 Payments in ransom and tribute to the privateering states amounted to 20 percent of United States government annual revenues in 1800.Jefferson continued to argue for cessation of the tribute, with rising support from George Washington and others.With the recommissioning of the American navy in 1794 and the resulting increased firepower on the seas, it became more and more possible for America to say "no", although by now the long-standing habit of tribute was hard to overturn.