North African sea raiders sponsored by the governments of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli in the late 18th and early 19th century. The seizure of American ships by the so-called Barbary pirates led first to the payment of tribute by the U.S. government, but in the first years of the 19th century the fledgling U.S. Navy was sent into the Mediterranean Sea to cooperate with other nations in suppressing the pirates, which was done by 1815. The efforts of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to suppress the Barbary pirates were generally weak and ineffective but were very popular at home and produced a lasting impact on popular patriotic culture, including the line in the
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