In 1794, in response to Algerian seizures of American ships, Congress authorized construction of the first 6 ships of the U.S. Navy. In 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Qaramanli, citing late payments of tribute, demanded additional tribute and declared war on the United States.

The Barbary rulers frequently demanded that nations “renew” their treaties for even greater amounts of tribute. Until a nation agreed to new terms, its ships remained fair game for the pirates. The war fleets of the European powers could easily have defeated the Barbary pirate ships.

First Barbary War, also called Tripolitan War, (1801–05), conflict between the United States and Tripoli (now in Libya), incited by American refusal to continue payment of tribute to the piratical rulers of the North African Barbary States of Algiers, Tunis, Morocco, and Tripoli.

The war ended in victory for the United States, with peace treaties between the three Barbary States and Morocco. The First Barbary War (1801-1805) was the first overseas war fought by the United States. It happened during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson.

The war brought an end to the American practice of paying tribute to the pirate states and helped mark the beginning of the end of piracy in that region, which had been rampant in the days of Ottoman domination (16th–18th centuries).

During the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress and was governor of Virginia. He later served as U.S. minister to France and U.S. secretary of state, and was vice president under John Adams (1735-1826).

Jefferson, in particular, had been a wanted man. He promoted the revolution by serving as an officer in the Virginia militia before becoming the governor of the independent state. On top of that, he was the man responsible for writing the Declaration of Independence, the treason of all treasons.