Barbary Coast

Major rulers and petty monarchs during the times of the Barbary states' plundering parties included the sultan of Morocco, the dey of Algiers, bey of Tunis, and pasha of Tripoli, respectively.

The corsairs were not solely natives of the cities where they were based; while many were Arabs and Berbers, there were also Turks, Greeks, Albanians, Syrians, and renegade Italians, especially Corsicans, among their number.

[7] The establishment of the U.S. Constitution in 1789 empowered the federal government to levy taxes and maintain a military, authorities previously absent under the Articles of Confederation.

Subsequently, in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli declared war on the United States, citing unpaid tribute.

[8] The first overseas military land action of the United States was executed by the US Marines and the US Navy in April 1805 at the Battle of Derna, at Tripoli, a coastal city now in eastern Libya.

A 17th-century map by the Dutch cartographer Jan Janssonius showing the Barbary Coast, here "Barbaria"
Ex-voto of a naval battle between a Turkish ship from Algiers (front) and a ship of the Order of Malta under Langon , 1719
Purchase of Christian captives in the Barbary states