Makes me even prouder that the US did not pay tribute on the “shores of Tripoli”.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/bar1795t.asp
Treaty of Peace and Amity, Signed at Algiers September 5, 1795
ARTICLE YE 22d
On the 21st of ye Luna of Safer 1210 corrisponding with the 5th September 1795 Joseph Donaldson Junr on the Part of the United States of North America agreed with Hassan Bashaw Dey of Algiers to keep the Articles Contained in this Treaty Sacred and inviolable which we the Dey & Divan Promise to Observe on Consideration of the United States Paying annually the Value of twelve thousand Algerine Sequins (1) in Maritime Stores Should the United States forward a Larger Quantity the Over-Plus Shall be Paid for in Money by the Dey & Regency any Vessel that may be Captured from the Date of this Treaty of Peace & Amity shall immediately be deliver’d up on her Arrival in Algiers.
In 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812, an American squadron commanded by Stephen Decatur sailed back to the Mediterranean and sailed to Algiers, Tunisia, and Tripoli in succession, demanding an end to future attacks on American shipping - there had been no American shipping in the Mediterranean during the war with Britain - and the abolition of the tribute payments made by the United States. These actions by the American fleet so inspired Europe that the European powers decided to end the paying of tribute by any Europeans as well. In 1816 a British-Dutch fleet sailed to Algiers and leveled the fortifications of the city and received the assurance of the ruler of Algiers that he and his citizens would no longer engage in piracy. Following the example made at Algiers, Tunisia and Tripoli soon agreed to end their pirate raids as well.
The U.S. can be proud that it stood up to the Barbary pirates and ended attacks on its citizens and shipping in 1815, but until that time it had been forced to pay tribute, just like any other country that wanted to trade in the Mediterranean.
Just to set the historical record straight.