<P> It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise . He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once . </P> <P> Jefferson reported the conversation to Secretary of Foreign Affairs John Jay, who submitted the ambassador's comments and offer to Congress . Jefferson argued that paying tribute would encourage more attacks . Although John Adams agreed with Jefferson, he believed that circumstances forced the U.S. to pay tribute until an adequate navy could be built . The U.S. had just fought an exhausting war, which put the nation deep in debt . Federalist and Anti-Federalist forces argued over the needs of the country and the burden of taxation . Jefferson's own Democratic - Republicans and anti-navalists believed that the future of the country lay in westward expansion, with Atlantic trade threatening to siphon money and energy away from the new nation, to be spent on wars in the Old World . The U.S. paid Algiers the ransom, and continued to pay up to $1 million per year over the next 15 years for the safe passage of American ships and the return of American hostages . A $1 million payment in ransom and tribute to the privateering states amounted to approximately 10% of the U.S. government's annual revenues in 1800 . </P> <P> Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others . With the recommissioning of the American Navy in 1794 and the resulting increased firepower on the seas, it became increasingly possible for America to refuse paying tribute, although by now the long - standing habit was hard to overturn . </P> <P> Just before Jefferson's inauguration in 1801, Congress passed naval legislation that, among other things, provided for six frigates that "' shall be officered and manned as the President of the United States may direct .'...In the event of a declaration of war on the United States by the Barbary powers, these ships were to' protect our commerce and chastise their insolence--by sinking, burning or destroying their ships and vessels wherever you shall find them ."' On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yusuf Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli, demanded $225,000 (equivalent to $3.31 million in 2017) from the new administration . (In 1800, federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million). Putting his long - held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand . Consequently, on 10 May 1801, the Pasha declared war on the U.S., not through any formal written documents but in the customary Barbary manner of cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate . Algiers and Tunis did not follow their ally in Tripoli . </P>

Cause and effect of the first barbary war