Didn’t they pay “tributes” to the Barbary pirates before Jefferson sent in the marines?
I think that churches throughout New England raised money to pay the Barbary Pirates for the release American sailors. I don’t know that the US government ever did.
Yes: both George Washington and John Adams paid “tribute” (authorized by Congress) to the so-called Barbary pirates for ransoming hostages. Adams got Congress to fund a kick-butt navy, and the pacifistic Thomas Jefferson decided to use it rather than pay the tribute.
...Didn’t they pay “tributes” to the Barbary pirates before Jefferson sent in the marines...
The U.S. treaty with Tripoli concluded in 1805 and included a ransom for American prisoners in Tripoli, but the Treaty did not include “tributes,” a matter of semantics...