1.
Barbary Wars
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The Swedes having been at war with the Tripolitans since 1800 were eventually joined by the Americans. At issue was the Barbary pirates demand for tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, if ships of a given country failed to pay, pirates would attack the ship and take their goods, and often enslave crew members or hold them for ransom. Both the administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison undertook actions against the Barbary States at different times, Jefferson led the first, from 1801 to 1805, against pirates cities in what are today Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Madison directed forces for the war in 1815. The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Berber Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli, and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a derived from the name of its Berber inhabitants. The main purpose of their attacks was to capture European slaves for the Arab slave market in North Africa, 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 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, the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the Americas oldest non-broken friendship treaty with a foreign power. In 1787 Morocco became one of the first nations to recognize the United States and these were Tripoli and Algiers, which were quasi-independent entities nominally belonging to the Ottoman Empire, and the independent Sultanate of Morocco. This war began during Thomas Jeffersons term when he refused to pay tribute, a U. S. naval fleet was sent on May 13,1801, at the beginning of the war under the command of Commodore Richard Dale. During this war, the ship Philadelphia was blockading Tripolis harbor when she ran aground on an uncharted reef. Under fire from batteries and Tripolitan gunboats, the Captain, William Bainbridge, tried to refloat her by casting off all of her guns. The ship was captured and the crew taken prisoners and put into slavery. To prevent this powerful war ship from being used by the Barbary pirates the ship was destroyed by a raiding party led by Stephen Decatur. The war between the Barbary States and the U. S. ended in 1815, the dispute would effectively be ended the following year by the United Kingdom. Within decades, European powers built ever more sophisticated and expensive ships which the Barbary pirates could not match in numbers or technology
2.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
3.
Barbary Coast
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The Barbary Coast, or Berber Coast, was the term used by Europeans from the 16th until the 19th century to refer to much of the collective land of the Berber people. Today, the term Greater Maghreb or simply Maghreb corresponds roughly to Barbary, the term Barbary Coast emphasizes the Berber coastal regions and cities throughout the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa – what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The name is derived from the Berber people of north Africa, the slaves and goods were being traded and sold throughout the Ottoman Empire or to the Europeans themselves. Barbary was not always a political entity. From the 16th century onwards, it was divided into the political entities of the Regency of Algiers, Tunis, major rulers during the times of the Barbary states plundering parties included the Pasha or Dey of Algiers, the Bey of Tunis and the Bey of Tripoli. Before then, the territory was divided between Ifriqiya, Morocco, and a west-central Algerian state centered on Tlemcen or Tiaret. Powerful Berber dynasties such as the Almohads and briefly thereafter the Hafsids, from a European perspective its capital or chief city was often considered to be Tripoli in modern-day Libya, although Marrakesh in Morocco was the largest and most important Berber city at the time. In addition, Algiers in Algeria and Tangiers in Morocco were also seen as the capital. The first United States military land action overseas, executed by the U. S, Marines and Navy, was the Battle of Derne, Tripoli, in 1805. The opening line of the Marines Hymn refers to this action and this was the first time the U. S. Marine Corps took part in offensive actions outside of the United States. The word razzia was borrowed via Italian and French from Algerian Arabic ghaziya, originally referring to slave raids conducted by Barbary pirates
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Ottoman Algeria
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The regency of Algiers, is an ancient state of North Africa which, from 1515 to 1830, preceded the french conquest of Algeria. Each beylik was divided into various outan with at their head the caïds directly under the bey, to administer the interior of the country, the administration relied on the tribes said makhzen. These tribes were responsible for securing order and collect taxes on the regions of the country. It was through this system that, for three centuries, the State of Algiers extended its authority over the north of Algeria, however, society is still divided into tribes and dominated by maraboutics brotherhoods or local djouads. Several regions of the country thus only lightly recognize the authority of Algiers, throughout its history, they have formed or continue many revolts, confederations, tribal fiefs or sultanates on the confines of the regency. Around the same time, the Ottoman privateer brothers Oruç and Hayreddin—both known to Europeans as Barbarossa, or Red Beard—were operating successfully off Tunisia under the Hafsids. In 1516, Oruç moved his base of operations to Algiers and asked for the protection of the Ottoman Empire in 1517, Hayreddin succeeded him as military commander of Algiers. Oruç, Hayreddin Barbarossas brother, captured Algiers in 1516, apart from the Spanish Peñón of Algiers, before Ottoman help could arrive, the Spanish retook the city of Algiers in 1519. Barbarossa recaptured the city definitively in 1525, and in 1529 the Spanish Peñon in the capture of Algiers, Hayreddin Barbarossa established the military basis of the regency. The Ottomans provided a garrison of 2,000 Turkish troops with artillery. He left Hasan Agha in command as his deputy when he had to leave for Constantinople in 1533, the son of Barbarossa, Hasan Pashan was in 1544, when his father retired, the first governor of the Regency to be directly appointed by the Ottoman Empire. He took the title of beylerbey, Algiers became a base in the war against Spain, and also in the Ottoman conflicts with Morocco. Beylerbeys continued to be nominated for unlimited tenures until 1587, at this time, the Ottoman Empire set up a regular Ottoman administration in Algiers and its dependencies, headed by Pashas, with 3 year terms to help considate Ottoman power in the Maghreb. In the early 17th century, Algiers also became, along with other North African ports such as Tunis, there were as many as 8,000 renegades in the city in 1634. Hayreddin Barbarossa is credited with tearing down the Peñón of Algiers, Spain, Denmark, France, England, all led naval bombardments against Algiers. Abraham Duquesne fought the Barbary pirates in 1681 and bombarded Algiers between 1682 and 1683, to help Christian captives, in the mid-1700s Dano-Norwegian trade in the Mediterranean expanded. In order to protect the business against piracy, Denmark-Norway had secured a peace deal with the states of Barbary Coast. It involved paying a tribute to the individual rulers and additionally to the States
6.
James Madison
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James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the Father of the Constitution for his role in drafting and promoting the United States Constitution. Madison inherited his plantation Montpelier in Virginia and therewith owned hundreds of slaves during his lifetime and he served as both a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and as a member of the Continental Congress prior to the Constitutional Convention. After the Convention, he one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution. His collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay produced The Federalist Papers, Madisons political views changed throughout his life. During deliberations on the Constitution, he favored a national government. In 1789, Madison became a leader in the new House of Representatives and he is noted for drafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and thus is known also as the Father of the Bill of Rights. He worked closely with President George Washington to organize the new federal government, breaking with Hamilton and the Federalist Party in 1791, he and Thomas Jefferson organized the Democratic-Republican Party. In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, as Jeffersons Secretary of State, Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nations size. Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809, was re-elected in 1813, after the failure of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against the United Kingdom, he led the U. S. into the War of 1812. The war was a morass, as the United States had neither a strong army nor financial system. As a result, Madison afterward supported a national government and military, as well as the national bank. Madison has been ranked in the aggregate by historians as the ninth most successful president, James Madison, Jr. was born on March 16,1751, at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia, to father James Madison, Sr. and mother Nelly Conway Madison. He grew up as the oldest of twelve children, Nelly and James Sr. had seven more boys and four girls. Three of James Jr. s brothers died as infants, including one who was stillborn, in the summer of 1775, his sister Elizabeth and his brother Reuben died from a dysentery epidemic that swept through Orange County because of contaminated water. His father, James Madison, Sr. was a planter who grew up on a plantation, then called Mount Pleasant. He later acquired more property and slaves, and with 5,000 acres, he became the largest landowner, James Jr. s mother, Nelly Conway Madison, was born at Port Conway, the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant. In these years, the colonies were becoming a slave society, in which slave labor powered the economy
7.
Stephen Decatur
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Stephen Decatur, Jr. was a United States naval officer and commodore. He was born on the shore of Maryland, in Worcester County. Decaturs father, Stephen Decatur, Sr. was a commodore in the U. S. Navy, shortly after attending college, Decatur followed in his fathers footsteps and joined the U. S. Navy at the age of nineteen as a midshipman. Decatur supervised the construction of several U. S. naval vessels and he is the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the United States Navy. He served under three presidents, and played a role in the early development of the American navy. In almost every theater of operation, Decaturs service was characterized by acts of heroism and his service in the Navy took him through both Barbary Wars in North Africa, the Quasi-War with France, and the War of 1812 with Britain. He was renowned for his ability to lead and for his genuine concern for the seamen under his command. His numerous naval victories against Britain, France and the Barbary states established the United States Navy as a rising power, during this period he served aboard and commanded many naval vessels and ultimately became a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners. He built a home in Washington, known as Decatur House, on Lafayette Square. He became an affluent member of Washington society and counted James Monroe, Decaturs career came to an early end when he was killed in a duel with a rival officer. Decatur emerged as a hero in his own lifetime, becoming the first post-Revolutionary War hero. His name and legacy, like that of John Paul Jones, the family of Decatur was of French descent on Stephens fathers side, while his mothers family was of Irish ancestry. His parents had arrived from Philadelphia just three months before Stephen was born, having to flee that city during the American Revolution because of the British occupation and they later returned to the same residence they had once left for Philadelphia. Decaturs family returned to Philadelphia shortly after Decaturs birth, and Decatur grew up in Philadelphia, Decatur came to love the sea and sailing in a roundabout manner. When Stephen was eight years old, he developed a case of whooping cough. In those days, a tonic for this condition was exposure to the salt air of the sea. It was decided that Stephen Jr. would accompany his father aboard a merchant ship on his voyage to Europe. Sailing across the Atlantic and back proved to be an effective remedy, in the days following young Stephens return he was jubilant about his adventure on the high sea and spoke of wanting to go sailing often
8.
Assassination
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Assassination is the murder of a prominent person, often a political leader or ruler, usually for political reasons or payment. The word assassin is believed to derive from the word Hashshashin. It referred to a group of Nizari Shia Persians who worked against various Arab, founded by the Persian Hassan-i Sabbah, the Assassins were active in the fortress of Alamut in Iran from the 8th to the 14th centuries, and also controlled the castle of Masyaf in Syria. The group killed members of the Persian, Abbasid, Seljuq, the word for murder in many Romance languages is derived from this same root word. Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics and it dates back at least as far as recorded history. The Old Testament story of Judith illustrates how a woman frees the Israelites by tricking and assassinating Holofernes, a warlord of the rival Assyrians, with whom the Israelites were at war. King Joash of Judah was recorded as being assassinated by his own servants, Joab assassinated Absalom, King Davids son, chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra. His student Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, later made use of assassinations against some of his enemies, other famous victims are Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Roman consul Julius Caesar. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Muslim Shia Imams hundreds of years later, the practice was also well known in ancient China, as in Jing Kes failed assassination of Qin king Ying Zheng in 227 BC. Whilst many assassination were performed by an individual or a small group, the earliest were the sicarii in 6 A. D. who predated the Middle Eastern assassins and Japanese ninjas by centuries. In the Middle Ages, regicide was rare in Western Europe, blinding and strangling in the bathtub were the most commonly used procedures. With the Renaissance, tyrannicide—or assassination for personal or political reasons—became more common again in Western Europe and this account is, however, contentious among historians, it being most commonly asserted that he died of natural causes. The myth of the Curse of King Zvonimir is based on the legend of his assassination, in 1192, Conrad of Montferrat, the de facto King of Jerusalem, was killed by an assassin. The reigns of King Przemysł II of Poland, William the Silent of the Netherlands, in Russia alone, two emperors, Paul I and his grandson Alexander II, were assassinated within 80 years. In the United Kingdom, only one Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has ever been assassinated—Spencer Perceval on May 11,1812. In the United States, within 100 years, four presidents—Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, there have been at least 20 known attempts on U. S. presidents lives. Huey Long, a Senator, was assassinated in September of 1935, the Polish Home Army conducted a regular campaign of assassinations against top Nazi German officials in occupied Poland. Adolf Hitler, meanwhile, was almost killed by his own officers, indias Father of the Nation, Mohandas K. Gandhi, was shot to death on January 30,1948, by Nathuram Godse
United States
Regency of Algiers