The 1st Barbary War saw the U.S. flag raised on foreign soil for the first time. The Barbary States controlled the Mediterranean. They forced European and U.S. merchants to pay tribute in exchange for immunity from pirate attacks. After the U.S. became independent they lost the protection of the Royal Navy. The Barbary leaders tried to enforce tributes but President Thomas Jefferson refused. The U.S. Navy went head-to-head with Barbary ships. They lost the USS Philadelphia with sailors imprisone