What made Eaton decide to overthrow the ruler of Tripoli?
Eaton was consul to Tunis, one of the four Barbary powers. After living there for several years, he realized that Tunis was weak and could be defeated militarily. Eaton also got tired of being treated as subject of the ruler of Tunis. So, he developed a plot to replace the ruler of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli, with his brother, Hamet, who was living in exile in Tunis. The plan was finally adopted by President Thomas Jefferson after the U.S. Navy was unable to defeat Tripoli by force alone. Jefferson saw it as the United States’ best chance to either win the war, or gain favorable terms in any peace negotiations. Q: Did the United States face an enemy similar to what it faces today? A: In some ways, yes. The Barbary pirates were terrorists in the true sense of the word. They used terror to exact annual tributes from any state that traded in the Mediterranean. If a country did not pay them, their ships would be attacked, the crews enslaved, and the cargos confiscated. The Barbary pirates wo
