[post_page_title]A Middle East conflict[/post_page_title]
The Barbary Wars were two conflicts between the United States and the Barbary pirates of Northern Africa, who attacked foreign ships and requested tribute. Like European countries, the U.S. fell victim to these attacks, and so it decided to invest in defense rather than pay the toll. Starting in 1801, the U.S. defeated these pirate autonomies after years of conflict, and forced them to cease attacking American vessels. Through American naval innovations and initiative, European powers followed. Piracy was eliminated from the Mediterranean Sea in the decades that followed.
