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

may interrupt the flow of reading, one may nevertheless think that, for practical
reasons, they should be ready at hand in case they were needed; otherwise, one
may easily skip them by turning to the next paragraph without having the
feeling that something might have been left out. In terms of sources, the thesis
intentionally and overwhelmingly, but somehow forcibly, uses American
primary sources to show that a second reading of the same documents from a
different perspective may likely lead to different conclusions. Finally, one may
not pretend to resurrect the past—after all, it is researched from a 21 st century
distance. But for the sake of objectivity, one will try to interrogate the
documents through the lenses of the period under study while acknowledging
that subjective and personal factors, such as the cultural background, are part of
all research. No matter how much one might wish to control the research
process, the self intrudes and projects itself on the enterprise.
Existing literature relating to early Algerian-American relations
especially that published at the turn of this century considers that corsairing
operations of the Algerian fleet were piracy—worse, they are assimilated to
terrorism—therefore it gives legitimacy to America’s aggressive diplomacy
and particularly the gunboat show of 1815-16. 4
No source critically examines
the operations of America’s ‘squadron of observation’ as an early example of
Gunboat Diplomacy. This is particularly true of what might be considered as
4 Samples include: Frank Lambert, The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World
(New York: Hill and Wang, 2005); Joshua E. London, Victory in Tripoli: How America’s War with the
Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Built a Nation (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
2005); and Michael B. Oren, Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the
Present (New York: W. W. Norton, 2007).
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