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

dated April 10, 1815. 138 The commissioners were William Shaler, a new consul
to Algiers, and William Bainbridge and Stephen Decatur, naval officers who
were commissioned to command the two squadrons of battleships which the
United States dispatched to Algiers. Right at the start, the very composition of
the actors is indicative of the nature of that mission.
United States foreign policy and naval actions against Algiers at the turn
of the 19 th century fit perfectly within Cable’s four subdivisions of Gunboat
Diplomacy:
a) Definitive Force: according to Cable, “definitive force is the threat or
use of limited naval force to create or remove a fait accompli.” 139 When the
American president James Madison recommended to Congress an act declaring
war against Algiers and “such provisions as may be requisite for a vigorous
prosecution of it to a successful issue,” he was in fact projecting to use force
towards ‘negotiating,’ or rather imposing, a new treaty that would put an end to
tribute. 140 Monroe was more explicit in his instructions to the commissioners;
for him obtaining “an honorable and lasting peace is the great object of this
expedition” and that could not be effected “by other means than the dread or
success of our arms.” 141 The conditions of peace, ultimate objective, as defined
by Monroe were: “No tribute will be paid; no biennial presents made; the
138 James Monroe, The Writings of James Monroe, Including a Collection of his Public and Private
Papers and Correspondence, edited by Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, 7 vol. (New York/London: G. P.
Putnam’s Sons, 1899), 5:377-80, To the Peace Commissioners to Algiers, April 10, 1815. (Hereafter
cited as WJMPPP). See also Appendix 13.
139 Cable, Gunboat Diplomacy, p. 22.
140 ASP/FA, 3:748, Message from the President of the United States to Congress, Feb. 23, 1815. The
message appears in Appendix 13A.
141 WJMPPP, 5:377.
374