That Time the US Paid a $642,500 Ransom to Pirates

Did you know that the U.S.’ first foreign-fought war was with…pirates? After the U.S. declared independence, the Barbary pirates began capturing Americans in the Mediterranean and holding them for ransom. At one point, Congress agreed to pay them a huge portion of their federal budget. In this episode of Rogue History, we uncover the truth behind the pirates that nearly snuffed out the U.S. economy.

Some images are sourced from © LIECHTENSTEIN. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna:
“Admiral of the Turkish ships, of the Algerian pirates” and “Captain of an Algerian pirate ship” from a series of depictions from Algeria by Andreas Matthäus Wolfgang

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Rogue History
Shaking off the barnacles from this wildly popular storytelling canon, this Pirates historical series is an enlightening voyage that unravels historical myths, unearths lost narratives, and discovers fresh perspectives. This is the pirate history you were never told.

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:26 These Pirates Existed for Hundreds of Years
00:50 U.S. Government Paid Ransom for Captives
01:20 Who Were the Barbary Pirates?
01:38 Meaning of “Barbary”
02:28 Hayreddin Hizir Reis/ Barbarossa
03:03 Selim I Recognized the Value of These Pirates
03:35 A Famous Captive of the Barbary Pirates
04:27 An Ambitious New Nation Challenges Them
05:44 Contradictory Attitudes Towards Enslavement
06:13 The First Barbary Pirate War
06:25 “The Shores of Tripoli”
06:50 The Second Barbary Pirate War
07:25 The End of Their Reign
07:46 Were The Barbary Wars Really Religious Conflicts?

Correction:
01:31 This region was called ‘The Maghreb’ by settlers of Arab and Ottoman origin, and ‘Tamazgha’ by indigenous people.

[LongForgottenJ]

Reminded of the Frederick Douglas quote “A man may think slavery is right, but no man thinks slavery is right for him.”

[bentoth]

The Treaty of Tripoli that's mentioned, written and ratified mostly by founding fathers, also has a telling passage that states "The United States is in no way a Christian nation." Funny that a lot of people have forgotten that...

[Thenomadhuman]

I am Algerian and I’m impressed how the details and information are accurate in this video.
Keep up the good work!!

[Coralskipper]

This is one of my favorite stories about America. It feels so telling. The first American military action abroad was both by our navy, which has always been well funded because of our America's location and the Founder's distrust for standing armies, and it was done because they were bleeping with American commerce. America: we'll take a lot, just don't mess with our cash

[RaDeus]

It was the first time that Sweden and the US fought together as well.
We peaced out early tho 😅

[TheZinmo]

I am not sure you could call these barbary pirates "sea bandits". They were sailing with the full cooperation of their home countries, they were Privateers, and as such much more like a irregular but official navy of smal countries that were officially at war with the rest of the world.

[Lohengrin]

So cool that both you and Max Miller produced videos about the Barber people today!

[Rocking_J_Studio]

I am really enjoying this series. Bravo!

[prettypic]

Definitely need their own tv series. imagine how absolutely amazing a Barbarossa show would be!

[MonicaTheMad]

The number placed after a monarch's name is to differentiate between a number of kings, queens or princes reigning the same territory with the same name, so it's "Selim the First" and not Selim One.

[jso]

This was great. I remember learning about the first, but not second, Barbary War, but I never learned that it had religious dimensions. I suspect that that interpretation probably came into fashion in 2001, which is a shame. Also, thanks for clearing up the notion of "berber" as slur. I like to think that the 7-10% of my North African DNA is Amazigh.

Could you maybe do an episode.. and this might be beyond your scope.. maybe a team-up with Otherwords, about that Atlantic World pidgin language that developed between pirates, explorers, Europeans, Africans etc.?

[SweetBerryWine]

Another amazing video on this fascinating topic. That last line "Try to remember the Barbary Pirates for what they really were: thieving, murderous, sea bandits." is perfection! ❤

[SalahEddine-vt]

Algeria was powerful in the past, but ignorance took hold

[darthbee]

Okay this was a way _clearer_ explanation on the Barbary Wars! So great that you made this Joel 😺

(also props to William Ray 👀 — and yeah, pirates are pirates are pirates, in the end they operate with their own MO 😏)

[iw]

This was one of the most interesting things I learned in high school history, mostly because I had never heard about it before. There are so many fascinating stories from history that so few people hear about.

[klaxxor]

More content like this please! Loved it.

[PotteryLife]

I never knew any of this. Thanks for sharing.

[skpjoecoursegold]

all good stories will have pirates in them.

[haeuptlingaberja]

Excellent presentation, dude. I just recently discovered you and even though I've been a seriously incorrigible history junkie for more than 50 years, I am deeply impressed. I thought I knew a bit about the "Barbary pirates, " but it turns out that I did not really understand either the cultural context (as just one example, that the "Berbers" resented the name they were given, with its roots in the all-encompassing, ancient Greek slur on "barbarian foreigners.") Top-notch historiography, my friend. Kudos and deep appreciation. I will be reading and watching what you come up with. Many thanks.

[claudia.]

Wonderful content! Beautifully presented. More please! Hey Joel Cook, thank you!