By 2ndLt. Dominic Galante This famous line from the Marine Corps Hymn has its origin in the Barbary War of the early 19th century. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the kingdoms of North Africa, called Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli—today, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya, respectively—conducted piracy in the Mediterranean Sea against American and European shipping. In 1785, the U.S. agreed to pay Algiers an … Continue reading United States Marine Corps History: “To the Shores of Tripoli”