The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World

by Franklin T. Lambert

American independence was secured from Britain on September 3, 1783. Within a year, the American merchant ship Betsey was captured by Sallee Rovers, state-sponsored pirates operating out of the ports of Morocco. Algerian pirates quickly seized two more American the boats were confiscated, their crews held captive, and ransom demanded of the fledging American government.

The history of America's conflict with the piratical states of the Mediterranean runs through the presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison; the adoption of the Constitution; the Quasi-War with France and the War of 1812; the construction of a full-time professional navy; and, most important, the nation's haltering steps toward commercial independence. Frank Lambert's genius is to see in the Barbary Wars the ideal means of capturing the new nation's shaky emergence in the complex context of the Atlantic world.

Depicting a time when Britain ruled the seas and France most of Europe, The Barbary Wars proves America's earliest conflict with the Arabic world was always a struggle for economic advantage rather than any clash of cultures or religions.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, War, Pirates, Historical, Military Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published August 17, 2005

About the author

Franklin T. Lambert is a professor of history at Purdue University, Indiana, United States. He received his PhD from Northwestern University, Illinois, in 1990 and has special interests in American Colonial and Revolutionary Era history. Before earning his PhD he was also a punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1965 to 1966.

Reviews

[Danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Not a topic I typically see covered in early American scholarship. A quick and worthwhile read.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what I wanted- a concise, chronological history of the U.S. wars with the Barbary states, namely the Tripolitan War and the Algerine War, with much commerce raided and tribute demanded in between. The focus of the author was the U.S. struggle to balance its revolutionary desires for an open Atlantic trading system with its relative insignificance and weakness at the dawn of the 19th century. I would have loved more about the Barbary states themselves- aside from a bit of background on the Karamanli dynasty in Tripoli to set the scene on Eaton's march on Derna, there is very little here to learn about the so-called pirate states themselves. The glimpses of the lives of the U.S. captives, some later turned consuls of the United States, were fascinating and left me seeking more. Despite these gaps, this was an informative introduction into this very early chapter in U.S. diplomacy and warfare.

[Dory Estrada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just happy I'm done with this... a lot of it went over my head 😀

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Take this bitter review with a grain of salt. I'm a tired junior in high school that had to read this in order to write an 8 page paper about it, so pardon my inability to be positive and appreciate the history:

Thank god this book is over.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid account of the long-simmering conflict between the newly independent American states (not yet United at the outset) and the Barbary states of North Africa. The author provides clear context for events, and brought up several points I was previously unaware of, such as that the treaty with France during the Revolution protected American shipping in the Mediterranean. However, the narrative was a little circuitous at times- repeated mention of the Betsy left me briefly confused as to whether it had been captured multiple times, and this curious looping was also repeated with the construction and launch of the Constellation, United States, and Constitution.

[Jerry Landry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, especially in light of our current conflict with Libya. I had only encountered the Barbary Wars as a sidenote in other historical texts, so it was good to get the whole story from beginning to end like this. Lambert does an excellent job of conveying the facts and placing the conflict in context of the other major events of early US history (the Constitution, War of 1812, etc.).

[Hannah Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. An interesting and very important part of American history that is never taught.

[Chris Maska · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Battle for Free Trade

The Barbary Wars does a good job of explaining and placing in context the aforementioned wars. America sought to replace the mercantilist world with free trade. The opposition included the European powers who believed trade was a zero sum game that could only be won by preventing other nations from trading. But it also included the Barbary states who had little interest in trade apart from capturing vessels, seizing their cargos, enslaving the sailors, and receiving tribute for agreeing to refrain from such actions. These actions were a significant part of the economy of the Barbary states. France and Britain often encouraged the Barbary states as a way to harm the trade of other nations. There was also a religious component to the actions of the Barbary states who saw their actions as legitimate against non-Muslims. Lambert is too good of a historian to deny this but argues that it is little difference from the practice of nations commissioning privateers during war time. However, the significant difference is the Barbary states took such actions outside of war time and they enslaved the passengers and sailors.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick book on the history of the Barbary Wars. Interestingly, the author is more of a religious historian than a military historian. With that background, there was more discussion of the Barbary States, but not as much as I had hoped. He gives a quick history of the states and their interactions with European powers, but I had hoped for more. The military history sections seemed rushed. It was more the Reader's Digest version of the war. Definitely potential, but not pulled off. You could just as easily make the argument that the War of 1812 was as important or even more so.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for trying to cram thirty years worth of aggravation, deceit, and battle (beyond that normally associated with international relations) into two hundred pages. The book's a decent introduction to some of the fallout from the American Revolution and how it intertwined with the various conflicts in the Atlantic theater. This might be good material for high school history classes if the teachers can find more than three minutes of class time between "shot heard round the world" and "Lincoln's dead."

[AskNezka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detailed political and military history of specific dealings of the young American nation with foreign pirates and diplomacy, which led to establishing of American Navy and the USA as a strong foreign power.

[Chris Neilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a brutally dry account of early American foreign policy capped off with a rushed and disinterested chronicle of the Tripolitan War and the Algerine War. Lambert drags the reader through The Barbary Wars with the amount of excitement of a Monday morning prostate exam.

[Ken Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little known history

Great story of a little discussed part of American history. Author is a good story teller who includes military, political and economic angles in a way that show how they all worked together to make the US truly independent.

[Ceci Giordano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my War and Society class. Really liked it.

[Mads Floyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every U.S. Armed Forces Enlisted Man should read this book as a tribute to the weakness from whence we came, and how quickly we developed into a force to be reckoned with.

[Robert Flaxman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid accounting of America's struggle to deal with the Barbary Coast states around the turn of the 19th century, but it focuses almost entirely on this admittedly minor conflict while not spending a ton of time on broader context, feeling a bit stretched as a result. Everything that's here is perfectly informative, and some color is brought to a distant time in the nation's history, but it did feel like it could have been more illuminating.

[Rickie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was informative and interesting, but stalled in a few places. I particularly liked the parts that described the adventurous feats of heroism by Americans fighting against the pirates, but those parts didn't last very long.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A workmanlike narrative, but it tends to be superficial and occasionally one dimensional. Nor am I convinced that anything is truly concluded: there's a short rah-rah-we-won closing that historically, stops dead in 1815. A bit more afterward would be welcomed.

[Nedland P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a historical text on the barbary wars. Chapter 4 was the best. Between 3 and 4 stars overall.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adams is by far the most useless person in Early American history

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

"the shores of Tripoli" most folks don't know how that got into the marine anthem, it came from the Barbary wars which ran on and off from the early 1790's to about 1816. It's a fascinating story involving messy, back-stabbing politics at home, the quasi-war with france, the war of 1812 with england, trade wars involving most of the european nations, our independence and the development of our first real navy. well-written and concise, the author provides everything you need to know and in enough detail in only 200 pages.