WAR WITH THE USA

The pirates were dealt a severe blow when a new nation appeared on the scene

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Despite the continuing nuisance of the Barbary pirates, for years Europe's major powers treated as little more than that - a nuisance. Confronting them head on was considered inefficient and instead the trading nations devised other ways to deal with them. Treaties were purchased, always at high cost, to ensure a nation's ships would be immune from pirate activities, and the situation worsened as the Ottoman Empire lost its grip on the Barbary states following a damaging war with Russia from 1768 to 1774.

Turkish control of the states had never been firm (and it had never controlled Morocco), but now the rulers of Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli were given a virtual free hand in their dealings with trading powers, and they gleefully exploited it. In what was effectively a well-run protection racket, the pirate states preyed on those who did not pay their protection money, and this opened up opportunities for major powers to exploit the situation.

A nation like Great Britain or France could easily afford to pay for treaties. It was far cheaper than a serious military expedition and offered a bonus: if Barbary ships were not interfering with British trade, they would interfere with others, so the British were able to both protect their shipping and put that of other nations in harm's way.