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

the war with France had just ended, the cost—as in the old days—for
maintaining an idle navy haunted him, and the “Barbary pyrates” were
“contemptibly weak.” 97 So could he “begin [a navy] on a more honorable
occasion, or with a weaker foe?” 98 All seemed to indicate that the moment was
favorable for “exhibiting a naval force on the coast of Barbary.” 99
It is amply clear here that what the Dey was accused of in 1812 was
already a line of conduct in American foreign policy in 1801. Strange though,
the same circumstances presented themselves in 1815: the war with Britain had
just ended, the navy was idle, Algiers was weak, and above all Madison got the
‘fit occasion’ for ‘punishing’ Algiers and avenging the George Washington.
Barely six days after the Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent in 1815 100 did
Madison go to Congress claiming “hostile proceedings of the dey” against Lear
that were “followed by acts of more overt and direct warfare against our
citizens” who according to him were still detained in captivity and “treated
with the rigour usual on the coast of Barbary.” 101 Madison recommended to
Congress a declaration of war against Algiers:
I recommend to Congress the expediency of an act declaring the
existence of a state of war between the United States and the dey of
Algiers; and of such provisions as may be requisite for a vigorous
prosecution of it to a successful issue.” 102
97 PTJ, 7:639, To James Monroe, 6 Feb. 1785. As quoted in Kitzen, Tripoli and the United States, p.
11; Naylor, “Ghosts of Terror Wars Past?” p. 101.
98 As cited in Kitzen, Tripoli and the United States, p. 11; Naylor, “Ghosts of Terror Wars Past?” p.
101.
99 ASP/FA, 2:347, Extract of a Letter from the Secretary of State to William Eaton, May 20, 1801.
100 Tucker, Dawn Like Thunder, p. 452.
101 ASP/FA, 3:748, Message from the President of the United States to Congress, Feb. 23, 1815. See
also Appendix 12A.
102 ASP/FA, 3:748, Message from the President of the United States to Congress, Feb. 23, 1815.
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