Pirates - Les Corsaires Barbaresques

In the 18th century, the Barbary threat became serious. In July 1785 two American ships were brought back to Algiers; in the winter of 1793, eleven American ships, their crews chained, were in the hands of the Dey of Algiers. To ensure the freedom of movement of their merchant fleet, the U.S.A was forced to conclude treaties with the main Barbary states, paying considerable sums of money as a guarantee of non-aggression. With Morocco, treaty of 1786, 30,000 dollars; Tripoli, November 4, 1796, $56,000; Tunis, August 1797, $107,000. But the most expensive and the most humiliating was with the dey of Algiers, on September 5, 1795, "peace and friendship treaty" which cost nearly a million dollars (including 525,000 ransom for freed American slaves) , with the obligation to pay 20,000 dollars on the arrival of each new consul and 17,000 dollars in annual gifts to senior Algerian officials...