First Barbary War: Its Influence On Presidential War Powers
The First Barbary War: It’s Influence on Presidential War Powers
The First Barbary War: It’s Influence on Presidential War Powers
On May 10th 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha of Tripoli, ordered the United States flag cut down in front of the U.S. Consulate. This act sprung the United States into its first armed conflict overseas and ignited the domestic debate over presidential war powers for centuries to come. The First Barbary War was a result of President Thomas Jefferson refusing to pay tributes to the Barbary States, due to piracy. Congress never formally declared war, but we’ll examine Jefferson’s power as a President, to take hostile action.
In the 227 years since the creation of the United States Constitution, the U.S. Armed Forces have been involved in over 100 military conflicts, yet Congress has declared war in only five of them; the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish and American wars, World War I and World War II.1 According to Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress shall have the power…”To declare …show more content…
War”.2 The interpretation of this declaration has evolved over time starting with Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency and the war on the Barbary Coast. Jefferson’s decision to take military action, without a formal declaration from Congress, has changed the way Presidents have interpreted their war power since. Recently, power has moved greatly toward the Executive branch, away from the Legislative branch. Whether it was the war in Iraq or hostile action through drone strikes in Libya, critics of Presidential Power argue that hostile military actions exercised by the Commander in Chief, require a formal declaration of war by Congress, in order to be constitutionally legal. The first such exercise in Presidential Power to take military action, came in the First Barbary War.
In the late eighteenth-century before Thomas Jefferson was elected President, the United States of America was a young nation trying to establish a trade economy through trade routes in the Mediterranean. Barbary Corsairs and crews from the North African regions of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and the independent Sultanate of Morocco, under the Ottoman Empire, were busy capturing merchant ships and enslaving or ransoming their crews, and demanding tributes from their governments.3 A tribute is wealth or a tax that one party gives to another as a sign of respect of submission or allegiance.4 These practices provided the Muslim rulers of these nations with wealth and naval power. As will be pointed out, the lessons Jefferson learned early in dealing with the Barbary States, as both the Foreign Minister to France and Secretary of State, would later serve him well when he became President.
During the American Revolution, the American shipping industry received protection from piracy, through a treaty with France and other European nations. After the United States won its independence, the treaties became obsolete and Barbary Pirates set out to capture American ships and their sailors.5 On 11 October 1784, Moroccan pirates seized the first American merchant ship. Spain advised the U.S. on how to deal with the Barbary States, which was to pay a tribute. As minister to France, Jefferson sent a small envoy to Morocco and Algeria to purchase a treaty and pay the ransom for the freedom of the captured sailors held by Algeria.6 Diplomatic measures with Algeria were unsuccessful, as Algeria began piracy against U.S. merchants on 25 July, 1785. Negotiations with Morocco were more successful, and on 23 June, 1786, Morocco became the first Barbary Coast state to sign a treaty with the United States. 7
Congress took continued measures for diplomacy by authorizing American envoys $40,000 a piece to pay tributes. The amount fell far short of the excessive Barbary Coast demand of a $660,000 tribute per ship.8 The continued demands placed on the U.S. trade economy, became very burdensome to the U.S. government. In 1795, Algeria released all 115 American Sailors in their possession, at a cost of over $1 million, to prevent further piracy. The amount was roughly one-sixth of the U.S. budget.9
Jefferson began to take a hard stance on the subject.
He believed that the American people would grow tired of paying such high tributes and the best course of action would be an act of hostility. War would be more honorable, more effective, and less expensive than continuing to pay tributes.10 In a letter to Horatio Gates, Jefferson said, “Our trade to Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean is annihilated unless we do something decisive. Tribute or war is the usual alternative of these pirates. If we yield the former, it will require sums which our people will feel. Why not begin a navy then and decide on war? We cannot begin in a better cause nor against a weaker foe.”11 The raising demands by the Barbary Coast resulted in the formation of the United States Department of the Navy in 1798. Formation of the department was necessary to prevent further attacks and rising tributes on U.S. interests.
12
Prior to Jefferson’s Presidential inauguration in 1801, Congress passed legislation in support of the Navy. The legislation provided for six frigate ships, to be officered and manned as the President of the United States directs.13 On Jefferson’s inauguration as president, the Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli, demanded a $225,000 tribute from the new administration. Jefferson refused to pay the demand. Consequently, on 10 May 1801, Karamanli declared war on the United States by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate in Tripoli.14
Early in June before word had reached back to the United States, "Jefferson sent a small force to the area to protect American ships and citizens against potential aggression, but insisted that he was 'unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.'" He told Congress: "I communicate [to you] all material information on this subject, that in the exercise of this important function confided by the Constitution to the Legislature exclusively their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight."15
President Jefferson tried diplomacy before taking any military action. Unaware war had been declared on the U.S., President Jefferson wrote this to Pasha Karamanli, “our sincere desire to cultivate peace & commerce with your subjects.” Also mentioned was our dispatch to the Mediterranean of “a squadron of observation” whose appearance [we hope] will give umbrage to no power.”16
A Tripolitan cruiser attacked an American frigate from the squadron. The frigate subdued it, disarmed it, and according to instructions released it. In his annual address to Congress, Jefferson announced his actions as in compliance within constitutional limitations on his authority in the absence of a declaration of war. Jefferson also reported all the demands that the Pasha had placed on the U.S. Jefferson concluded his address with, “the style of demand admitted but one answer.” Jefferson had already taken action to defend the fleet, without consultation of Congress, but continued by asking for formal and expanded power to deal with the Barbary Coast.17
Alexander Hamilton interpreted Jefferson’s action differently, contending that, “the Constitution vested in Congress the power to initiate war but, that when another nation made war upon the United States we were already in a state of war and no declaration by Congress was needed.”18 The sentiment made by Hamilton is a powerful one. It justifies Jefferson’s actions to work outside of a resolution or formal war declaration. Congress never voted on a formal declaration of war, but they did authorize Jefferson to instruct naval commanders to seize all vessels and goods belonging to the Bey of Tripoli and authorized, “cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify.”19 This statute by Congress gave power to the Executive branch and set a precedent used in Presidential Power arguments today.
Over the next three years, Jefferson continued to press the issue with an increase in military force, hostilities and deployment of the Navy’s best ships to the region. The U.S. Navy had numerous skirmishes and blockaded Tripoli, but the turning point in the war came in the Battle of Derna April-May 1805. Former Army Captain William Eaton led a force of 8 U.S. Marines, and 500 mercenaries on a march across the desert from Alexandria. The force assaulted and captured the Tripolitan city of Derna. The victory signified the first United States flag raised on foreign soil.20
Wearied of the blockade and continuous raids, Yusuf Karamanli signed a treaty ending the war on 10 June 1805. Karamanli agreed to deliver back all Americans in his possession in exchange for Tripolino subjects in American possession and the sum of $60,000. In agreeing to pay the ransom, the Jefferson administration drew the distinction between paying a ransom and paying a tribute. The public was in agreement that buying sailors out of slavery was a fair exchange to ending the war.21
Debate over Presidential Powers during the First Barbary War was not as controversial as many debates today, but it was an early example of the resistance that many President’s receive, regarding the constitutionality of their actions. Jefferson’s use of Presidential Power in this conflict is justified without Congressional approval because there was a preeminent attack on the United States. The precedent set by Jefferson’s military response, is one that forever strengthened the power in the Executive branch.
The First Barbary War: It’s Influence on Presidential War Powers
On May 10th 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha of Tripoli, ordered the United States flag cut down in front of the U.S. Consulate. This act sprung the United States into its first armed conflict overseas and ignited the domestic debate over presidential war powers for centuries to come. The First Barbary War was a result of President Thomas Jefferson refusing to pay tributes to the Barbary States, due to piracy. Congress never formally declared war, but we’ll examine Jefferson’s power as a President, to take hostile action.
In the 227 years since the creation of the United States Constitution, the U.S. Armed Forces have been involved in over 100 military conflicts, yet Congress has declared war in only five of them; the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish and American wars, World War I and World War II.1 According to Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, Congress shall have the power…”To declare …show more content…
War”.2 The interpretation of this declaration has evolved over time starting with Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency and the war on the Barbary Coast. Jefferson’s decision to take military action, without a formal declaration from Congress, has changed the way Presidents have interpreted their war power since. Recently, power has moved greatly toward the Executive branch, away from the Legislative branch. Whether it was the war in Iraq or hostile action through drone strikes in Libya, critics of Presidential Power argue that hostile military actions exercised by the Commander in Chief, require a formal declaration of war by Congress, in order to be constitutionally legal. The first such exercise in Presidential Power to take military action, came in the First Barbary War.
In the late eighteenth-century before Thomas Jefferson was elected President, the United States of America was a young nation trying to establish a trade economy through trade routes in the Mediterranean. Barbary Corsairs and crews from the North African regions of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli and the independent Sultanate of Morocco, under the Ottoman Empire, were busy capturing merchant ships and enslaving or ransoming their crews, and demanding tributes from their governments.3 A tribute is wealth or a tax that one party gives to another as a sign of respect of submission or allegiance.4 These practices provided the Muslim rulers of these nations with wealth and naval power. As will be pointed out, the lessons Jefferson learned early in dealing with the Barbary States, as both the Foreign Minister to France and Secretary of State, would later serve him well when he became President.
During the American Revolution, the American shipping industry received protection from piracy, through a treaty with France and other European nations. After the United States won its independence, the treaties became obsolete and Barbary Pirates set out to capture American ships and their sailors.5 On 11 October 1784, Moroccan pirates seized the first American merchant ship. Spain advised the U.S. on how to deal with the Barbary States, which was to pay a tribute. As minister to France, Jefferson sent a small envoy to Morocco and Algeria to purchase a treaty and pay the ransom for the freedom of the captured sailors held by Algeria.6 Diplomatic measures with Algeria were unsuccessful, as Algeria began piracy against U.S. merchants on 25 July, 1785. Negotiations with Morocco were more successful, and on 23 June, 1786, Morocco became the first Barbary Coast state to sign a treaty with the United States. 7
Congress took continued measures for diplomacy by authorizing American envoys $40,000 a piece to pay tributes. The amount fell far short of the excessive Barbary Coast demand of a $660,000 tribute per ship.8 The continued demands placed on the U.S. trade economy, became very burdensome to the U.S. government. In 1795, Algeria released all 115 American Sailors in their possession, at a cost of over $1 million, to prevent further piracy. The amount was roughly one-sixth of the U.S. budget.9
Jefferson began to take a hard stance on the subject.
He believed that the American people would grow tired of paying such high tributes and the best course of action would be an act of hostility. War would be more honorable, more effective, and less expensive than continuing to pay tributes.10 In a letter to Horatio Gates, Jefferson said, “Our trade to Portugal, Spain, and the Mediterranean is annihilated unless we do something decisive. Tribute or war is the usual alternative of these pirates. If we yield the former, it will require sums which our people will feel. Why not begin a navy then and decide on war? We cannot begin in a better cause nor against a weaker foe.”11 The raising demands by the Barbary Coast resulted in the formation of the United States Department of the Navy in 1798. Formation of the department was necessary to prevent further attacks and rising tributes on U.S. interests.
12
Prior to Jefferson’s Presidential inauguration in 1801, Congress passed legislation in support of the Navy. The legislation provided for six frigate ships, to be officered and manned as the President of the United States directs.13 On Jefferson’s inauguration as president, the Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli, demanded a $225,000 tribute from the new administration. Jefferson refused to pay the demand. Consequently, on 10 May 1801, Karamanli declared war on the United States by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate in Tripoli.14
Early in June before word had reached back to the United States, "Jefferson sent a small force to the area to protect American ships and citizens against potential aggression, but insisted that he was 'unauthorized by the Constitution, without the sanction of Congress, to go beyond the line of defense.'" He told Congress: "I communicate [to you] all material information on this subject, that in the exercise of this important function confided by the Constitution to the Legislature exclusively their judgment may form itself on a knowledge and consideration of every circumstance of weight."15
President Jefferson tried diplomacy before taking any military action. Unaware war had been declared on the U.S., President Jefferson wrote this to Pasha Karamanli, “our sincere desire to cultivate peace & commerce with your subjects.” Also mentioned was our dispatch to the Mediterranean of “a squadron of observation” whose appearance [we hope] will give umbrage to no power.”16
A Tripolitan cruiser attacked an American frigate from the squadron. The frigate subdued it, disarmed it, and according to instructions released it. In his annual address to Congress, Jefferson announced his actions as in compliance within constitutional limitations on his authority in the absence of a declaration of war. Jefferson also reported all the demands that the Pasha had placed on the U.S. Jefferson concluded his address with, “the style of demand admitted but one answer.” Jefferson had already taken action to defend the fleet, without consultation of Congress, but continued by asking for formal and expanded power to deal with the Barbary Coast.17
Alexander Hamilton interpreted Jefferson’s action differently, contending that, “the Constitution vested in Congress the power to initiate war but, that when another nation made war upon the United States we were already in a state of war and no declaration by Congress was needed.”18 The sentiment made by Hamilton is a powerful one. It justifies Jefferson’s actions to work outside of a resolution or formal war declaration. Congress never voted on a formal declaration of war, but they did authorize Jefferson to instruct naval commanders to seize all vessels and goods belonging to the Bey of Tripoli and authorized, “cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify.”19 This statute by Congress gave power to the Executive branch and set a precedent used in Presidential Power arguments today.
Over the next three years, Jefferson continued to press the issue with an increase in military force, hostilities and deployment of the Navy’s best ships to the region. The U.S. Navy had numerous skirmishes and blockaded Tripoli, but the turning point in the war came in the Battle of Derna April-May 1805. Former Army Captain William Eaton led a force of 8 U.S. Marines, and 500 mercenaries on a march across the desert from Alexandria. The force assaulted and captured the Tripolitan city of Derna. The victory signified the first United States flag raised on foreign soil.20
Wearied of the blockade and continuous raids, Yusuf Karamanli signed a treaty ending the war on 10 June 1805. Karamanli agreed to deliver back all Americans in his possession in exchange for Tripolino subjects in American possession and the sum of $60,000. In agreeing to pay the ransom, the Jefferson administration drew the distinction between paying a ransom and paying a tribute. The public was in agreement that buying sailors out of slavery was a fair exchange to ending the war.21
Debate over Presidential Powers during the First Barbary War was not as controversial as many debates today, but it was an early example of the resistance that many President’s receive, regarding the constitutionality of their actions. Jefferson’s use of Presidential Power in this conflict is justified without Congressional approval because there was a preeminent attack on the United States. The precedent set by Jefferson’s military response, is one that forever strengthened the power in the Executive branch.