For quite a long period of time, pirates have been a significant problem for the shipping industry. Since the nineteenth century, the United States of America has taken measures to combat this issue, which turned into Barbaric Wars. It is noted that these events were among the most significant in the history of the country, as they entailed significant transformations in its structure. Thus, this discussion board post will consider what contribution the Barbaric Wars had to the formation of independence from the external influence of America with the help of Oren’s own title template of Power, Faith, and Fantasy.
Thus, the Barbaric Wars have become an example of how a country can extract valuable experience from such events for its strengthening and development. Consequently, the first thing worth considering in the framework of Oren’s approach becomes Power. In Barbary times, this component gained a new meaning and weight for the United States. After gaining independence, the States gained incredible strength and force to combat the obstacles that they faced in international maritime trade and interaction with other countries. Research underlined that “America’s first diplomatic initiative in the Middle East had ended in failure, but the fiasco in Algiers did not impede the United States from pursuing treaties with the other Barbary States” (Oren 2007, 35). However, this did not help them prevent the abduction of their ships by pirates during the first Barbarian War. Thanks to Jefferson, the United States of America gained the courage to fight for its foreign policy.
The next aspect that was of profound importance in recovering the experience gained during the Barbaric Wars is Faith. The source notes that despite seeming tolerant, the early United States did not consider, for example, Islam as a full-fledged faith. As for leaders such as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, religion, in this case, became a controversial topic. Despite the fact that both rulers attributed themselves to the Christian faith, they both did not adhere to traditional Christian doctrines (Walayat 2019, 215). Thus, religion at that time had not yet formed the meaning that it has now. However, it in some way influenced the formation of the experience of the inhabitants of the country, as it affected the aspect of Fantasy.
Fantasies played a fairly significant role in early American society. Hence, most of them were based on biblical tales. Moreover, some isolation from the Middle East and other countries contributed to the emergence of rumors, which spread quite quickly, creating false ideas about the experience of Americans (Oren 2007, 42). Therefore, people imagined that they would one day be able to see the beautiful areas that were described in the Bible, not realizing that reality is quite far from what was described in the New and Old Testaments.
Therefore, it is most often concluded that after Barbary, Americans no longer compromised core principles by paying tribute to foreign governments in the Middle East. This work, in turn, supports the view that it is possible to develop ways to compromise American principles or pay tribute to leaders in the Middle East. Henceforth, as a contemporary version of US tribute, efficiency has a regulated and well-established process of exchanging goods or something valuable. In addition, this measure will not only help to establish mutually beneficial relations between the countries, but also contributes to improving the diplomatic side of interaction and establishes trade.
References
Oren, Michael. 2007. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Walayat, Aaron J. 2019. “Adams and Jefferson: American Religion and the Ancient Constitution.” Faulkner Law Review, 11: 215.