The Barbary Wars By yordi.morales Sep 13, 1801 WHEN DID The Barbary Wars STARTED The First Barbary War began because On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli, demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, in May 1801, the Pasha declared war on the United States, not through any formal written documents but by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate. Algiers and Tunis did not follow their ally in Tripoli. In response, Jefferson sent a group of frigates to defend American interests in the Mediterranean. Dec 14, 2012 The Barbary Wars The capture of USS Philadelphia by the Tripolitans at the end of October 1803 seriously reduced the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean force and potentially increased the enemy's seagoing offensive power. Though it turned out that Tripoli lacked the resources needed to operate the captured frigate, this was by no means clear at the time, and Commodore Edward Preble began planning to eliminate the problem. The idea of recapturing the Philadelphia in Tripoli's well-fortified harbor offered little chance of success, but her destruction appeared feasible, if heavy losses by the raiding party were accepted
