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

make the subsequent annual payments in money.” 70 The treaty, however, was
concluded while Jefferson was no more part of the administration of George
Washington. In 1807, once back to office, Jefferson still saw wrong in
delivering maritime stores to Algiers. He did only concede to send “some of the
losing articles” to Algiers when the situation became critical with Great
Britain. 71 In fact, all the way from 1785 to 1807, Jefferson had been consistent
in his position about tribute; and assuredly he shared that consistency with
Madison (I think with you). Madison on his side did not only agree with
Jefferson but he also replaced him at the head of the American government in
1809. Hence, the American approach to tribute found continuation in the
forthcoming administration of Madison (1809-1817) during which another
crisis relating to naval materials developed.
2. 2. The Crisis of 1812
The crisis of 1807 was only averted by Lear’s agreement to pay for
arrears, but a second crisis occurring in 1812 led to a greater conflict. In 1812,
disagreement arose again over deliveries of naval materials. 72 Previously, the
new Dey Hadj Ali Khodja (1809-1815) had expressed dissatisfaction about
stores not arriving on time as well as the quantities of delivered materials. Lear
had already communicated that complaint to the Secretary of State in a letter
70 SPPD, 10:272, To Colonel David Humphreys, March 21, 1793.
71 WTJ1, 5:181, To the Secretary of State, September 1, 1807. Emphasis added by this researcher.
72 Lear wrote to long letter to the Secretary of States in July 1812 in which he described the
circumstances preceding his departure from Algiers. Lear’s account is the only document the American
government presented as argument for declaring war on Algiers and also the only published document
available for researchers today. Therefore, this part of the thesis relies on it for all ‘facts’ relating to
that episode.
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