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So, arguably, let's say, citizens of Israel (or another such country — let's say, Taiwan; I don't want to get bogged down in a discussion of specific politics) face the same dilemma. Imagine they say: screw the government. It doesn't do such a good job at protecting us. We will hire a private army for protection. Then, they hire
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I read that; it wasn't clear to me whether the tribute was ever paid. Anyway, so your argument is that because the merchants knew (or expected) that they could rely on the government to negotiate release of ships/prisoners, pay tributes and eventually build a navy, they found it more economical for them to wait for the government to do that (it
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Were they? It's not clear that the money was ever paid. Do you have sources?
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Well, it took a long time and a loss of many ships before the government created a navy. Are you saying that all this time the merchants were not willing to pay for their own protection, because they were hoping that eventually the government would step in?
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More detailed history account from Wikipedia article: After the Revolutionary War , a heavily indebted United States disbanded the Continental Navy and in August 1785, lacking funds for ship repairs, sold its last remaining warship, the Alliance . [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Almost simultaneously, troubles began in the Mediterranean when Algiers seized two American
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Reading on Wikipedia about the Barbary Wars: The war stemmed from the Barbary pirates’ attacks upon American merchant shipping in an attempt to extort ransom for the lives of captured sailors, and ultimately tribute from the United States to avoid further attacks, much like their standard operating procedure with the various European states.
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Actually, the book that my wife read on the subject was Michael Oren’s Power, Faith and Fantasy.
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Well, presumably, a warship costs more than a trade ship. Plus you have to hire a crew. But, good point... Update. More detailed history account from Wikipedia article : After the Revolutionary War , a heavily indebted United States disbanded the Continental Navy and in August 1785, lacking funds for ship repairs, sold its last remaining warship, the
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In the absence of State subsidized navies, private merchant defense navies would be created which merchants would hire. I have given this answer to my wife, but she claims that the merchants tried to raise money for a decade, and could not. They were also too poor to fund the navy themselves and could not obtain credit for doing that. As a result, when