CHAPTER XIX.

Resentment of the Barbary States—­The War with Algiers—­Captain Decatur’s Vigorous Course—­His Astonishing Success as a Diplomat.

It was not alone in our wars with the leading nations that the American navy won glory.  Wherever there arose a demand for its work, its patriotism, skill and bravery were instant to respond.

England had its hands full during the early years of the nineteenth century in combating Napoleon Bonaparte and other nations with which she became embroiled.  Had she been wise and treated the United States with justice, she would have saved herself the many humiliations received at our hands.  She is another nation to-day, but it was wholly her fault that her “children” on this side of the ocean were forced to strike for the defence of their rights in the Revolution and the War of 1812.

In the account of our war with Tripoli it has been shown that the young American navy performed brilliant service.  The Barbary States took naturally to piracy, and Great Britain, by securing immunity for her vessels through the payment of tribute, also secured a virtual monopoly of the commerce of the Mediterranean.  Her policy was a selfish one, for she believed the United States was too weak to send any effective warships into that part of the world.  The story of Tripoli convinced her of the mistake of this belief.

The Barbary States were sour over their defeat, and, when the War of 1812 broke out, they eagerly seized the occasion to pick a quarrel with us.  The Dey of Algiers opened the ball by insisting that $27,000 should be paid him, the same being past due (under the old treaty providing for tribute from the United States), owing to the difference in the methods of computing time by the two countries.  Since our war with England prevented the sending of any force to the Mediterranean at that time, the consul complied and the blackmail was handed to the Dey.

This concession only whetted the barbarian’s appetite, and his next step was to order the consul to leave the country, since he was not honest enough to make his residence in the Dey’s dominions congenial to the latter.  About that time the Dey received a present of valuable naval stores from England, and he lost no time in sending out his corsairs to prey upon American commerce.

Tripoli and Tunis were not so active, but believing the British boast that they would sweep the American navy from the seas, they allowed the warships of that nation to recapture several prizes that the American privateers had sent into their ports.  Their sympathies were wholly with England and against the United States, which they hated with an intensity natural to their savage nature.

The United States bided its time.  No sooner had the War of 1812 closed than our Government decided to give its attention to Algiers, whose defiant Dey had not only refused to allow his American prisoners to be ransomed, but had insolently declared that he meant to add a good many more to them.