There have been whole nations of pirates, and that as late as a hundred
years ago. By looking at an atlas you will see at the north of Africa
the nations of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. The people of these nations
are called Moors, and they used to be great sea-robbers. They sent out
fast vessels in the Mediterranean Sea, and no merchant ship there was
safe. Hundreds of such ships were taken and robbed. Their crews were not
killed, but they were sold as slaves, which was nearly as terrible.

Would you not think that the powerful nations of Europe would have soon
put a stop to this? They could have sent fleets and armies there and
conquered the Moors. But instead of that, they paid them to let their
ships alone.

Not long after the Revolution these sea-robbers began to make trouble
for the United States. The new nation, you should know, had no navy.
After it was done fighting with the British, it was so poor that it sold
all its ships. But it soon had many merchant ships, sailing to all seas,
which were left to take care of themselves the best way they could.

What did the pirates of Algiers care for this young nation across the
Atlantic, that had rich merchant ships and not a war vessel to protect
them? Very little, I fancy. It is certain that they soon began to
capture American ships and sell their sailors for slaves. In a short
time nearly two hundred American sailors were working as slaves in the
Moorish states.

The United States did not act very bravely. Instead of sending out a
fleet of warships, it made a treaty with Algiers and agreed to pay a
certain sum of money every year to have its vessels let alone. While the
treaty lasted, more than a million dollars were paid to the Dey of
Algiers. If that much had been spent for strong frigates, the United
States would not have had the disgrace of paying tribute to the Moors.
But the natives of Europe were doing the same, so the disgrace belonged
to them also.

The trouble with the Moors got worse and worse, and the Dey of Algiers
became very insolent to Americans.

"You are my slaves, for you pay me tribute," he said to the captain of
an American frigate. "I have a right to order you as I please."

When the other pirate nations, Tunis and Tripoli, found that Algiers was
being paid, they asked for tribute, too. And they began to capture
American ships and sell their crews into slavery. And their monarchs
were as insolent as the Dey.

The United States at th