![]() ![]() merchant ship in 1784 after the United States had ignored diplomatic overtures. Moroccan Sultan Sidi Muhammad had seized a U.S. In contrast to the dispute with Algiers, U.S. The financially troubled Confederation Government of the United States was unable to raise a navy or the tribute that would protect U.S. ![]() In 1785, Dey Muhammad of Algiers declared war on the United States and captured several American ships. However, once the United States declared independence, British diplomats were quick to inform the Barbary States that U.S. Prior to independence, American colonists had enjoyed the protection of the British Navy. ![]() The two major European powers, Great Britain and France, found it expedient to encourage the Barbary States' policy and pay tribute to them, as it allowed their merchant shipping an increased share of the Mediterranean trade, and Barbary leaders chose not to challenge the superior British or French navies. Many European states commissioned privateers to attack each others' shipping and also participated in the transatlantic slave trade. ![]() The practice of state-supported piracy and ransoming of captives was not wholly unusual for its time. The United States fought two separate wars with Tripoli (1801-1805) and Algiers (1815-1816), although at other times it preferred to pay tribute to obtain the release of captives held in the Barbary States. Morocco was an independent kingdom, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli owed a loose allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. The Barbary States were a collection of North African states, many of which practiced state-supported piracy in order to exact tribute from weaker Atlantic powers. ![]()
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