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

Portugal with Algiers, Britain might have hoped to see Algerian corsairs harass
American trade and therefore disrupt, possibly stop, wheat deliveries to France.
1. 2. 2. Diplomatic Ramifications
What were the true reasons which motivated such a diplomatic move on
the side of the British? Was it just a move to counter revolutionary France or
did the British design it as a two-fold weapon? Questions over free markets,
military posts, and boundaries had been pending since the 1783 treaty of peace
with the United States; furthermore, the Americans were providing its enemy
starving France with wheat. Did the British intend to hit two birds with the
same stone by using the Algerian corsairs? The following logic may seem to be
simple but one may not discard it: by the past, many elements indicated that
Logie had a hand in much of the troubles that happened in 1785 and 1786. In
1793, the Dey-pawn theory was always plausible. Starting from here the
sequence of events is logical: a truce with Portugal meant opening the gate of
the Atlantic for Algerian corsairs; the Atlantic is the maritime route American
ships used for selling their wheat in France; therefore unleashing Algerian
corsairs was meant for hurting American shipping and starving France at the
same time. And the trick functioned to perfection: within a month from the
signature of the truce by the Dey and delivery of passports by Logie, 10
American ships were harvested within a single cruise, the last one few days
later.
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