Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-93) and index.
Contents:
Background to war: Historical origins -- Warring sides: Opposing forces -- Outbreak: Extortion on a grand scale -- The fighting: TO the shores of Tripoli -- Portrait of a sailor: Commodore Stephen Decatur, United States Navy -- The world around war: Lewis and Clark explore the American West, 1804-06 -- Portrait of a civilian: John Foss: white slave in Algiers -- How the war ended: The Algerine War (1815-16) and the French expedition to North Africa (1830) -- Conclusion and consequences: The Barbary Wars in perspective.
Summary:
The wars against the Barbary pirates not only signaled the determination of the United States to throw off its tributary status, liberate its citizens from slavery in North Africa, and reassert its right to trade freely upon the seas: they enabled America to regain its sense of national dignity. The wars also served as a catalyst for the development of a navy with which America could project its newly acquired power thousands of miles away. By the time the fighting was over the young republic bore the unmistakable marks of a nation destined to play a major role in international affairs.
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