson. On his side,
Cathcart indicated that immediately after his arrival, 101
Logie gave “the
Executive of Algiers” some information about the last war between the United
Sates and Great Britain and declared that:
the United States were no longer under the protection of his Master [the
King of Great Britain], and, that wherever the Cruisers of Algiers should
fall in with the vessels of the United States of America, they were good
prizes. 102
He also accused Logie of wishing the Algerians “success in their
attempts to capture those who refused allegiance to his Master.” Nevertheless,
Cathcart imputed Logie’s maneuvers “more to individual inveteracy than
national animosity” thus discarding official involvement of the British
government. 103 Richard B. Parker, former ambassador of the United States to
Algeria, 1974-1978, rejected that Logie’s intrigues were at the origin of
tensions between Algiers and the United States, at least those of the 1780s, 104
on the ground that no official document confirming the captives’ accusations
could be found. 105 Parkers’ view about the role of Logie, however, conforms to
his general approach to early Algerian-American relations; an approach which
tends to put most of the blame, if not all the blame, on Algiers first then on
100 EN, 3:194.
101 He arrived in May 1785. The first American ships were captured two months later.
102 Cathcart, The Captives, p. 4.
103 Ibid., p. 5.
104 Logie was also accused of more intrigues during the 1790’s particularly one that led to the capture
of more American ships.
105 Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, p. 43. Logie was also bleached in Barnby, Prisoners of Algiers, p.
71.
235