TCI 12.4 President Jefferson's Dilemma: Dealing with Pirates

TCI 12.4 President Jefferson's Dilemma: Dealing with Pirates

Unfortunately, the peace that John Adams achieved with France did not last long.   In 1803, France and Great Britain were again at war.  As the conflict heated up, both nations began seizing American ships that were trading with their enemy.  President Thomas Jefferson, who took office in 1801, complained bitterly that “England has become a den of pirates and France has become a den of thieves. ”  Still, like Washington and Adams before him, Jefferson tried to follow a policy of neutrality.

Impressment

Remaining neutral when ships were being seized was hard enough. It became even harder when Great Britain began impressing American sailors—kidnapping them and forcing them to serve in the British navy. The British claimed that the men they impressed were British deserters. This may have been true in some cases, as some sailors may well have fled the terrible conditions on British ships, but thousands of unlucky Americans were also impressed.

 American anger over impressment peaked in 1807 after a British warship, the Leopard, stopped a U.S. warship, the Chesapeake, to search for deserters. When the Chesapeake's captain refused to allow a search, the Leopard opened fire. Twenty-one American sailors were killed or wounded in the attack, which triggered another case of war fever, this time against Great Britain.

Multiple Choice

Which event enraged Americans in 1807?

• the Leopard firing upon the Chesapeake.
• The British bribing an American diplomat
• Embargo Act
• War Hawk Battle

Multiple Choice

What British ship fired on the Chesapeake?

• The Leopard
• The Philadelphia 
• The Royal
• The Englander 

Multiple Choice

What does it mean to impress a sailor?

• to bribe him to switch sides and join an opposing navy

• to make him pay for safe passage through pirate waters

• to kidnap him and force him to serve

• to gain the respect of the crew onboard a ship

Multiple Choice

Why did Great Britain impress U.S. sailors in the early 1800s?

• The British sailors wanted their company.

• There was food aboard the American ships that the British navy wanted.

• They were bored and wanted something to do.

• Great Britain impressed U.S. sailors to serve in the British navy. They claimed the men were British deserters.

Piracy

American ships faced a different threat from the Barbary States of North Africa: piracy, or robbery at sea. For years, pirates from Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli had preyed on merchant ships entering the Mediterranean Sea, so that they could seize the ships and hold the crews for ransom.

Multiple Choice

The Barbary Coast states of North Africa included Morocco and Tripoli.

• True 
• False

Presidents Washington and Adams both paid tribute to Barbary State rulers in exchange for the safety of American ships. While Americans were shouting “millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute” during the XYZ Affair, the United States was quietly sending money to the Barbary States.

By the time Jefferson became president, the United States had paid the Barbary States almost $2 million. The ruler of Tripoli, however, demanded still more tribute, and to show that he was serious, he declared war on the United States. Jefferson hated war, but he also hated paying tribute. The question was, which was worse?

Multiple Choice

Which Barbary Coast state declared war on the United States in 1801?

• Morocco
• Tripoli
• Lybia
• Spain

What Happened: Jefferson Solves the Problem

As much as Thomas Jefferson hated war, he hated paying tribute more. In 1801, he sent a small fleet of warships to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping interests. The war with Tripoli plodded along until 1804, when American ships began bombarding Tripoli with their cannons.

During this time, one of the ships, the Philadelphia, ran aground on a hidden reef in the harbor, and the captain and crew were captured and held for ransom. Rather than let pirates have the Philadelphia, a young naval officer named Stephen Decatur led a raiding party into the heavily guarded Tripoli harbor and set the ship afire.

Multiple Choice

Why did Thomas Jefferson declare war on the Barbary Pirates?

• The pirates were threatening to attack in the United States.

• The pirates increased the cost for the United States ships to sail in the Mediterranean Sea.

• He knew there would be a second Barbary War.

• The pirates increased the cost for the United States ships to sail safely in the Pacific Ocean.

After a year of U.S. attacks and a blockade, Tripoli signed a peace treaty with the United States in 1805. Tripoli agreed to stop demanding tribute payments, and in return, the United States paid a $60,000 ransom for the crew of the Philadelphia. This was a bargain compared to the $3 million first demanded.

Pirates from other Barbary States, however, continued to raid ships in the Mediterranean. By the mid-1800s, piracy in the Barbary States finally ended.

Multiple Choice

The Barbary Pirates...

• were defeated in 1805.

• defeated America in the Second Barbary War.

• attacked the crews of foreign ships unless a tribute was paid.

• operated from ports in Europe.

 Meanwhile, Jefferson tried desperately to convince both France and Great Britain to leave American ships alone. Unfortunately, all of his diplomatic efforts failed, and between 1803 and 1807, Great Britain seized at least a thousand American ships, with France capturing about half that many.

When diplomacy failed, Jefferson proposed an  embargo — a complete halt in trade with other nations.  Under the Embargo Act passed by Congress in 1807, no foreign ships could enter U.S. ports and no American ships could leave, except to trade at other U.S. ports.  Jefferson hoped that stopping trade would prove so painful to France and Great Britain that they would agree to leave American ships alone.

Multiple Choice

Blocking all trade from another country is called _____.

• an embargo

• impressment

• customs

Multiple Choice

The 1807 Embargo Act prohibited trade with other countries.

• True 
• False

The embargo, however, proved far more painful to Americans than to anyone in Europe, and some 55,000 sailors lost their jobs. In New England, newspapers pointed out that embargo spelled backward reads “O grab me,” which made sense to all who were feeling its pinch.

Congress repealed the unpopular Embargo Act in 1809. American ships returned to the seas, and French and British warships continued to attack them.

Multiple Choice

Which is NOT true about Thomas Jefferson?

• He was the third president of the United States.

• He sent America into a war against pirates.

• Thomas Jefferson agreed to pay the increase tribute to the pirates.

• He wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Multiple Select

What were some impacts of the Embargo Act of 1807? Choose the FOUR (4) correct answers

• Over 50,000 American sailors lost their jobs.

• The United States had to pay $60,000 for the crew of the Philadelphia.

• Public opinion of Thomas Jefferson's presidency plummeted.

• No foreign ships could enter American ports.

• American merchants had less buyers for their goods.