<P> American merchant shipping had been protected by the British Navy, and as a consequence of the Treaty of Paris and the disarmament of the Continental Navy, the United States no longer had any protection for its ships from pirates . The fledgling nation did not have the funds to pay annual tribute to the Barbary states, so their ships were vulnerable for capture after 1785 . By 1789, the new Constitution of the United States authorized Congress to create a navy, but during George Washington's first term (1787--1793) little was done to rearm the navy . In 1793, the French Revolutionary Wars between Great Britain and France began, and a truce negotiated between Portugal and Algiers ended Portugal's blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar which had kept the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean . Soon after, the pirates sailed into the Atlantic, and captured 11 American merchant ships and more than a hundred seamen . </P> <P> In reaction to the seizure of the American vessels, Congress debated and approved the Naval Act of 1794, which authorized the building of six frigates, four of 44 guns and two of 36 guns . Supporters were mostly from the northern states and the coastal regions, who argued the Navy would result in savings in insurance and ransom payments, while opponents from southern states and inland regions thought a navy was not worth the expense and would drive the United States into more costly wars . </P> <P> After the passage of the Naval Act of 1794, work began on the construction of the six frigates: USS United States, President, Constellation, Chesapeake, Congress, and Constitution . Constitution, launched in 1797 and the most famous of the six, was nicknamed "Old Ironsides" (like the earlier HMS Britannia) and, thanks to the efforts of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., is still in existence today, anchored in Boston harbor . Soon after the bill was passed, Congress authorized $800,000 to obtain a treaty with the Algerians and ransom the captives, triggering an amendment of the Act which would halt the construction of ships if peace was declared . After considerable debate, three of the six frigates were authorized to be completed: United States, Constitution and Constellation . However, the first naval vessel to sail was USS Ganges, on 24 May 1798 . </P> <P> At the same time, tensions between the U.S. and France developed into the Quasi-War, which originated from the Treaty of Alliance (1778) that had brought the French into the Revolutionary War . The United States preferred to take a position of neutrality in the conflicts between France and Britain, but this put the nation at odds with both Britain and France . After the Jay Treaty was authorized with Great Britain in 1794, France began to side against the United States and by 1797 they had seized over 300 American vessels . The newly inaugurated President John Adams took steps to deal with the crisis, working with Congress to finish the three almost - completed frigates, approving funds to build the other three, and attempting to negotiate an agreement similar to the Jay Treaty with France . The XYZ Affair originated with a report distributed by Adams where alleged French agents were identified by the letters X, Y, and Z who informed the delegation a bribe must be paid before the diplomats could meet with the foreign minister, and the resulting scandal increased popular support in the country for a war with France . Concerns about the War Department's ability to manage a navy led to the creation of the Department of the Navy, which was established on 30 April 1798 . </P>

What event prompted the construction of a new navy