Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates book review - Free Essay Example

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates is primarily about land and sea battles, as it introduces events of the First Barbary War. Post Revolutionary War, when the United States was a young nation still trying to establish itself. America was at peace until 1785, when pirates from the coast of North Africa began capturing U.S. merchant ships and enslaving their crews. In July 1785, the US merchant ship Dauphin was sailing the Mediterranean, its crew thinking that it was on friendly seas because the U.S.A. was at peace with all surrounding nations. Captain Richard OBrien was shocked when he realized that a ship that had pulled up alongside them wasnt merely trying to communicate†instead, the crew swung aboard the Dauphin in a surprise attack with daggers and swords drawn. The crew were captured, stripped of hat, shirt, handkerchief. They were exposed to the sun and elements for about a week before arriving in Algiers where they were paraded thru the streets. They were enslaved and held captive for ten years. The Mediterranean bordered the Ottoman Empire, American merchants depended on trade with the nations along the coast. The tributes (bribes/ransoms) demanded by the Muslim nations to ensure the safety of U.S. ships were exploitative and liable to increase without warning. During their successive presidencies, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson faced the problem with different views. Adams favored diplomacy w/tribute payments, Jefferson preferred a show of force or even war. The enslaved sailors were released a decade later, the U.S. was struggling to gather the tributes required to satisfy the Barbary nations constantly increasing demands. In 1799, the George Washington delivered an unsatisfactory tribute to Algiers and in return, its crew was forced to ferry an Algerian entourage to Constantinople. When Jefferson became president in 1801, tensions were high enough that he sent the U.S. Navys first flotilla to the Mediterranean in an att empt to keep the peace. During this time, the Bashaw of Tripoli declared war against the United States. During the next four years, the US Navy fought battles at sea, blockaded enemy harbors, endured the capture and enslavement of the Philadelphia crew, and finally launched a plan to take Derne, Benghazi, and Tripoli by land and overthrow Yusuf Qaramanli. Only Derne fell, as Tobias Lear stepped in with a treaty and ransom that appeased Bashaw Yusuf and secured the prisoners release. Thomas Jefferson was acting as minister to France and John Adams as ambassador to London. The two met to discuss the situation, also meeting with Tripolis London Ambassador, Sidi Haji Abdrahaman. According to his muslim holy book the Quran, he explained all nations which had not acknowledge the prophet were sinners,whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave. Islamic pirates saw no wrongdoing in plundering their ships although, they would stop if the U.S. paid an annual tribute to each of the Barbary Nations. The U.S. didnt have that kind of money, and they didnt want to pay ransoms. They also couldnt afford to stop trade in the Mediterranean. Adams wanted to negotiate, Jefferson wanted to use force. By 1789, they had both returned to the United States with the conflict unresolved. Jefferson was appointed Secretary of State by George Washington. He used his new position to petition Congress on behalf of the men enslaved in Algiers. President Washington authorized the Act to Provide a Naval Armament In 1794, providing for six new frigates. William Bainbridge captained the USS George Washington as it sailed the Mediterranean for the first time. He met a nervous Consul OBrien at the dock; nervous because OBrien knew that impatience had increased the demands of the Dey of Algiers. The Dey was not appeased by the size of the tribute the USS George Washington carried, and he insisted the ship and its crew must complete the payment themselves. They would do this by sailing the ship to Constantinople carrying the Algerian ambassador, his entourage, and Algiers tribute to the Ottoman Empire. Bainbridge had no option but to comply, following custom, he had allowed the Captain of the Algiers port to steer his ship into the harbor conveniently, the Algerian Captain had anchored the ship in the fortress guns line of fire. Frustrated and embarrassed, Bainbridge and his crew hoisted the Algerian flag and ferried the ambassadors crew and their heavy tribute of slaves and animals to Constantinople, redirecting the ship toward Mecca five times a day for prayers along the way. The Bashaw declared war against the United States on May 11, 1801. Bashaw Yusufs Declaration occurred in the same month as President Jeffersons proposal to his cabinet to do the same. A few days after the declaration, a squad of Algerian soldiers made an attempted show of chopping down the flagpole at the US consulate which resulted in more of a comedy than a dramatic act of war, since the pole proved strong enough to withstand hours of hacking and chopping at its base. The first flotilla of four ships was finished and ready to sail by June of 1801. The ships were the President, the Philadelphia, the Essex, and the Enterprise. The captains were Commodore Richard Dale, Samuel Barron, William Bainbridge, and Lieutenant Andrew Sterett, respectively. Members of the US Marine Corps sailed with the crews to act as a line of hand-to-hand defense†all were under orders to shoot or fight in defense only. On August 1, 1801, the Enterprise left the Tripoli harbor on a run to Malta for provisions. On the way, Lieutenant Sterett spotted a pirate ship, the Tripoli, and decided to approach under a British flag. When they came together, the pirate captain freely admitted that they were look ing for Americans. The Enterprise crew raised the American flag and fired, and an intense battle ensued†the first of the Barbary War. Though the crew of the Tripoli tried to trick their opponents with not one, not two, but three false surrenders, the bloody fighting ended in the Americans favor. The Tripolitan suffered thirty dead, another thirty wounded, and a ship so incapacitated that it could barely sail back to port. The battle gave US Congress a potential push toward allowing President Jefferson to declare war. After ending the Tripoli blockade in September, Captain Dale returned to Gibraltar and was informed that Admiral Rais and his men had abandoned their ships and escaped by land. The President ran aground and had to dock in France for the winter for repairs. Dale had fallen ill. The Senate took their time approving President Jeffersons request for use of force. Jefferson could not declare all-out war, but he could increase the size of the navy, signing into law An Act for the protectio n of the Commerce And Seamen of the United States, against Tripolitan Corsairs. President Jefferson appointed Richard Valentine Morris to command the next fleet that would sail across the Atlantic. Captain Morris had proven himself battles with the French. Now, married, his wife requested to sail with him. This proved to be a distraction, Morris gave more attention to socializing in friendly ports than to those where his orders directed him. Corsairs captured the Franklin, a merchant ship, and evaded the blockade again to return their hostages to Tripoli. It took a ransom of $5,000 to release the prisoners. Morriss slow progress finally led him to Tripoli in May of 1803, but he didnt see much action before being relieved of duty in July after Eaton returned to the United States and reported on him. Morris had to face a court-martial that ended in his dismissal from the navy. President Jefferson was frustrated because nearly two years had passed with nothing to show for it. Edward Preble was Captain Morriss replacement, and he set sail on the USS Constitution on August 12, 1803, with Colonel and Mrs. Tobias Lear on board (and without his own wife). Lear was slated to replace OBrien as consul general to Algiers. Captain Preble had discretion to act as he saw fit, and better warships to serve him, including the Vixen and the Syren. When he arrived in Gibraltar he learned that United States relations with Morocco Were also on the decline, so he sailed first to Tangier Harbor to make a show of strength. Preble and Lear went ashore to find the Sultan sufficiently intimidated and apologetic. He recanted his threats and promised to uphold the 1786 peace treaty between Morocco and the United States. While Preble was making his first moves along the Barbary Coast, the USS Philadelphia was maintaining a blockade of the Tripoli Harbor. On October 31, 1803, they gave chase to a Tripolitan ship but ran aground less than two miles from shore. Captain Bainbridge ordered the crew to dump most of its guns and cannons into the water to lighten the ship and lift free of the rock they were stuck on; in the meantime, nine Tripolitan warships surrounded them. Feeling he had no other choice, Bainbridge surrendered, burning any information that might have been useful to the enemy. He and the crew of 306 were taken ashore as captives. The crew was kept in miserable conditions and put to work, while the officers had a somewhat easier time in the empty consulate building. Dale was comforted that at least the ship would be useless to Tripoli, but after a gale loosed it from its rock, the imprisoned Americans were forced to repair it. After he dropped off the Lears in Algiers, Captain Preble directed his ship toward Tripoli. However, learning about the Philadelphia situation, he stopped in Malta to read Bainbridges letters along the way. He decided the Constitution and the Enterprise, captained by Stephen Decatur Jr., would sail in tand em to Tripoli to reinstate a blockade. President Jefferson had no good news until he learned about the Intrepid and the Philadelphia in March of 1804. Another attempt was made at seeking a truce. Preble waged one largely successful battle in the Tripoli Harbor and two relatively unsuccessful bombardment attempts, all during the month of August. On September 3, he sent the Intrepid back into the harbor under cover of darkness, helmed by Captain Richard Somers and stuffed with gunpowder and explosives. It was intended to get close enough to ship or shore to bomb them, but the ship had barely crossed into the harbor when the powder was set off†none of the crew escaped the explosion, and no harm was done to Tripolitan Property. During their voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, Eaton convinced Commodore Barron to support his plan to ally with Hamet Qaramanli. Barron committed a ship to Eaton to search for the exiled prince in Egypt. Egypt was in a state of political instability, and Eaton was hesitantly welcomed by the Egyptian Viceroy in Cairo. Appealing to commonalities between Christianity and Islam, Eaton sought his approval and assistance in the plan to find Hamet and overthrow Yusuf. The viceroy sent word out to his contacts and Hamet was found on January 3, 1805. Reunited, Eaton and Hamet drew up a treaty stating that the United States Would provide funds and equipment to restore Hamet to the throne if, in exchange, he would release all the Philadelphia prisoners and turn ov er Bashaw Yusuf and Admiral Rais to the United States when he came to power. Eaton, Hamet, and their army, composed of ten Americans, ninety Tripolitans, and a few hundred Arab and Greek mercenaries, set forth from Alexandria on March 6, 1805. On April 23 the troops arrived at Derne; a truce was offered and rejected. Four days later, the traveling army launched its attack on the city with the help of warships that had posted up in the harbor. Derne fell in only two and a half hours. The Americans and Greeks suffered minimal casualties (fourteen), while Hamlets party and the Arabs lost hundreds of men. Consul Lear seized the chance to show off his diplomatic authority and broker a peace deal with Bashaw Yusuf, wherein the United States paid $60,000 for the Philadelphia prisoners release on June 3, 1805. Yusuf won out in this deal intimidated by the attack that had been waged on Dearne, he would have been willing to release the prisoners for free. Lear had betrayed Eatons plan and Hamets trust in the deal. While Eaton and Hamets army still held Derne, Eaton sent requests for supplies and reinforcement, but instead received news of the peace accord that required him to relinquish his spoils and give up his plan. After news of the treaty arrived, the Americans in Derne left in secret, bringing only Hamet along and abandoning the rest of the Arabs who had supported them to deal with the aftermath. In June, the US Senate ratifi ed Lears treaty, although they disapproved of his rashness in making it. President Jefferson was relieved when he learned about the treaty and the release of the US prisoners from Tripoli. In mid-September 1805, Captain Bainbridge and 117 men from the crew of the Philadelphia were received back in the United States with fanfare, awards, and honors. The conclusion of the First Barbary War was not considered a complete victory, but it had achieved decent results and helped the Navy gain the necessary experience to fight the British In the War of 1812. Jefferson and Adams, who began as friends before they were rivals, eventually resolved their differences before dying, both on the same day: July 4, 1826 (the fiftieth anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution). I found this book to be very informative, though it seemed written with a bias that I am in tune with. I couldnt help notice these attacks came from religious extremists, the first attacks against our new nation, and Americas first involvement in coupes. *Fun fact Leatherneck is a military slang term for a member of the United States Marine Corps, or of the British Royal Marines.[1] It is generally bel ieved to originate in the wearing of a leather stock or collar around the neck, which kept the posture erect, but this is not the case. It was from a leather collar worn to prevent the Mohammedan cutlass from slashing the throats of U.S. Marines during the Barbary wars.

New Yale Application

New Yale Application November 10 Bev Taylor, Founder of Ivy Coach, has been featured in an article of Yales newspaper on the Universal College Application. Bev Taylor, Founder of Ivy Coach, has been quoted in the newspaper of Yale University in an article entitled Yale considers new application platform written by Tyler Foggatt. As you may know, we have been an outspoken critic of The Common Application over the years like the time Bev questioned whether The Common Application was potentially restraining trade  by financially penalizing universities that chose not to offer The Common App. on an exclusive basis. At Ivy Coach, we firmly believe in capitalism. We firmly believe in a free economy. And thats why weve got the back of our friends at the Universal College Application, who deserve the right to have their application used by highly selective universities, too. And indeed the UCA is getting their wish at more and more schools these days. Yale University  may have no intention of joining the UCA instead preferring another application (or two) and thats just fine. We back the notion of multiple applications. According to the article on a potentially new Yale application in The Yale Daily News, Bev Taylor, founder of Ivy Coach, a New-York based college consulting firm, said that many other schools, including Princeton and Cornell, followed Harvard’s example and joined the Universal College Application after the Common App crashed last fall.  Taylor said these colleges were not originally members of Universal College Application because the Common App made it very expensive for a university to subscribe to two application systems. Apparently The Common Application may be reducing this fee perhaps inspired by our outspokenness on this issue. Or perhaps inspired by their desire to not restrain trade in the United States of America where every business should have the opportunity to be successful with smarts and hustle! Who knows.