America's War Against Pirates
From American History Hit by History Hit
May 21, 2026 · 54 min · Episode 385
About this episode
The episode discusses America's lesser-known war against the Barbary States and its impact on the nation's development as a naval power.
Just twenty years after independence, the United States fought a lesser-known war against the Barbary States of North Africa... some use the term 'Corsairs', others referred to them as 'Pirates'. But why was America there? How was diplomacy conducted during this time? And how did these conflicts help transform a fragile republic into an emerging naval power? Our guest today is Dr. Abby Mullen, professor at the United States Naval Academy. Her work includes hosting the ‘ Consolation Prize ’ podcast, and her book ‘To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805’, which won the ‘John R. Lyman Book Award’ in 2024. All opinions expressed here are Abby's, and not those of the US Naval Academy, US Department of Defense or the US Government. Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe . All music from Epidemic Sounds. American History Hit is a History Hit podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Guest: Dr. Abby Mullen
Topics covered
- Barbary Wars
- American naval history
- diplomacy
- piracy
- early American conflicts
- military history
Keywords
- Barbary States
- Corsairs
- pirates
- naval power
- diplomacy
- American history
- First Barbary War
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: United States Naval Academy, US Department of Defense, US Government
Books & works: To Fix a National Character: The United States in the First Barbary War, 1800–1805
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