The Day Jefferson Sent the Marines to End the White Slave Trade

The Barbary pirates also attacked the coastal northern Mediterranean, launching attacks against France, Italy and Sicily, kidnapping women as white slaves, primarily and whenever possible, notable wealthy persons and ships for ransom. In their feverish search for white women slaves, a few pirates even went as far as the coast of Iceland, raiding inland to kidnap women and bring them back to North Africa. North African slave markets thrived, as under Islamic law, known as Although fellow Muslims could not be enslaved, non-Muslims could be and were. Over a period of more than 300 years, it is estimated that 1 million white Europeans, to include those captured at sea as well as through land raids abroad, were enslaved. Many of these were Americans captured at sea. In 1794, in reaction to the attacks, Congress had passed a law authorizing the payment of tribute to the Barbary states. Part of that law was the Naval Act of 1794, which authorized the construction of six frigates establishing the United States Navy. By the end of the 1700s, when Jefferson was Secretary of State, the United States had concluded treaties with all of the Barbary states, the Ottoman Regencies of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, along with independent Morocco. When Congress authorized $80,000 for Morocco to not molest American shipping, it was considered a good deal, as it was a cost savings when compared to the loss of ships, cargo and sailors. The Bay of Algiers, Mustafa Baba, also agreed, and many American merchantmen were escorted by Portuguese warships, as Portugal also had a treaty with the Islamic states. But Jefferson was opposed to paying tribute, which he considered to be a modern Dane Geld. When Saxon England paid the Danish Vikings not to attack, it did not work. Although Morocco and Algiers initially agreed, just weeks before Jefferson took office, Tripoli began attacking American merchant ships in an to extract further tribute, Jefferson had seen enough. Jefferson tried diplomacy, and his letter to Pasha Yusuf Karamanli emphasized, "...our sincere desire to cultivate peace and commerce with your subjects." Pasha Karamanli, the ruler of modern-day Tunisia, felt that the Americans had insulted him by not offering to pay tribute. He threatened continued actions if not so respected. Pasha Karamanli was already at war with Sweden, having broken an existing treaty. After Sweden agreed to pay annual tribute and ransom for 131 captives, 14 Swedish merchantmen had been seized by Tripolitan corsairs. Some of these were white women, who were being transported on Swedish merchantmen, and it is not known if they were ever recovered, as the white women were rarely ransomed. They were highly prized and sold. The Pasha then declared war on the United States on May 14, 1801, by chopping down the flagpole at the American consulate in Tripoli, a direct act of war. Jefferson sent three frigates and a schooner, under the command of U.S. Navy Commodore Richard Dale, as a show of force, and to protect U.S. ships entering the Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. Dale learned of the declaration when he reached Gibraltar on July 1, 1801.