"From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli": this triumphant beginning to the US Marine hymn will be sung from barracks in Baghdad to parades in Baltimore today, on the 232nd anniversary of America's independence. But those who celebrate the triumph at Tripoli two centuries ago may be unaware of how relevant the victory remains. While the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 officially marked the birth of America, it was in Tripoli, almost 30 years later, that the nation made its debut on the world stage.
During America's War of Independence, the French had provided protection against piracy for merchant vessels from America, bringing cotton, indigo and tobacco to Mediterranean ports. After the war, without French protection, the nation had no defence against piracy. With a military victorious but battered by eight years of war, the fledgling nation could not afford an armed response to tribute demands from North African aggressors.
