White Slaves, African Masters

Abstract

This article introduces narratives by American captives during and after the Barbary Wars (1801-1805, 1815). Set against a background of American imperial pursuits, the accounts reveal the hypocrisy and double-standards common among early Americans (who accepted black slavery in America but reacted strongly against the idea of white slaves in the custody of the North African Muslims). The accounts were largely works of fiction, but were accepted as fact. Arabs are presented as bizarre, gruesome, and primitive. The stories were sold by the thousands, so members of almost every household were exposed to these negative portrayals.

Imaginative World Cup: The Discursive Construction of the Arab Community

“…Barbary had not only pejorative connotations but a sense of commercial and cultural resistance; Africans were called "barbarians" because they refused to communicate and were reluctant to cooperate. The Barbary corsairs themselves originated in part from the need to defend North Africa from European aggression (Baepler, 2003).…”

Remembering Richard Somers: Naval Martyrdom in the Tripolitan War

“…Cowdery's privileged position in the Pacha's household makes his silence on the issue all the more telling. 30 Other American prisoners seconded Cowdery's observations. William Ray, a Marine aboard the Philadelphia, relied upon journals that were kept during his captivity to compose a prison narrative published in 1808.…”

“…The Barbary States inhabited a distinct social space, in contrast to the American nation's republican-honed emphasis on liberty and virtue. 34 The legend enveloping the Intrepid's destruction took shape as a by-product of these differences. The information supplied by Commodore Preble and others provided a framework for Americans to construct their understanding of Somers's last minutes in ways that reaffirmed republican values.…”