Barbary States

plural noun

1. the name for Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli when they were centers of corsair activity, c1520–1830.

Example Sentences

Almost immediately, butcher shops and markets advertised mammoth-size products… The unveiling of the mammoth loaf occurred at a Senate-sponsored March 26 party to rally support for a naval war against the Barbary States.”

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The occasion was the presence of a Tunisian envoy to the United States, Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, who had arrived in the country just the week before, in the midst of America’s ongoing conflict with what were then known as the Barbary States.

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He is described as a blackamore, which means he’s from northwest Africa, from the Barbary States.

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Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay reporting on their conversation in London with the ambassador from Tripoli regarding piracy by the Barbary States:

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While he did send vessels against Barbary States pirates and vowed that the nation would fight “like men” if a war was necessary, he used an array of measures, including treaties and a controversial embargo, in an effort to avoid a major military conflict.

Read more on Time