For decades, Europe and the fledgling United States paid tribute (bribes) to the Barbary states to leave their ships alone. By 1800, the US was paying nearly 20% of its annual federal budget to Algiers, Tripoli, Tunis, and Morocco.
Here is the real story of the Sultans of the Sea. The "Golden Age" of the Moorish pirates ran roughly from the 16th to the 19th century. Unlike the disorganized, rebellious crews of the Caribbean, the Barbary Corsairs were state-sponsored. They operated out of the major ports of the "Barbary Coast": Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the famous pirate republic of Salé (in modern-day Morocco). moor pirates
When we hear the word "pirate," most of us picture the rugged, European outlaws of the "Golden Age" (think Blackbeard, eye patches, and the Jolly Roger ). But for nearly 300 years, the most feared pirates in the world weren't based in the Caribbean. They were based in North Africa, and they were known as the Moor Pirates. For decades, Europe and the fledgling United States
Historians estimate that between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were enslaved by the Barbary pirates between 1500 and 1800. That’s roughly the same number of Africans shipped to the United States during the same period. Perhaps the most colorful character in this history is an Englishman who "went native." Jack Ward was a failed privateer for Queen Elizabeth who fled to Tunis in the 1600s. He converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf Reis, and became the most feared corsair admiral in the Mediterranean. The "Golden Age" of the Moorish pirates ran
So the next time you hear a sea shanty, spare a thought for the captives chained to the oars of a Barbary galley, rowing toward a lifetime of slavery on the shores of Africa. The Moor pirates were real, they were ruthless, and for three centuries, they were the true masters of the sea. Did you learn about the Barbary pirates in school? Did you know about the raid on Ireland? Let me know in the comments below.
Thomas Jefferson had had enough. When the Pasha of Tripoli declared war on the US by chopping down the flagpole at the American consulate, Jefferson sent the US Marines.