When we think of the United States Constitution many of us likely have flashbacks to long days spent in Civics or US History class learning about the founding fathers and the failings of the Articles of Confederation. Perhaps others think of the Supreme Court, or politicians always fighting to “uphold the constitution” against the other side of the aisle (who also claim to do the same thing). However, one of the more lesser known events which led to the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation, and the adoption of the Constitution as a framework for the US government, was ongoing conflict during the late 18th and early 19th centuries with pirates on the Barbary coast.
When the Articles of Confederation were adopted the United States had recently come out of a long and protracted conflict with Great Britain and its monarchy. As such the new nation was wary of a strong central government and heavy handed taxation. In Article IX of the Articles of Confederation the United States government is allowed only to borrow money from the states, and is allowed to set up a navy and army but must pay for it themselves. Meaning essentially the central government was at the mercy of the States for paying for and equipping the military. This wasn’t an issue immediately following the adoption of the Articles government but soon the fledgling nation wanted to spread its trade network across to the Mediterranean and the Barbary Pirates were waiting.
As the nation’s trade with Europe grew more and more ships were being confiscated by the Barbary pirates who controlled Africa’s Mediterranean coast line. The only way to get the ships back: Pay bribes in the form of money or war ships to the rulers of these small outlaw nations as the Europeans had been doing for years. However over time the humiliation and financial burden of being subject to a nation of outlaws an ocean away became too much for the founding fathers. However, with no navy how would American power be transmitted to the shores of Tripoli?
Within 12 years of the first shots of the Revolutionary War the founders were in Philadelphia rewriting the framework for the US Government. This time the ability to levy taxes for the benefit of the national government was included, and for the first time in its history the United States had a federal government powerful enough to raise its own navy and take the fight back to the Barbary Pirates. Had it not been for this first post-revolution military it may have taken many more years for the shortcomings of the Articles government to come to full light. In a way we owe a band of outlaw pirates from North Africa for the form of government we have been living under for the past 229 years.
Faas Historical Research 