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

studies attributed the Algerine Spy to the anti-federalists who supposedly “were
furious” at the federalists and “tried to counteract them by printing Federaliststyle
propaganda so exaggerated as to be ludicrous.” 72
Whoever was behind those politician manipulations, the result was
indisputably damaging to the image of Algiers—rulers and corsairs alike.
Starting from the mid-1780s, the image of Algiers among American public
opinion could not sink lower: it reached a mucky button. Threats of invasion,
cruelties of the Algerine pirates, and sufferings of innocent Americans enslaved
at Algiers all mingled with the drum rolls of astute manipulating politicians and
propagandists who systematically spread misleading and distorted information
about Algiers. That anti-Algiers campaign had the effect of uniting the
Americans to face a purported impending danger, fostered cohesion at home,
and offered the USA a new constitution 73 —as it would offer it a new navy
during the 1790s. Bailey could not ignore the impact of that anti-Algiers
propaganda on the adoption of the Constitution: “in an indirect sense,” he
wrote, “the brutal Dey of Algiers was a Founding Father of the Constitution.” 74
The Algerine scapegoat functioned well and beyond all hopes; never again
would Algiers be seen differently.
72 Frederick W. Marks, “Foreign Affairs: A Winning Issue in the Campaign for Ratification of the
United States Constitution,” Political Science Quarterly, 86: 3 (Sep., 1971), pp. 458-59.
73 For the ‘algiersmania’ that swept the United States between 1785-1790 and its role in shaping early
American identity, see Peskin, “Lessons of Independence,” pp. 297-319; see also, Ben Rejeb,
“Observing the Birth of a Nation,” pp. 253-281.
74 Bailey, A Diplomatic History, p. 65.
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