File:"My country, 'tis of thee!" or, The United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition (1892) (14784660585).jpg

Identifier: mycountrytisofth00john (find matches)
Title: "My country, 'tis of thee!" or, The United States of America; past, present and future. A philosophic view of American history and of our present status, to be seen in the Columbian exhibition
Year: 1892 (1890s)
Authors: Johnson, Willis Fletcher, 1857-1931 Habberton, John, 1842-1921
Subjects:
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. Y. Huber co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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long standing. As far back as1796 application was made in London for therelease of two hundred and seventy seamen thusseized within a year. The people of the UnitedStates were roused to a state of indignation.Measures for fitting out a suitable naval arma-ment were taken, and a policy of aggressiondecided upon. The war with Britain, however, was precededby a three years war with the piratical power ofTripoli, which with the other Barbary States ofNorth Africa, had for many years made theMediterranean unsafe for commerce. The weakermercantile nations of Europe, after vainly en-deavoring to suppress these outrages, had con-sented to pay an annual tribute for the securityof their vessels. The United States did the samefor a time, but having grown weary of this coursedeclared war against Tripoli. The contestended in 1804, ^^^ resulted in the partial sup-pression of the piracies. It needed a secondstruggle in 1815 to induce Algiers and Tunis togive up all claims to tribute from the United
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THE StORY OF^ TH^ NATION. 113 States, and this was accomplished uuder thesame talented commander who brought the firstwar to a successful close—the gallant CommodoreDecatur. The histor)^ of the second war with GreatBritain begins, as we have seen, as far back as1796. The aggressive acts of that power wereof a nature that would not be tolerated for asingle month did they occur in the present da3\An official report made in 1812 by the Secretaryof State declared that five hundred and twenty-eight American merchantmen had been takenby England prior to 1807, and three hundredand eighty-nine after that period. The value ofthose vessels and cargoes, estimated at the lowestfigures, would amount to nearly thirty milliondollars. An abundant warrant for war, surely;yet the declaration was carried in Congress byan astonishingly small majority. The Federalparty, opposed to all the Jeffersonian measures,fought with especial bitterness—and with es-pecial justification—the embargo which the ex-

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