# Mediterranean pass > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mediterranean_pass > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mediterranean_pass.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_pass > Source revision: 1286134876 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{for|the Masonic passing order|Knights Templar (Freemasonry)}} thumb|A U.S. Mediterranean passport from 1820 The '''Mediterranean pass''' (or '''Mediterranean passport''', the name used in the United States) was a document which identified a ship as being protected under a treaty with states of the [Barbary Coast](/source/Barbary_Coast). Such a treaty exacted tribute in exchange for protection from [Barbary pirate](/source/Barbary_pirate)s capturing that country's ships and crews. These passes identified ships which had safe passage.{{cite book | editor = Dudley W. Knox | title = Naval Documents related to the United States Wars with the Barbary Powers, Volume I | year = 1939 | publisher = United States Government Printing Office | location = Washington }} The top of the British document was [cut off in an erratic scalloped pattern](/source/indenture) used to confirm its authenticity. The matching top of the document was sent to officials along the Barbary Coast, so [cruiser](/source/cruiser)s from those ports would have samples for comparison with the edge of the documents. A similar design was adopted by the United States, although U.S. Consul General in Algiers Richard O'Brien pointed out the document should be on thicker paper (or parchment) and kept in a tin container so as to ensure a better match between tops and bottoms (he also suggested that ships fly the [American flag](/source/American_flag) rather than the flags of individual states).{{cite web | title =Ship's passport for the vessel ''Mount Hope'' of Newport, Rhode Island | date =August 2005 | publisher =NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION | url =https://www.archives.gov/locations/calendar/05-august.pdf | accessdate =2007-01-19 }} Countries known to have issued such documents include: * [Algeria](/source/Algeria): Turkish passes were temporarily issued to some vessels by the [Dey](/source/Dey) of Algiers. * [Britain](/source/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain){{cite web |title=Burnt Island Road on board the Jamaica Packet |work=The Voyage to the West Indies |url=http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hp/colonial/Bookshelf/Schaw/chap1.htm#28 |accessdate=2007-01-19 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061207051231/http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hp/colonial/Bookshelf/Schaw/chap1.htm |archivedate=2006-12-07 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web | title =Colonial America. Mediterranean Pass with British Stamp. NYSA_A3045_621. | work =New York State Archives | url =http://iarchives.nysed.gov/Gallery/galleryDetail.jsp?id=879 | accessdate =2007-01-19 }} * [Spain](/source/Spain) * [United States of America](/source/United_States){{cite web | title =THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1784 | work =Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 | publisher =Library of Congress | url =http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02754)) | accessdate =2007-01-19 }} The United States issued Mediterranean passports starting with a September 5, 1795, treaty with the Dey of Algiers,{{cite web | title= Mediterranean Passport | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/library/manuscript/jefferson1807.htm | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121212210649/http://www.history.navy.mil/library/manuscript/jefferson1807.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = December 12, 2012 | publisher = U.S. Naval Historical Center | accessdate = 2008-12-21 }} and continuing through the mid-19th century.{{cite web | title = Using the Seal as the Nation Expands | url = http://diplomacy.state.gov/documents/organization/101203.pdf | publisher = U.S. Diplomacy Center | accessdate = 2008-12-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130801044144/http://diplomacy.state.gov/documents/organization/101203.pdf | archive-date = 2013-08-01 | url-status = dead }} Also, the National Archives has examples on file through at least 1840.[https://research.archives.gov/description/594976] == Background == For about 300 years, the [Mediterranean Sea](/source/Mediterranean_Sea) lanes were largely controlled by the [north Africa](/source/north_Africa)n Muslim states of the [Barbary Coast](/source/Barbary_Coast) (Tripoli, Algiers, [Morocco](/source/Morocco), and [Tunis](/source/Tunis)) through [piracy](/source/piracy). [Hostage](/source/Hostage)s were either [ransom](/source/ransom)ed or sold into [slavery](/source/slavery). Over time, most countries found it expedient to simply pay a yearly [tribute](/source/tribute) ([bribe](/source/bribe)) to the Barbary [sultan](/source/sultan)s in exchange for safe passage through the Mediterranean. Following the [American Revolution](/source/American_Revolution), the United States was no longer under the protection of the British tribute treaties, resulting in the crippling of American commerce in the Mediterranean. Having no significant [navy](/source/United_States_Navy), the U.S. decided to form tribute treaties with the Barbary states, such as the 1796 [Treaty of Tripoli](/source/Treaty_of_Tripoli). This treaty required ship's passports within 18 months. ==See also== {{wikisource|Treaty of Tripoli}} * [Barbary treaties](/source/Barbary_treaties) * [First Barbary War](/source/First_Barbary_War) * [Second Barbary War](/source/Second_Barbary_War) == References == {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Mediterranean Pass}} Category:International travel documents Category:Barbary Wars Tripoli (1796) Category:Boundary treaties Category:Defunct passports Passport Passport --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mediterranean pass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_pass) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_pass?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.