Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage
How the United States’ confrontation with North African raiders established its legitimacy on the world stage

For the fledgling United States of America, the first major foray onto the international stage came off the North African coast in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. When Barbary corsairs preyed on American merchant ships, their young government and new navy were compelled to step in. Barbary Entanglements shows how interactions with the “Barbary states”—the independent empire of Morocco and the semi-autonomous Ottoman regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli—over the issue of privateering transcended economic grievances and allowed American consuls and servicemen to demonstrate the viability and reliability of their new nation within the European diplomatic system. More than simply protecting trade, US intervention against Barbary corsairs between 1784 and 1825 aimed to establish American sovereignty and demonstrate treaty-worthiness to their European “sister nations.”

In this deeply researched and insightful study, John Chamberlin not only offers a granular account of how the “Barbary system” of corsairing and ransom-slavery worked over four decades. He also highlights nascent federal authorities’ coordinating diplomatic efforts with lesser European powers such as Sweden and Denmark to gain legitimacy, and he makes unprecedented use of Arabic language sources to reframe what we know about the development of early American foreign policy. In the process, he offers a dramatic retelling of how the United States first announced itself as a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.
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Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage
How the United States’ confrontation with North African raiders established its legitimacy on the world stage

For the fledgling United States of America, the first major foray onto the international stage came off the North African coast in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. When Barbary corsairs preyed on American merchant ships, their young government and new navy were compelled to step in. Barbary Entanglements shows how interactions with the “Barbary states”—the independent empire of Morocco and the semi-autonomous Ottoman regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli—over the issue of privateering transcended economic grievances and allowed American consuls and servicemen to demonstrate the viability and reliability of their new nation within the European diplomatic system. More than simply protecting trade, US intervention against Barbary corsairs between 1784 and 1825 aimed to establish American sovereignty and demonstrate treaty-worthiness to their European “sister nations.”

In this deeply researched and insightful study, John Chamberlin not only offers a granular account of how the “Barbary system” of corsairing and ransom-slavery worked over four decades. He also highlights nascent federal authorities’ coordinating diplomatic efforts with lesser European powers such as Sweden and Denmark to gain legitimacy, and he makes unprecedented use of Arabic language sources to reframe what we know about the development of early American foreign policy. In the process, he offers a dramatic retelling of how the United States first announced itself as a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.
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Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage

Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage

by John M. Chamberlin
Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage

Barbary Entanglements: Realizing American Independence on the World Stage

by John M. Chamberlin

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Overview

How the United States’ confrontation with North African raiders established its legitimacy on the world stage

For the fledgling United States of America, the first major foray onto the international stage came off the North African coast in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. When Barbary corsairs preyed on American merchant ships, their young government and new navy were compelled to step in. Barbary Entanglements shows how interactions with the “Barbary states”—the independent empire of Morocco and the semi-autonomous Ottoman regencies of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli—over the issue of privateering transcended economic grievances and allowed American consuls and servicemen to demonstrate the viability and reliability of their new nation within the European diplomatic system. More than simply protecting trade, US intervention against Barbary corsairs between 1784 and 1825 aimed to establish American sovereignty and demonstrate treaty-worthiness to their European “sister nations.”

In this deeply researched and insightful study, John Chamberlin not only offers a granular account of how the “Barbary system” of corsairing and ransom-slavery worked over four decades. He also highlights nascent federal authorities’ coordinating diplomatic efforts with lesser European powers such as Sweden and Denmark to gain legitimacy, and he makes unprecedented use of Arabic language sources to reframe what we know about the development of early American foreign policy. In the process, he offers a dramatic retelling of how the United States first announced itself as a force to be reckoned with on the international scene.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813954110
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Publication date: 12/01/2025
Series: The Revolutionary Age
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 258

About the Author

John “Garick” Chamberlin is Professor of Security Studies at the Air Command and Staff College of Air University.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

A well researched, original, and extremely well written book. Barbary Entanglements carves out a unique position within the literature as a comprehensive top-down diplomatic history.—Lawrence A. Peskin, Morgan State University, author of Three Consuls: Capitalism, Empire and the Rise and Fall of America's Mediterranean Community, 1776-1840

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