What were referred to as the "Barbary States" during the era immediately following the American Revolution were a collection of countries along the southern and eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, the most prominent being Morocco, Algers, Tripoli, Tunis, and the Ottoman Empire. These states allowed pirates from their nation to capture and harass European and American ships traveling through the Mediterranean Sea, often taking prisoners and holding them for ransom. The governments of the Barbary States then demanded "tribute" payments be made to them in exchange for restraining the pirates from their country attacking the ships from countries which had paid tribute. The major European powers at the time dealt with the pirates by paying the tribute, using their navies to protect shipping in the Mediterranean, or both.

Once the United States become independent, they no longer benefit from the British navy to protect their shipping or British money to make tribute payments, so they must begin negotiating for peace with each of the Barbary States. The Barbary States aren't united in any way, so the Americans must negotiate with each of the states individually - the $30,000 paid to Morocco in 1786 does nothing to stop pirates from Algers. Thomas Barclay does successfully negotiate a treaty with the Moroccan Emperor (thanks in part to the support of the Spanish), but Captain John Lamb's negotiations with Algers and John Adam's attempts to negotiate with the Tripolitan ambassador in London fail to produce any results, in great part because the US Congress simply does not have the money to meet the demands of the Barbary States. In 1785 Congress allocated $80,000 for tribute, but Adams argued that £200,000 to £300,000 would be necessary to make peace with all of the states (he also estimates that a half a million pounds a year or more is being lost due to continued piracy). Lamb was limited to $200 ransom for each captive, while Algers demanded $1500 for each sailor, $4000 for each mate, and $6000 for a master - without significantly more money, the United States was totally unable to pay off all the pirates.

Thomas Jefferson, serving as ambassador to Paris at the time, begins to argue that it would be cheaper and more effective for the United States to outfit a navy to protect shipping in the Mediterranean than to continue to pay tribute. Jefferson raised concerns that the immunity granted for paying tribute could not be enforced without a navy, and he thought that the US needed to establish a navy to protect itself anyways, so the marginal cost of war with the Barbary states was minimal. He also argued that war with the Barbary Pirates would be more just and honorable than paying tribute and would gain the United States much-needed respect among European powers. In 1786 he developed a plan for a anti-piracy confederacy consisting of the US, Naples, and Portugal and open for others to join, which would patrol the Mediterranean and protect ships from member countries. This plan never came to fruition, in part because of Congress's inability or unwillingness to fund a navy and in part out of a lack of interest among other nations. Powerful European countries would have little to gain from the arrangement and the economic warfare used by all countries at the time prohibited much in the way of international cooperation.

The Barbary Pirates continue to interfere with American trade throughout the rest of the 18th century, although they are at some points overshadowed by British impressment of American sailors and other international conflicts. The United States continues paying tribute regularly until 1801, when Tripoli, one of the weaker Barbary States, declares war with the United States (being unsatisfied with the amount of the tribute payment). At this time Jefferson is President and, knowing that trouble was brewing, had sent four ships over to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping. The four ships, under the command of Commodore Richard Dale, blockade Tripoli. This was the first time the United States engaged in force against a Barbary State. A treaty was signed with Tripoli in 1805, ending the war, but conflict between the United States and various Barbary States would continue into the second decade of the 19th century, often ignited by the seizure of a ship and taking of prisoners by one side or the other.