USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Typically, a Barbary peace treaty required a nation to pay “tribute” to the pirate ruler, who would then call off attacks on the nation’s ships. Tribute usually took the form of a large payment of money plus annual payments.

Detailed explanation-2: -Barbary corsairs led attacks upon American merchant shipping in an attempt to extort ransom for the lives of captured sailors, and ultimately tribute from the United States to avoid further attacks, as they had with the various European states.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Barbary States were a collection of North African states, many of which practiced state-supported piracy in order to exact tribute from weaker Atlantic powers. Morocco was an independent kingdom, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli owed a loose allegiance to the Ottoman Empire.

Detailed explanation-4: -The United States had signed treaties with all of the Barbary states after its independence was recognized between 1786–1794 to pay tribute in exchange for leaving American merchantmen alone, and by 1797, the United States had paid out $1.25 million or a fifth of the government’s annual budget then in tribute.

Detailed explanation-5: -Long after Europeans had abandoned oar-driven vessels in favor of sailing ships carrying tons of powerful cannon, many Barbary warships were galleys carrying a hundred or more fighting men armed with cutlasses and small arms. The Barbary navies were not battle fleets.