Naval Act of 1794

The Act to Provide a Naval Armament, also known as the Naval Act of 1794, or simply, the Naval Act, was passed by the United States Congress on March 27, 1794 to reactivate and establish a permanent standing naval force of the United States of America, which eventually became the present-day United States Navy.

In August 1785, after the Revolutionary War drew to a close, Congress had sold Alliance, the last ship remaining in the Continental Navy due to a lack of funds to maintain the ship or support a navy. From then until 1797, the United States' only armed maritime service was the Revenue Marine, founded in 1790 at the prompting of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. In the same year, 1785, two American merchant ships had been captured by the Muslim state of Algiers and then Minister to France Thomas Jefferson began to urge the need for an American naval force to protect their passage through the Mediterranean. Jefferson's recommendations were initially met with indifference. However, Congress in 1786, and the Senate in 1791, discussed various proposals for a naval force, including estimates of costs for building frigates, but none were acted upon. Only in 1793 when Algiers Muslim Pirates had captured eleven additional merchant ships was a proposal finally taken seriously.

A bill was presented to the House of Representatives on January 20, 1794, providing for the construction of four ships to carry forty-four guns each, and two ships to carry thirty-six guns each — by purchase or otherwise. The bill also provided pay and sustenance for naval officers and sailors and outlined how each ship should be manned in order to operate them. Opposition to the bill was strong and a clause was added that should peace be established with Algiers the construction of the ships was to cease.

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