Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

the Sublime Porte opened the gate wide for foreign infiltrations, diplomatic
intrigues, and claims for privileges in the Ottoman Empire. Algiers, abided by
this treaty reluctantly even though its corsairs, intentionally or mistakenly,
continued to harass English shipping in the Mediterranean sporadically. 22
Very early in the history of the Regency of Algiers, the Sublime Porte
not only agreed to capitulations but also opened North African ports to English
traders and adventurers of all sorts. Subsequently, the latter benefited from “the
availability of large amounts of resources and the openness of the Muslim
markets” which permitted them to expand their trade in the region and
accumulate wealth. 23
So, long before the English “crossed the ocean to North
America to conquer and settle, they had sailed down to the northern coast of
the African Mediterranean to trade, pillage or simply ‘discover.’” 24 In a sense,
according to scholar Nabil Matar, North Africa was the early crucible of British
imperialism which “played a role in delaying the westward colonial venture”
because “as long as there was profitable trade with the Barbary region, there
was no need to sail far and wide in dangerous search of colonial conquest and
settlement.” 25
Emphasis on Mediterranean trade during the Elizabethan Age (1558-
1603) may have delayed the fulfillment of England’s colonial goals in the New
World but it did not bring them to a close. In perpetual search for power and
22 See letter of Queen Elizabeth to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1584), Morgan, Complete History of
Algiers, pp. 582-83; also Appendix 1A.
23 Matar, “Britain and Barbary,” p. 2.
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
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