Barbary Pirates - History

History

Piratical activity by Muslim populations had been known in Mediterranean since at least the 9th century and the short-lived Emirate of Crete. Despite the animosity generated by the Crusades, the level of Muslim pirate activity was relatively low. In the 13th and 14th century it was rather Christian pirates, particularly out of Catalonia, that had been the constant threat to merchants. It was not until the late 14th century that Tunisian corsairs had become enough of a threat to provoke a Franco-Genoese attack on Mahdia in 1390, also known as the "Barbary Crusade". Moorish exiles of the Reconquista and Maghreb pirates added to the numbers, but it was not until the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the arrival of the privateer and admiral Kemal Reis in 1487 that the Barbary corsairs became a true menace to Christian shipping.

The Barbary pirates had long attacked British and other European shipping along the North Coast of Africa. They had been attacking British merchant and passengers ships since the 1600s. The many captives required regular fundraising by families and local church groups, who generally raised the ransoms for individuals. The British became familiar with captivity narratives written by Barbary pirates' prisoners and some whom were sold into Arab slavery before the North American colonies were well established. This was decades before English colonists became subject to captivity by Native Americans and began to write their own narratives.

During the American Revolution, the pirates attacked American ships. On December 20, 1777, Morocco's Sultan Mohammed III declared that the American merchant ships would be under the protection of the sultanate and could thus enjoy safe passage into the Mediterranean and along the coast. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty with a foreign power. In 1787 Morocco had been one of the first nations to recognize the United States.

Throughout history, geography has been on the pirates' side off the coast of Africa. The coast was and still is ideal for their wants and needs. With natural harbors often backed by lagoons, it provided a haven for guerrilla warfare like attacks on shipping vessels venturing through their territory. On the coast, mountainous areas provided ample reconnaissance for the Corsairs as well. Ships were spotted from afar, the pirates would then have time to prepare their attacks and surprise their victims.