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

1. American Divergent Views: ‘Money Bags’ Versus ‘Cannon Balls’
Between 1798 and 1812, a number of serious situations developed
between Algiers and the United States most of them were related to the
delivery of naval materials stipulated by the treaty of 1795. While Algiers
contested delays in payments and sometimes showed dissatisfaction about the
quantity and quality of the delivered materials, the Americans rather
approached the subject differently. Pejoratively calling those annual payments
‘tribute’, 2 the Americans were of two opinions: from 1795 to 1801, i.e.: during
the administrations of George Washington and John Adams, the Americans
favored compliance with the terms of the treaty of 1795 with Algiers although
many problems relating to payments arose then. But starting from 1801
upwards, i.e.: during the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison, the Americans became dramatically critical about ‘tribute’ and
favored payments in ‘cannon balls’—meaning the use of force against Algiers
to stop payments. Those views led to increasing tensions with Algiers which
culminated in the naval show of 1815-1816.
1. 1. The Beginning of Tensions
The financial complications that arose from the 1795 treaty had already
rendered diplomatic relations tense. When John Adams became president in
1797, he sought to avoid further frictions or “occasions of discontent” with
Algiers which, according to him, might arise from “proceedings from the
2 For Americans, tribute was understood in the sense of Christians’ submission to the Muslim will.
337