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

public expenses unless when moved thereto by constitutional coercion, …
[which] is here out of the question;” 124 therefore, he concluded:
your Secretary is much inclined to think that a fair and accurate state of
the matter should be transmitted to the States, that they should be
informed that the sum of _______ will be necessary to purchase treaties
from the Barbary States, and that until such time as they furnish
Congress with their respective proportions of that sum, the depredations
of those barbarians will, in all probability, continue and increase. 125
Jay’s answer, in fact, unveils one of those wicked stratagems of
American politicians: the use of Barbary corsairs as a scapegoat to attain
domestic political ends. Many politicians, particularly Jay, were indeed critical
of the Confederation and wished to see a more efficient system of government
established. For the purpose, they did not refrain from using the ‘scare of the
Barbary pirate’ to pressurize the different avaricious states to pay their
financial contribution to Congress.
In the midst of total dysfunctions and weaknesses of the Confederation,
the United States approached the Barbary States as a wholesale package and
not as separate political entities. 126 Total ignorance of the particularities of each
state like its form of government, rulers, and institutions was a dominant
characteristic among American politicians. Their knowledge about the Barbary
States was limited to the word ‘piracy,’ undoubtedly because they excelled at it
and know all its attributes; they used it as a common identifier and criterion
124 USDC, 1:607, Report of John Jay on a Joint Letter from Messrs. Adams and Jefferson, May 29,
1786.
125 Ibid., 1:608, Report of John Jay on a Joint Letter from Mrs. Adams and Jefferson, May 29, 1786.
126 Up to mid-1786, the policy adopted towards the Barbary States related also to Algiers because until
then, the four states were dealt with as a unit without any distinctions.
241