Biddle, Clement (1740-1814) to Henry Knox
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.03221 Author/Creator: Biddle, Clement (1740-1814) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 29 November 1785 Pagination: 2 p. ; 23.4 x 18.7 cm. Order a Copy
Thanks him for his recent correspondence and for the "western" contract Samuel Shaw sent him. Will be glad to know when a new contract is ready. Thanks him for attending to his accounts of rations that he furnished Captain [likely David] Zeigler, as well as for procuring him money for the rations. Mentions that his "commercial friends" wanted him to ask Knox about problems with the "Algerines," or pirates. Wishes to know whether Congress has passed any measures regarding the pirates. Mentions that some friends of his own a frigate which they would be willing to donate to Congress for use as a war ship or else as a peace offering to the pirates, if appropriate. He and his wife send their regards to Mrs. Lucy Knox.
The United States government sometimes paid tribute to pirate states. This issue ultimately culminated in the First and Second Barbary Wars, between 1801 and 1815, in which the United States fought against several North African countries.
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