Barbary Pirates & Birth of the U.S. Navy - Full Documentary

The First Barbary War was the first overseas war fought by the United States. It took place during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson and lasted from 1801 to 1805. It is also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War. In the war, the United States fought against pirates from the nations known collectively as the Barbary States those nations were:

Algiers
Morocco
Tunis
Tripoli

The incident arose over tributes that were customarily paid to these nations by U.S traders. In 1801, Tripoli increased demands for payment. President Jefferson refused the demand and Tripoli declared war on the United States by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate.

Congress authorized the use of military force for the protection of American interests in the Mediterranean. On August 1, 1801, the USS Enterprise defeated the Tripoli at sea. In 1802, Jefferson increased the presence of the Navy in the area by deploying additional ships under the command of Commodore Edward Preble.

On July 14, 1804, under Preble’s command, the Navy attacked Tripoli, but the most famous event of the war occurred in April and May of 1805 with the Battle of Derma. General William Eaton and First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon led a force of eight Marines and 500 mercenaries from Alexandria, Egypt across the desert to the city of Derma, which they laid siege to. Upon their victory, the American flag was raised. This marked the first time the American flag was raised in victory on foreign soil.

The events of the First Barbary War are memorialized by the line in the Marine’s Hymn, “the shores of Tripoli” and the Tripoli Monument that stands at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
Significance of the First Barbary War

The First Barbary War was important for several reasons:

It was the first foreign war conducted by the United States and was fought entirely overseas on land and water.
Prior to the war, the United States ended the practice of paying tribute to the Barbary States.
The outcome of the war established the presence of the United States as a military force on a global scale.