The plot sounds like something plucked from today's headlines: foreign hostages, terrorism, presidential power and American diplomatic relations with the Middle East. But the nation's first war on terror was waged by Thomas Jefferson, not George W. Bush or Barack Obama. In place of al Qaeda or ISIS, Jefferson was fighting the Barbary pirates.
In Jefferson's time, European powers conceded to terrorism by paying annual tribute and ransom to groups like the Barbary pirates, according to Robert F. Turner, co-founder of the Center for National Security Law and professor of American Foreign Policy.
Once the American colonies gained independence from Britain, their ships were left without protection from piracy at sea. As American commerce began to increase, the Barbary states targeted American merchant vessels that traveled the seas without a strong naval defense.
Ransom payments
Jefferson believed paying ransom to terrorist organizations was a sign of weakness as a nation....
