The Word Muslim Or Islam

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

With the discovery of America or the "New World" or Asia if you ask Columbus, there was an increase in sea travel. Everyone wanted a piece of the New World, but once gold was discovered everyone got those dollar sign eyes. Now when you find gold in another country and you’re someone like Spain, you have to have it shipped back. Boats become floating bags and there is just something about money that will make some do anything to get it, back then that job belonged to pirates and privateers.

A distinction has to be made when the see the words pirate and privateers; a privateer is a ship privately owned and crewed but authorized by a government during wartime to attack and capture enemy vessels. [1] While a Pirate is one who robs at sea or plunders the land from the sea without commission from a sovereign nation. [1] Essentially the same but its only ok if you have a country behind you, Blackbeard was a pirate while Francis Drake was a privateer, although he was called "my dear pirate" by Queen Elizabeth. [2] So in the 1500’s you had European countries stealing from each other through privateers and you had Pirates stealing from everyone, my point is that these folks are doing the same thing but I bet you do not associate privateer with bad. Now remember those Muslims that were kicked outta Spain, they got into the Privateer business too but they did things a little differently. They were called the Barbary Corsairs, corsair just being a fancy word for privateer, while the word Barbary encompassed their location. The word Barbary is associated with the Barbary Coast, the western portion of North Africa which included aforementioned countries associated with the Reconquista. [3] 

Now what they did differently was, not only would they rob your ship of its cargo, but the crew also. The crewman were held for ransom or turned into slaves, slavery was big business during these times. It really did not matter who you were the results were the same, the fact you have to pass these countries to access the Mediterranean did not help either. In order for you to escape this fate was to pay up, or what they called tribute to the responsible country. [3] If it was Morocco you had to pay Morocco, if it was Tunis you had to pay Tunis, one may ask why were they doing this and I’m leaning more towards money.

Now let’s fast forward to the Independence of America, I'm sure you heard the story, America defeats the tyrannical country of Great Britain. This lead to America becoming a sovereign country, in the eyes of the Barbary Coast were dollar signs. Morocco was actually one of the first countries to recognize America as a sovereign nation which was fitting since they also were the first to seize one of America’s ships. In 1784 Morocco captured and enslaved the crew of the ship "Betsy". Up until 1777 America was protected by England because they were an English colony, and England subsequently was paying tribute. Algiers was next to join in, a year after Morocco made contact the Maria and Dauphin was captured. The Dey, or ruler demanded a huge ransom and a peace treaty. This event transpired at a time when the United States was still ran by the Articles of Confederation, there was no official Navy then. There was little they could do. As the Barbary corsairs had noted, there was no Navy to protect the merchant ships. After the Constitution was signed a Federal Government was established which was more effective at building a Navy. Thomas Jefferson was one who absolutely hated the fact that America was paying tribute, once he became President (1801) he sought to end it once and for all. [4] It started with a blockade upon Tripoli with minimal success. This all changed with the emergence of William Eaton, he was to lead an invasion on Tripolitan soil. Eaton employed a mercenary Arab militia in Egypt. They traversed the desert and captured the Tripolitan town of Derna. This along with bombardment from the sea brought the war to a negotiated end. [4] Once American citizens started being captured, their view of Barbary corsairs started to become skewed. In an entry of the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1786 reads:

"…and rescue it from the predatory invasions of the Barbary States. The hostile conduct of the savages on our frontiers – the unexampled behaviour of our late enemy, in holding our posts contrary to the treaty, bridling the country, and depriving us of the advantages which would otherwise arise from it; and above all, that due and sacred regard which a nation ought ever to pay to her engagements… [4] 

As you can see the view of Barbary corsairs is starting to lean towards ‘bad’ they even refer to them as savages, but if you go back some years the view is marginally different. In 1763 a letter in the Pennsylvania Gazette read: "Captain Shearman Clarke, arrived here last Week from Teneriffe, in 35 Days Passage, and advises, That the Trade there has been for some Time much infested by three Barbary Corsairs, viz. Two Chebecks and a Galley, who had made many Captures, and continued to take all Vessels they met with, that were not provided with a Mediterranean Pass". [5] To make things worse you have slave narratives from those captured by Barbary corsairs, In Maria Martin’s interpretation, she describes the pirates as "barbarians" who "began their favorite work, cutting maming [sic] and literally butchering, all that they found on deck. [8] 

Here you have the American view on the Barbary corsairs, in just 20 years they went from being honorable corsairs to savages. To make matters worse after 1786 the term corsair was increasing replaced with pirate which his synonymous with bad because everyone hated pirates at this time [6] Now this is in the Pennsylvania gazette one of the most prominent newspapers at the time and it’s referring to the Barbary Corsairs as pirates and savages. Another group of people were also called savages, the American Indian and we all know how that story turns out. These terms in local newspapers and captured crewman were getting their narratives published, played a humongous roll shaping American perception of Muslims. Keep in mind people already thought North Africans were savages, or in other words inferior to them, not to mention with a broad term like Barbary it leaves less distinction. People wanted to know who these people were and why they were doing what they were doing, and the newspapers and narratives were their only source. You’re left with a nation that ultimately doesn’t like Muslims at all because subtle associations and maybe non-fictional works skewed the opinion of an entire people