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

was instructed to redeem cheap on the conditions that the prisoners would
accept to pay back the money advanced by Congress. 11
Then without
notification, Lamb dropped on a busy and aging Dey who could but allow him
landing and several audiences, Muslim tolerance and generosity obliging. 12 As
the Dey was in the midst of negotiations with Count d’Expilly, the Spanish
envoy, he accorded Lamb audiences “to treat only for the redemption of his
countrymen in captivity” but “not speak of peace.” 13 Primarily, the meetings
involved price-fixing for the captives and delays of execution. From the very
beginning, it appeared that the sum which Lamb was instructed to offer for the
release of captives “was ridiculous,” 14
which gave the impression that the
Americans were trifling with the Dey. In short, against the sum of $100-200 for
each captive or “two hundred dollars apiece” as Jefferson put it 15 ($4,200 at
most for all), the ransom settled at a sum of $59,496 according to the pricing of
the time (with a 10% remission offered by the Dey as a sign of good will). 16
That first experience of ‘Uncle Sam in Barbary’ shocked the American
mind and still continues to shock today. 17 It shocked not because Uncle Sam
found himself bargaining for the release of his enslaved citizens with the “King
11 “You will take from them [prisoners] their obligations … to indemnify the United States for the
moneys which shall be paid for their redemption, subsistence, transportation to their own country, and
other charges incurred.” USDC, 1:661, From Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, October 11, 1785,
Enclosure: Supplementary Instruction for Mr. Lamb; Jefferson, Memoir, 1:353-54, To Richard
O’Bryen, November 4, 1785.
12 According to American reports, he was more than 80 years old. See USDC, 1:745, From William
Carmichael to Messrs. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, Madrid, February 3, 1786.
13 Cathcart, The Captives, p. 37; USDC, 3:81, From John Lamb to Thomas Jefferson, May 20, 1786.
14 Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary, p. 64.
15 USDC, 2:14, From Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, December 31, 1786.
16 The bargain is more sinuous than it is summarized here. American state papers and historians discuss
details to a point nearing obsession. For individuals’ pricing as set at the term of audiences see USDC,
3:81-85; Cathcart, The Captives, pp. 32-42.
17 This expression, originally part of a book title, is borrowed from Parker, Uncle Sam in Barbary.
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