Uss Consitution
USS Constitution Boston is a coastal city with long history, there are many historic sites located in Boston area. Today, there is a 200 years old sailing ship berthed at Charlestown Navy Yard and serves as a museum ship. USS Constitution is the oldest floating commissioned naval vessel in the world and still a part of the U.S. Navy. It was launched on Oct 21, 1797, and it already serve in the U.S. Navy 216 years until now (Robert). The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, fortyfour gun, three-masted heavy frigate and named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America. It was one of six frigates ordered by Congress in 1794 to protect American merchant ships and combat piracy (Manley). The history of USS Constitution can be divided into four period: The Barbary War, War of 1812, In Transition and Into the 20th century. In order to understand the history of USS Constitution better, each of these periods should be introduce. First is The Barbary War, in 18th century, the Barbary states were political and economic opportunists preying on any ships that scooted too close to the Barbary Coast, “Lambert even asserts, "pirating in the Barbary States was a capitalist enterprise"" (Timothy). This can show people the pirates along the Barbary coast was rampant. The Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli had levied tribute on even the most powerful European nations. If payment was refused, ships were captured and the crews sold into slavery. Before building the Navy, U.S. paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in presents and tribute to Algeria, Tripoli, and Tunis (“USS...”). In this stitution, American needed to protect its trade, as well as its independence, this was one of the most important reasons that make U.S. built it’s own Navy, while USS Constitution was one of the earliest of them. Tripoli cut down the flagpole at the American consulate on May 14, 1801, thus declaring war on the U.S..
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