For centuries, four nations along the northern rim of Africa then known as the Barbary Coast had been terrorizing merchant shippers, capturing and looting their vessels and imprisoning their crews for ransom. With a vital lifeline of the infant United States threatened by the Barbary pirates, President Thomas Jefferson faced one of the first major challenges to U.S. foreign policy: He could continue trading arms for hostages with the Barbary Coast rulers or he could meet force with force.