Abstract
This article introduces narratives by American captives during and after the Barbary Wars (1801-1805, 1815). Set against a background of American imperial pursuits, the accounts reveal the hypocrisy and double-standards common among early Americans (who accepted black slavery in America but reacted strongly against the idea of white slaves in the custody of the North African Muslims). The accounts were largely works of fiction, but were accepted as fact. Arabs are presented as bizarre, gruesome, and primitive. The stories were sold by the thousands, so members of almost every household were exposed to these negative portrayals.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 90-111 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |
Volume | 588 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Barbary captivity
- Eighteenth and nineteenth-century America
- Narratives
- North African history
- Race
- Slavery
- Stereotypes