Two-and-a-half centuries after declaring independence, the United States is grappling with the same questions that challenged its Founders. The debate revolves around the degree to which Americans should defend the freedom of navigation through a vital international waterway, and whether they should stand up to or pay off a Middle East power threatening it.
Today, the question is centered around the Strait of Hormuz, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has a worldview almost identical to that of the Barbary pirates. In the late 18th century, Tripoli's ambassador, Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja, met with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams in London, insisting that Barbary was sovereign in the Mediterranean and that no nation could traverse it without paying a massive toll.
The ambassador's words convinced Adams that Americans must avoid endless war with the Barbary states. He believed that fighting them was "too rugged for our People to bear" and would be "too costly." Adams counseled that America had no choice but to continue to pay tribute, rather than risk losing trade and accumulating a national debt.
However, Jefferson reached a radically different conclusion. He believed that Americans would never succumb to blackmail and that peace with Barbary was only attainable "through the medium of war." Jefferson recommended that all negotiations with Barbary cease until the country adopted "measures... which may correct the idea... of impotency in the federal government," including the construction of a navy.
The question that divided Adams and Jefferson became critical in 1789, in the arguments for and against a Constitution. The newly independent America lacked a navy and was incapable of battling Barbary. However, under its new Constitution, the United States authorized the construction of six frigates, which led to America's first foreign and longest war, lasting until 1815.
The victory over Barbary was a source of immense national pride. The country erected its first war monument, to the triumphant Barbary War, on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. No less than 17 American cities were named for the hero of that campaign, Commodore Stephen Decatur. And the Marines still sing of their landing "on the shores of Tripoli."
These testaments serve to remind Americans, now approaching their country's 250th birthday, of the ways in which the Founders faced the threats to free navigation posed by an extremist Middle Eastern regime. Though initially divided over whether to financially incentivize or militarily vanquish that power, the country's first leaders decided on the latter course and prevailed.
Today, the Trump administration has pursued both policies, first waging war against Iran and now inducing it with the possible infusion of billions. Still unknown is whether Iran – unlike Barbary – can be trusted to comply with the agreement and whether the peace once won by the United States can be replicated today.
