We Didn’t Start This Fire

We Didn’t Start the Fire-Or-What Would President Madison Do?

It appears that a number of Americans were killed and others taken hostage as part of Hamas’ raid into Israel. There has been some of the usual wailing and gnashing of teeth about how to respond. For those of you who are familiar with my past writing, you know that I avoid political discussions at all cost, so I will attempt to again do so to the best of my very limited ability. But, as usual, history provides us some insights about how we might handle this current crisis.

After a long and costly war for independence, our new nation was deeply in debt. Even though the United States faced threats from abroad, our Founders still had a great distrust of standing militaries. Their experience with quartering British troops, and the British navy’s taking of whatever supplies and provisions that they needed, was still very fresh in their minds. The last of the Continental Navy ships had been sold in 1785 because Congress had not approved funds necessary to keep them repaired. There just was not enough money to build up formidable military even if they had wanted to do so.

But the young nation also did not have the ability to control world events, and in 1785 pirates off of Algiers, claiming to be Mujahedeen, seized the American merchant ship Betsey and held her crew for ransom. Both Thomas Jefferson and John Jay wanted to begin building naval ships to protect our freedom of trade, but the citizens of the young nation were weary of war and they understood directly what that would mean in the form of taxation to support the ships, their maintenance, and their crews.

Alternatively, the new nation could just pay tribute to the pirates. Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams met with representatives of the Dey of Algiers and offered a “gift” of $20,000 to entice him to return his hostages and leave US shipping alone. But by the time Congress approved the payment, the Dey increased his demands and by 1793 eleven more ships had been captured. Jefferson had been trying to get a coalition of countries to patrol the coast and bottle up the pirates, but Adams believed that paying them off would be more economical and that “We ought not to fight them unless we determine to fight them forever.” Adams understood the nature of buying freedom in that part of the world.

But the situation continued, no hostages were released, and George Washington himself petitioned Congress to build four frigates and the motion to do so carried the House of Representatives by just two votes, and only because a provision was inserted to cancel the funding if peace with Algiers was reached. The cost of this new navy was $688,888,82. Close to $13.5M in today’s dollars. These new ships were a radical design, long, deep, fast, and very heavily armed. There were not going to be many of them, but they could pack a punch. There were delays in construction, and by the time the keels were laid, the “Treaty of Tripoli” was signed which should have ended construction. But George Washington pushed Congress and three of the original four were completed.

Jefferson became President in 1801 and nearly one fifth of the US budget at the time was being spent to pay off the Barbary pirates. And, of course, they wanted more. Jefferson wanted to declare war, but he was convinced that the US Congress would not support a formal declaration, so he sent over his small fleet to “chastise” the pirates.

In response, the Pasha of Tripoli cut down the flag at the US consulate there, effectively declaring war. As a result, Congress passed the “Act for Protection of Commerce and Seamen of the United States against the Tripolitan Corsairs” on February 6, 1802, and the naval force, now up to five strong frigates and a contingent of Marines was deployed.

One of these brand-new ships, the Philadelphia, ran aground, was captured, and was renamed by the Pasha the “Gift of Allah,” providing the Pasha another 300 hostages and a great prize, as well as being a major embarrassment for the young United States. In a daring move, navy Lieutenant Steven Decatur and his volunteers sailed into the harbor disguised as merchants and burned the new ship to keep it from being used against them. In another series of equally daring moves, the embedded Marines helped overthrow the Pasha and the new regime was more friendly to the Americans.

While there was peace for the moment, Jefferson noted that “There is no end to the demand of these powers. Nor any security in their promises.” And, sure enough, when the US was preoccupied with the War of 1812 against Britain, these pirate operations began once again.

Madison was now president and he was no more eager to send ships to Algiers than he had been before. But he had little choice. Congress approved a war declaration, and a fleet of 10 ships sailed for the Mediterranean. The navy sailed directly into the harbor at Algiers, laid broadside to the city, and told the Dey that he could release the prisoners or they would level his fortress. One look at this formidable array of power and the Dey gave up the prisoners and paid $10,000 in compensation. The navy then sailed on to Tunis and Tripoli where he repeated the process and that ended the war that had begun in 1784.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, it should. The US Marines actually wrote a song about their adventures in that part of the world.

I admit to being an old navy guy. I remember seeing the Missouri from the shoreline during the Gulf War when she was back in service, and I can tell you that she was one persuasive diplomat. If James Madison were President today, I wonder if the situation in Gaza would be any different. What if the Missouri was ordered to the region and arrived and lay broadside to Gaza City, to be there on the horizon when the people in that city awoke?

What if a small contingent of Marines, under the command of a young lieutenant, were to come ashore and announce that all American hostages were to be returned in the next 10 hours or that pier, and everything for a mile around would be rubble thirty minutes later? Imagine those same Marines standing on the rubble pile the next day with the announcement that, if the Americans were not returned within the next 8 hours, the Missouri would empty her entire battery of 16-inch shells, along with every shell in her ammunition support ship, into city?

We do not know of course. But there is one way to find out.

Author note: the great historian Ian Toll wrote a book about this called “Six Frigates”. I strenuously recommend it to anyone who is looking to know more about this topic.

If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.

Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA