The former Consul to Tunis, William Eaton (1764-1811), who had returned in 1804 to the Mediterranean Sea with the title of Naval Agent to the Barbary States, had been granted permission from the United States government and third President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, served 1801-1809), to back the claim of Hamet Karamanli, the rightful heir to the throne of Tripoli, who had been deposed by his brother Yusuf Karamanli.

Yusuf, who had assassinated his older brother by shooting him in front of his mother, was out of the country at the time and decided to remain away, in exile.

Upon his return to the area, Eaton had sought out Hamet Karamanli, who was in exile in Egypt.

Upon locating him, Eaton made a proposal to reinstate him on the throne.

The exile had agreed to Eaton's plan.

Commodore Samuel Barron, (1765-1810), the new naval commander in the Mediterranean Sea, has provided Eaton with naval support from several small warships of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean squadron: USS Nautilus, commanded by Oliver Hazard Perry (1785-1819), USS Hornet, under Samuel Evans (c.1785-1824), and USS Argus, captained by Isaac Hull (1773-1843).

A small detachment of seven U.S. Marines has been given to Consul Eaton commanded by First Lieutenant Presley Neville O'Bannon, USMC, (1776-1850).

Eaton and O'Bannon had based their operations at Alexandria, Egypt, and with the help of Hamet Karamanli, had recruited about four hundred Arab, Turkish and Greek mercenaries.

Eaton had become self-appointed general and commander-in-chief of the combined multi-national force.

On March 6, 1805, Lieutenant Eaton (as self-designated general and commander in chief) began to lead his forces on a five hundred miles (eight hundred kilometer) trek westward across the Libyan North African desert from Egypt.

Their objective wis the port city of Derne, capital of the Ottoman Empire province of Cyrenaica (in eastern modern Libya).

The mercenary forces have been promised supplies and money when they reach the city.

During the fifty-day trek, Eaton had become worried over the strained relationship between the Greek Orthodox/Christian Greeks and the roughly two hundred to three hundred Muslim Arab and Turkish mercenaries.

The expedition's supplies were dwindling with Eaton reporting in 1805 that, "Our only provisions [are] a handful of rice and two biscuits a day."

At one point, some of the Arabs in the expedition had made a desperate attempt to raid the supply wagon, but were beaten back by the Marines and a few Greek artilleryman, who used the expedition's lone cannon

Mutiny had continuously threatened the success of the expedition on several occasions.

Between March 10 and March 18, several Arab camel drivers mutinied before reaching the sanctuary of the Massouah Castle.

From March 22 to March 30, several Arab mercenaries under the command of Sheik el Tahib staged mutinies.

By April 8, when he crossed the border into Libya / Tripoli, Eaton had quelled the Arab mutinies.

In late April, his army finally had reached the port city of Bomba, on the Gulf of Bomba, some miles up the coast from Derne, where U.S. Navy warships Argus, Nautilus and Hornet, with Commodore Barron and Captain Hull, were waiting for him.

Eaton had received fresh supplies and the money to pay his mercenaries.

On the morning of April 26, Eaton sends a letter to Mustafa Bey, the governor of Derne, asking for safe passage through the city and additional supplies, though Eaton realizes the governor probably will not agree.

Mustafa reportedly writes back, "My head or yours!".

Eaton observes a fort in Derne with eight guns on the morning of April 27.

The brig USS Argus sends a cannon ashore to use in the attack.

Captain Hull's ships then open fire and bombard Derne's batteries for an hour.

Eaton meanwhile  divides his army into two separate attacking parties.

Hamet is to lead the Arab mercenaries southwest to cut the road to Tripoli, then attack the city's left flank and storm the weakly defended governor's palace.

Eaton with the rest of the mercenaries and the squad of Marines are to attack the harbor fortress.

Hull and the ships will fire on the heavily defended port batteries.

The attack begins at 2:45 p.m., with Lt. O'Bannon and his Marines leading the advance.

O'Bannon leads his Marines and fifty Greek gunners with the field piece from the Argus, though the gun's effectiveness is lessened after the firing crew carelessly leaves the ramrod in the tube and fires it down range.

The harbor defenses have been reinforced, and the attackers are temporarily halted, but this had weakened the defenses elsewhere and allow the Arab mercenaries to ride unopposed into the western section of the city.

Eaton's mercenary army is hesitant under the enemy's musket fire, and he realizes a charge is the only way to regain the initiative.

Leading the charge, he is seriously wounded in the wrist by a musket ball.

On the Argus, Captain Hull sees the Americans and mercenaries are "gaining ground very fast though a heavy fire of Musquetry [sic] was constantly kept upon them."

The ships cease fire to allow the charge to continue.

Eaton will report that O'Bannon with his Marines and Greeks "pass'd through a shower of Musketry from the Walls of houses, took possession of the Battery".

The defenders flee in haste, leaving their cannons loaded and ready to fire.

O'Bannon raises the American flag over the battery (the unique fifteen stars - fifteen stripes emblem used 1795-1818, later made famous in the War of 1812 as the "Star-Spangled Banner"), and Eaton turns the captured guns on the city.

Hamet's force has seized the governor's palace and secured the western part of the city.

Many of the defenders of the harbor fortress flee through the town and run into Hamet's force.

By 4:00 p.m. the entire city has fallen, and for the first time in history, an American flag flies over fortifications on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean.

According to Spencer Tucker, casualties during the fighting for the Americans are two killed and three wounded, while those among the Christian / Greek mercenaries were nine killed or wounded. (Tucker, Spencer, ed. (2014). The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783–1812: A Political, Social and Military History. Volume I: A–K. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 167.)
 
Muslim Turkish / Arab mercenary casualties are unknown, as are those of the defenders.

Yusuf in Tripoli to the west is aware of the attack on Derne and had sent reinforcements to the city.

By the time this force arrives, however, the city has fallen. His men dig in and prepare to recapture the city.

Eaton fortifies his new position, while Hamet takes up residence in the governor's palace and has his Arabs patrolling the outer areas of the city.

Yusuf's men dig in south of the city and wait.

Yusuf's men attack the city on May 13 and drive Hamet's Arabs back, almost recapturing the governor's palace.

USS Argus and Eaton's captured batteries pound the attackers, who finally flee under heavy fire.

Nightfall finds both sides back in their original positions.

Skirmishes and several other minor attempts have been made on the city in late May and early June, but the city remains in American control.

From Derne, Eaton now plansto march across the desert and attack Tripoli from the land.

During his march he is informed of the treaty signed on June 10, 1805, between American emissary Tobias Lear (1762-1816) from the U.S. Department of State and Yusuf Karamanli.

The first land battle of the United States on foreign soil after the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the Battle of Derna is the decisive action of the First Barbary War (1801-1805), although Eaton is furious over what he calls a 'sell-out' between Tobias Lear and the bey.

Hamet Karamanli will return to Egypt and the mercenaries will never be fully paid.

North Africa (1828–1971 CE): Colonial Rule, Anticolonial Resistance, and National Independence

Geographic & Environmental Context

The subregion of North Africa includes Morocco (with the Western Sahara), Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Anchors included the Atlas Mountains, the Tell plains, the Western Sahara desert corridor (later Spanish Sahara, with Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra), the Saharan oases, and the Mediterranean ports of Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Casablanca, and Tangier. From fertile valleys to arid desert, the region’s environments were reshaped by European conquest, settler colonization, and the struggles for independence.

Climate & Environmental Shifts

The 19th century saw cycles of drought and famine across the Maghreb, devastating rural populations in Algeria and Morocco. Locust swarms exacerbated hardship. In the 20th century, irrigation projects and colonial plantations transformed the Tell and oases, while mechanized drilling extended wells into the Western Sahara. By mid-century, desertification intensified, placing stress on nomadic pastoralists.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Algeria: Invaded by France in 1830, Algeria became a settler colony. Vineyards, wheat fields, and citrus groves expanded, while Indigenous communities lost land through confiscation. Rural revolts erupted, most famously under Abdelkader (1832–1847).

• Tunisia: Declared a French protectorate in 1881. Olive cultivation and grain exports were commercialized; Tunis and Sfax grew as administrative and commercial centers.

• Morocco: The Alaouite dynasty endured until the French and Spanish protectorates were imposed in 1912, with Tangier as an international zone. Rural tribes and the Rif War (1921–1926) challenged European control.

• Libya: Conquered by Italy in 1911 from the Ottomans. Settlers colonized Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, facing fierce resistance from the Sanusi order under Omar Mukhtar (1923–1931) until his capture and execution.

• Western Sahara: Formally annexed as Spanish Sahara (1884), divided into Río de Oro and Saguia el-Hamra.Spanish rule was consolidated in the 20th century with coastal outposts at Villa Cisneros (Dakhla) and La Güera. Phosphate deposits at Bou Craa (discovered 1947) became central to Spain’s colonial interests.

Technology & Material Culture

Colonial regimes built railways, ports, and roads to export grain, oil, wine, phosphates, and petroleum. European-style cities rose alongside Indigenous medinas. Mosques, zawiyas, and Sufi shrines remained cultural anchors. In Libya and Algeria, resistance fighters wielded rifles and guerrilla tactics. In Morocco and the Western Sahara, nomads sustained camel caravans, tents, and oral poetry while gradually adapting to modern arms and vehicles introduced in mid-century.

Movement & Interaction Corridors

• Saharan caravans dwindled as steamships and railroads dominated trade, though camel routes persisted into the 20th century.

• Colonial export networks: Algeria’s wine and wheat fed French markets; Tunisia exported olives and phosphates; Morocco exported citrus, leather, and phosphates.

• Western Sahara: Connected to the Canary Islands and Spain by shipping routes; nomadic Sahrawis crossed borders with Mauritania and Morocco.

• Migration: Thousands of Algerians, Moroccans, and Tunisians migrated to France as laborers during both World Wars and afterward.

Cultural & Symbolic Expressions

Islam remained the core of identity, reinforced through the Sanusi order in Libya, reformist ulama in Algeria, and Sufi brotherhoods across Morocco and Tunisia. Oral poetry and tribal traditions preserved Saharan identity. Colonial regimes sponsored European schools, churches, and cultural institutions, but local resistance emphasized Arabic language, Islamic law, and national symbols. Postwar nationalism produced flags, anthems, and revolutionary heroes, linking independence to cultural revival.

Environmental Adaptation & Resilience

Villages intercropped cereals and legumes to survive drought. Nomadic tribes in the Sahara adjusted grazing routes and relied on kinship networks. During famines, zawiyas and religious waqf lands distributed food aid. Resistance fighters exploited deserts and mountains as refuges against colonial armies. In the 20th century, conservation of oases and state irrigation schemes aimed to stabilize fragile ecosystems, though often at high social cost.

Transition

By 1971 CE, North Africa had undergone sweeping transformation:

• Algeria achieved independence in 1962 after a bloody war led by the FLN.

• Tunisia became independent in 1956 under Habib Bourguiba.

• Morocco regained independence in 1956 under Mohammed V and Hassan II.

• Libya became independent in 1951 under King Idris; a 1969 coup brought Muammar Gaddafi to power.

• Western Sahara remained under Spanish control as Spanish Sahara, its Sahrawi population marginalized even as Bou Craa phosphate mines and fisheries drew colonial investment.

North Africa, long a crossroads of Saharan caravans and Mediterranean seaports, entered the modern era with its states independent and assertive—except for the Western Sahara, where the unfinished struggle for decolonization would soon ignite.

North Africa (1828–1839 CE)

French Conquest and Algerian Resistance

The era from 1828 to 1839 in North Africa is dominated by France's colonial ambitions and the intense local resistance they provoke, reshaping regional dynamics and laying the foundations for profound political and social transformations.

French Invasion and the Fall of Algiers (1828–1830)

Tensions between France and Dey Hussein of Algiers escalate sharply following a diplomatic incident in 1827, prompting France to enforce a naval blockade lasting three years. Ultimately, France launches a decisive military invasion. On June 12, 1830, a French expeditionary force of approximately 34,000 soldiers lands at Sidi Ferruch, swiftly defeating the Ottoman defenses through superior artillery and organization. After a fierce three-week siege, Algiers falls, marked by widespread looting, desecration of mosques, and extensive property destruction, including the seizure of roughly fifty million francs from the city’s treasury. Dey Hussein flees into exile, terminating over three centuries of Ottoman rule.

Colonial Administration and European Settlement

Following Algiers' fall, European settlers rapidly occupy significant lands formerly controlled by Ottoman officials and indigenous Algerians. Under the military-led colonial administration known as the régime du sabre (government of the sword), French authorities prioritize settler economic interests, triggering displacement and disruption among local communities. Prominent French officials, including General Bertrand Clauzel, use their positions to promote extensive land speculation, transforming the agricultural landscape, particularly the fertile Mitidja Plain.

Abdelkader and the Algerian Resistance (1832–1839)

Almost immediately, determined resistance emerges against the French occupation, led notably by Abdelkader El Djezairi, a revered marabout chosen by tribal elders to spearhead a unified jihad in 1832. Abdelkader quickly consolidates broad tribal support throughout Algeria, founding an independent Islamic territorial state with its capital at Tlemcen. His government maintains a disciplined army, establishes efficient administrative structures, collects taxes, promotes education, and develops agricultural and manufacturing cooperatives, effectively controlling two-thirds of Algeria by 1839.

Despite a defeat by French General Thomas Bugeaud in 1836, Abdelkader successfully negotiates the Treaty of Tafna (1837), provisionally recognizing his authority. The French, however, deliberately breach this agreement by capturing Constantine in 1839, reigniting intense hostilities. Abdelkader resumes guerrilla warfare, launching bold attacks that briefly threaten Algiers itself, underscoring the depth and resilience of Algerian opposition.

Ottoman Reassertion in Tripoli (1832–1835)

In Tripoli, internal political divisions weaken the ruling Karamanli dynasty, prompting Yusuf Karamanli to abdicate in favor of his son Ali II in 1832. Persistent unrest leads to direct Ottoman intervention by Sultan Mahmud II, who dispatches troops ostensibly to restore order. In 1835, Ottoman forces forcibly remove Ali II, reintegrating Tripoli directly under Ottoman administration and conclusively ending Karamanli rule.

Increasing European Interests in Morocco and Tunisia

Morocco attracts significant attention from European powers, particularly France, due to its strategic coastal position and potential influence on the stability of French-held Algeria. Tunisia similarly experiences rising economic and political pressures from Europe, signaling impending transformations despite the absence of immediate direct colonial rule.

By the close of 1839, North Africa is on the brink of monumental changes, shaped by colonial interventions, vigorous local resistance, and the restructuring of traditional social and political orders.

Hardly has the news of the capture of Algiers reached Paris than Charles X is deposed, and his cousin Louis Philippe, the "citizen king," is named to preside over a constitutional monarchy.

The new government, composed of liberal opponents of the Algiers expedition, is reluctant to pursue the conquest ordered by the old regime, but withdrawing from Algeria proves more difficult than conquering it.

A parliamentary commission that examines the Algerian situation concludes that although French policy, behavior, and organization are failures, the occupation should continue for the sake of national prestige.

In 1834 France annexes the occupied areas, which have an estimated Muslim population of about three million, as a colony.

Colonial administration in the occupied areas—the so-called regime du sabre (government of the sword)—is placed under a governor general, a high-ranking army officer invested with civil and military jurisdiction, who is responsible to the minister of war.

Major changes had taken place in Algeria even before the decision was made to annex the country.

In a bargain-hunting frenzy to take over or buy at low prices all manner of property—homes, shops, farms, and factories—Europeans pour into Algiers after it falls.

French authorities take possession of the beylik lands, from which Ottoman officials had derived income.

Over time, as pressures increased to obtain more land for settlement by Europeans, the state seizes more categories of land, particularly that used by tribes, religious foundations, and villages.

Soon after the conquest of Algiers, the soldier-politician Bertrand Clauzel and others form a company to acquire agricultural land and, despite official discouragement, to subsidize its settlement by European farmers, triggering a land rush.

Clauzel recognizes the farming potential of the Mitidja Plain and envisions the production there of cotton on a large scale.

As governor general (1835-36), he uses his office to make private investments in land and encourages army officers and bureaucrats in his administration to do the same.

This development creates a vested interest among government officials in greater French involvement in Algeria.

Commercial interests with influence in the government also begin to recognize the prospects for profitable land speculation in expanding the French zone of occupation.

They create large agricultural tracts, build factories and businesses, and exploit  cheap local labor.

The French in Algiers view with concern the success of a Muslim government and the rapid growth of a viable territorial state that bars the extension of European settlement.

Abdelkader fights running battles across Algeria with French forces, which include units of the Foreign Legion, organized in 1831 for Algerian service.

Although his forces are defeated by the French under General Thomas Bugeaud in 1836, Abdelkader negotiates a favorable peace treaty the next year.

The treaty gains conditional recognition for Abdelkader's regime by defining the territory under its control and salvages his prestige among the tribes just as the shaykhs are about to desert him.

To provoke new hostilities, the French deliberately break the treaty in 1839 by occupying Constantine.

Abdelkader takes up the holy war again, destroys the French settlements on the Mitidja Plain, and at one point advances to the outskirts of Algiers itself.

He strikes where the French were weakest and retreats when they advance against him in greater strength.

The government moves from camp to camp with the amir and his army.

Gradually, however, superior French resources and manpower and the defection of tribal chieftains take their toll.