Welcome! The United States’s conflicts with the Barbary States (Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli, and Tunis) from 1784-1815 gripped the young nation, featured bold attempts by American policymakers to defend U.S. trade in the Mediterranean region and assert leadership in international affairs, set important precedents in American foreign relations (including the first U.S.-supported coup attempt that generated the line “to the shores of Tripoli” in the Marine Corps Hymn), provided vital naval training for the War of 1812, and helped create an early sense of American exceptionalism.
This website features information about the most important engagements, an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources to help students with their school assignments, and comment sections at the bottom of each page that facilitate discussion about the conflicts.
Be sure to read and respond to my blog and check out the About Me page to learn more about my research. Together, let’s rediscover the epic excitement of the Barbary Wars and strive to have them taught in middle school, high school and college history courses!
Watch my lecture about the Barbary conflicts (given 11/18/11 at the University of California, Santa Barbara) on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suCv5XqCXmA&context=C3014940ADOEgsToPDskIcmil2HhIdJMjKfzSYSgZg