When Jefferson (whom I love) sent the ships to stop the Barbary Pirates, or the Barbary states, did he embolden American merchants to take risks they otherwise would not have taken? The merchants could have taken other shipping routes other than the ones they did, although longer and more costly, but took the chance on their own to risk the muslim interception of their freight. So did Jefferson encourage this by sending government protection? Did it embolden merchants to do things that were otherwise non economical to push their luck, hoping the US government would come to their defense?
Do you think this move by Jefferson was used as justifiable expansion when the US government decided to make secure the trade routes through the Pacific to China?
Do you think Wilson expanded on this doctrine even more when he basically said that Americans would be protected no matter even if they decided to go to Europe via a war ship that was carrying munitions to England during WW1 knowing that the Germans would sink these ships, as they advertized in American newspapers that they would?
The question is, when Jefferson sent the ships to protect “American” merchants, did he set a precedent that would eventually lead to the Spanish/American war and WW1?
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