“To Aggrandize the National Character”: Early Americans in the Levant in the Age of Revolutions

The Ottoman Empire in the early nineteenth century attracted early American humanitarian and commercial interest groups to its shores as it labored to suppress revolution within its borders, rein in the power of its governors, and navigate tense foreign relations with European powers. The sultan viewed Americans with suspicion and early Americans were uneasy of the Muslim World. The Barbary Wars and American understanding of Ottoman rule over Christian populations colored their perceptions of the Ottomans as infidels and tyrants. The Ottomans knew early Americans supported revolution within their borders and had cultivated commercial support from Russia, the Ottomans’ archrival, to leverage commercial and diplomatic advantages within the Levant. In addition, American missionaries traveled to the Levant with plans to spread their vision of Christianity amongst the Ottoman population. Americans residing within the Ottoman Empire can best be described as nonstate actors, or individuals who operated partly or wholly independent from the U.S. government, since official diplomatic or commercial connections with the Ottomans had not yet been established. As a result, U.S. officials struggled to soothe Ottoman concerns in their effort to not only secure a commercial treaty, but also to offer protection to American citizens residing in the region. Although merchants, missionaries, and diplomats did not intend to create an empire in the traditional sense, early Americans endeavored to “aggrandize the national character,” through spreading their own visions of American ideals into the region.