[SHIT_TALKER]

Context: It was French colonization that put an end to the predations of the Barbary pirates and the Arab slave trade.

[mercurial]

Context: the French king Charles X was in a difficult political situation and needed money, so attacking the then-Ottoman-dominated Algeria looked like a good idea at the time. The slave trade had stopped years ago, and the pirate activity, while not over, was way down.

[SHIT_TALKER]

The slave trade had stopped years ago, and the pirate activity, while not over, was way down.

Thanks to military defeats at the hands of Americans, English, and Dutch.

[mercurial]

I'm not sure where you're going with that.