# First Barbary War Begins (1801)

URL: https://allhistories.com/libya/timeline/1801-first-barbary-war-begins
Location: Tripoli, Libya
Themes: battle

By 1800 Yusuf Karamanli felt that Tripoli had been short-changed compared with Algiers in the payments made by the United States, and he demanded a large new sum and annual tribute. The new president, Thomas Jefferson, had long opposed paying tribute and was prepared to use the small US Navy to protect American commerce in the Mediterranean. When his demands were not met, Yusuf declared war on 14 May 1801 in the traditional manner, ordering his soldiers to cut down the flagpole in front of the American consulate. Jefferson had already dispatched a squadron under Commodore Richard Dale, and without a formal declaration of war by Congress US ships began blockading Tripoli and attacking its corsairs; in August 1801 the schooner Enterprise captured the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli. Congress authorised the president to take hostile measures in February 1802, and successive squadrons under Dale, Richard Morris, Edward Preble and Samuel Barron maintained the blockade. The First Barbary War was the first overseas war fought by the United States and the first major operation of its navy and Marine Corps. It lasted until June 1805, combining blockade, bombardment, a dramatic hostage crisis and an overland expedition, and it made Tripoli and its pasha briefly famous in American popular culture. At this point in the timeline (14 May 1801), the Pasha of Tripoli was Yusuf Karamanli (11 June 1795 – 20 August 1832).

## Why it matters
The war with Tripoli was the first foreign war of the United States and a formative moment for its navy and Marine Corps.

Ruler at the Time: [Yusuf Karamanli](https://allhistories.com/libya/rulers/yusuf-karamanli)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — First Barbary War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barbary_War)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Barbary Wars](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Barbary+Wars)
- [Office of the Historian — Barbary Wars, 1801–1805 and 1815–1816](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1801-1829/barbary-wars)
- [Wikipedia — The Karamanli Dynasty (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karamanli_dynasty)