Description
Book SynopsisA new history of the First Barbary War, a conflict that helped plant the seeds for the United States'' ascent to a global superpower.
After the American Revolution, maritime traders of the United States lost the protection of Britain''s navy, leading privateers from the Barbary StatesAlgiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Moroccoto prey on American shipping in the Mediterranean, kidnapping and enslaving American sailors. While most European countries made treaties to circumvent this predation, this option was fiscally untenable for the young nation, and on May 14, 1801, Tripoli declared war on the United States.
In To Fix a National Character, Abigail G. Mullen argues that the First Barbary War represented much more than the military defeat of an irritating minor power. The United States sought a much more ambitious goal: entrance to the Mediterranean community, as well as respect and recognition as an equal member of the European Atlantic World. Wi
