Tag Archives: Barbary States

3.33 – Glimmers of Hope

August 8, 202103 - Thomas JeffersonAaron Burr, Albert Gallatin, Anthony Merry, Barbary States, David Erskine, Edward Preble, Francisco de Miranda, Gideon Granger, Henry Dearborn, James Madison, James Wilkinson, Jonathan Dayton, Meriwether Lewis, New Orleans, Orleans Territory, Robert Smith, Samuel Smith, Samuel Swartwout, Spain, Stephen Decatur, Texas, Thomas Jefferson, William C C Claiborne, William Clark, William Eaton, William Smith, Zebulon Pikepresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1805-1806

With American and Spanish military forces amassing along the western US border and with the commanding general of the Army potentially involved in a secession and/or filibustering plot with the former Vice President, late 1806 was a time of trepidation for President Jefferson and his administration. Before long, though, a few hopeful prospects started to appear including the return of Jefferson’s protege turned continental explorer, Meriwether Lewis. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “James Wilkinson” by Charles Willson Peale [c. 1797], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.28 – The Calming Seas

March 21, 202103 - Thomas JeffersonAlbert Gallatin, Anthony Wayne, Barbary States, Edward Preble, Henry Dearborn, James Madison, Robert Smith, State Department, Thomas Jefferson, Timothy Pickering, Tobias Lear, US Navy, William Eatonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1805

With the war with Tripoli continuing to drag on year after year, Jefferson and his administration had to determine whether the best course to bring it to a conclusion lay with opening up a new front by partnering with foreign agents or through engaging in a new round of diplomacy. Meanwhile, a change in the command of the US naval squadron in the Mediterranean took the wind out of the sails of what had been an energetic force. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Attack on Derna” by Charles Waterhouse, courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.27 – Second Term, Same as the Worst

February 27, 202103 - Thomas JeffersonAaron Burr, Albert Gallatin, Anthony Merry, Barbary States, France, George Clinton, Gideon Granger, Great Britain, Henry Dearborn, Indiana Territory, Isaac Coles, James Wilkinson, John Breckinridge, Levi Lincoln, Louisiana Territory, Mexico, Native Americans, Orleans Territory, Robert Smith, Spain, Texas, Thomas Jefferson, William Armistead Burwell, William Henry Harrisonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1805

Jefferson’s second inauguration may have been a non-event, but on numerous fronts, various tensions were building in early 1805 that threatened to make his second term one to remember. Cabinet members plotted to further their own ambitions while Aaron Burr schemed with foreign powers and domestic discontents in order to return to prominence. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the president, one of his appointments would put a double agent in place to potentially break the recently acquired Louisiana Purchase away from the US. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Thomas Jefferson” by Matthew Harris Jouett, courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.21 – A Plotting We Will Go

August 30, 202003 - Thomas JeffersonAaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Barbary States, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, De Witt Clinton, Democratic-Republican Party, Edward Preble, Election of 1804, Federalists, Fisher Ames, George Cabot, George Clinton, John Wayles Eppes, Lewis Harvie, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Rufus King, Samuel Chase, Stephen Decatur, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Mann Randolph, Timothy Pickering, Tobias Lear, William Armistead Burwell, William Bainbridgepresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1803-1804

In the wake of multiple political losses in the first few years of the 19th century, as the election of 1804 neared, numerous Federalist leaders from New England began to consider the possibility of whether their prospects and those of their home region would be better served by breaking away from the United States. In the meantime, Commodore Edward Preble arrived in the Mediterranean to prosecute war against Tripoli while back in Albemarle County, the life of one of Jefferson’s family members hung in the balance. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Uriah Tracy” by Ralph Earl [c. 1790], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.17 – Sailing in New Waters

May 24, 202003 - Thomas JeffersonAlbert Gallatin, Anthony Merry, Barbary States, Edward Preble, Henry Dearborn, John Wayles Eppes, Lewis Harvie, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Meriwether Lewis, Robert Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Mann Randolph, Tobias Lear, US Navy, William Clark, William Eatonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1802-1803

Despite some early successes, the US naval efforts against Tripoli languished in 1802 and early 1803, and with the cost of maintaining a squadron in the Mediterranean climbing, President Jefferson and his administration had to consider alternates in both leadership and approaches to tackle the situation. Meanwhile, various young men in Jefferson’s life moved into new roles in 1803, and the President’s personal and political realms began to overlap in new ways. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Dutch Ships off Tripoli” by Reinier Nooms [c. mid 17th century], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.10 – We Need to Talk

December 30, 201903 - Thomas JeffersonBarbary States, Chancellor Robert Livingston, Dolley Madison, East Florida, France, Haitian Revolution, Henri Christophe, James Madison, Louisiana, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Meriwether Lewis, Morocco, Napoleon Bonaparte, New Orleans, slavery, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Mann Randolph, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Washington DC, West Floridapresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1801-1803

As French First Consul Napoléon Bonaparte begins to shift the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere in his favor, President Jefferson works to counter these ambitions through diplomatic efforts in both Washington and Paris. Meanwhile, a Mediterranean power declares war on the US, and Jefferson’s powers of persuasion are put to the test when dealing with family matters. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool” by Thomas Lawrence [c. 1790s], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.07 – The Door to the West

November 17, 201903 - Thomas JeffersonAndrew Jackson, Barbary States, Congress, Henry Dearborn, Indiana Territory, James Madison, James Wilkinson, Meriwether Lewis, Mississippi Territory, Napoleon Bonaparte, Native Americans, Spain, Thomas Jefferson, US Army, US Navy, William C C Claiborne, William Henry Harrisonpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1798-1801

Jefferson and his administration early on focused their attention on the civilian and military operations in the western frontier of the US and worked through the year leading up to the convening of the first session of the Seventh Congress to determine who would stay and who would go. Meanwhile, despite his concerns about a standing army and navy, Jefferson also worked in his first year in office to establish two key supports for the US military establishment: a military academy and a dry dock. Sources used in this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: Portion of “The Treaty of Greenville” [c. late 18^th century], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.06 – To Limited Arms

November 3, 201903 - Thomas JeffersonAaron Burr, Albert Gallatin, Alexander Hamilton, Barbary States, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Congress, Democratic-Republican Party, Edward Livingston, Federalists, George Clinton, Gideon Granger, James Madison, John Beckley, John Jay, Levi Lincoln, Meriwether Lewis, New York, Robert Smith, Samuel Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Mann Randolph, US Navy, Washington DCpresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1795-1801

Jefferson managed to get a permanent Secretary of the Navy just in time for Commodore Dale’s naval squadron to engage in combat in the Mediterranean. In addition to that key post being filled, the administration was able to make some additional structural decisions during the final months of 1801 in time for the new congressional session in December. Meanwhile, a new opposition was organized by a key Federalist leader to ensure that Jefferson’s first annual message would not go unquestioned. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “U.S. Schooner Enterprize Capturing the Tripolitan Corsair Tripoli, 1 August 1801” by William Bainbridge Hoff [1878], courtesy of Wikipedia

Intro and Outro Music: Selections from “Jefferson and Liberty” as performed by The Itinerant Band

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3.05 – Affairs, Foreign and Domestic

October 13, 201903 - Thomas JeffersonAlbert Gallatin, Barbary States, Dolley Madison, France, Great Britain, Haitian Revolution, Henry Addington, Ireland, James Callender, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Levi Lincoln, Manuel de Godoy, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Meriwether Lewis, Napoleon Bonaparte, Spain, Talleyrand, Thomas Jefferson, Toussaint L'Ouverture, William Pitt the Younger, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1799-1801

The beginning of Jefferson’s administration coincided with changes in other parts of the world including France, Great Britain, Spain, and Saint-Domingue that would ultimately come to impact the United States. Meanwhile, as Jefferson continued to assemble his Cabinet, he and his administration also had to deal with a new round of negotiation with Napoléon’s government and appeasing an irate office seeker who threatened to expose the President to public scandal. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Le général Toussaint Louverture” [c. 19th century], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.22 – Enter the Federal City

May 19, 201902 - John AdamsAlexander Hamilton, Barbary States, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Fisher Ames, France, George Cabot, Great Britain, James Callender, James McHenry, James Monroe, John Adams, John Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver Ellsworth, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Samuel Dexter, slavery, Talleyrand, Timothy Pickering, Washington DC, William Duane, William R Davie, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1799-1801

As President Adams and the federal government transition to the new federal capital, the next presidential election looms, and both Federalist and Democratic-Republican leaders work on behalf of their favored candidates to meet challenges to their prospects. While Federalists cope with an internal debate over exactly which candidate to support, Democratic-Republicans in Virginia work to cover up the involvement of French agents in Gabriel’s Rebellion. All the while, the US commission to France scrambles to conclude their work with a treaty in time for Adams and the Federalists to claim credit for winning the peace. Source notes for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “A view of the Capitol of Washington before it was burnt down by the British” by William Russell Birch [c. 1800], courtesy of Wikipedia

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Presidencies of the United States

A journey through presidential history from the beginning to the present day

Tag Archives: Barbary States

3.33 – Glimmers of Hope

3.28 – The Calming Seas

3.27 – Second Term, Same as the Worst

3.21 – A Plotting We Will Go

3.17 – Sailing in New Waters

3.10 – We Need to Talk

3.07 – The Door to the West

3.06 – To Limited Arms

3.05 – Affairs, Foreign and Domestic

2.22 – Enter the Federal City