Algerian-American relations reconsidered, 1783-1816

Abstract EN

This article accounts for and analyzes relations between Algeria and the United States of America during one of the lesser-known periods in the modern history of Algeria, i.e.: the period 1783-1816.

It is an attempt at understanding the nature of those early contacts and their repercussion on present times.

For the purpose, the first part of the article gives an historical overview about the general conditions that prevailed at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries and subdivides the period into two phases.

The first phase was dominated by peaceful negotiations that aimed at concluding a treaty of peace and obtaining the release of American prisoners at Algiers.

The second, however, features a naval encounter between the flagship of the Algerian navy and the American Mediterranean squadron, which ended by forcing a second treaty more advantageous to the United States on the Dey of Algiers.

In its second part, and from a different angle, this article looks at the so-called Barbary pirates’ episode as it was dealt with in American historical writings and attempts to reassess those early relations as objectively as possible