During the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, piracy was rampant in the Atlantic, specifically in the West Indies. Piracy has existed since the earliest days of ocean travel, for a range of personal and economic reasons. However, one of the major reasons why piracy was wide spread and rampant in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries was Great Britain’s endorsement and usage of piracy as an asset; in wars fought in the New World. Great Britain with its expanding power and conflicts with other nations would make piracy a lifestyle and lay down the foundation for the Golden Age of Piracy and eventually bring what it created to a screeching halt.
Piracy flourished openly in the New World, but more so in the West Indies. Within the West Indies, was a wide assortment of islands, such as Jamaica, Curacao, and Tortuga, Hispaniola and others, which held many resources and was suitable for colonization. There European settlements, which were only a few days between each other by sea travel, would be in almost constant warfare with one another; due to much larger conflicts being fought in Europe. To expand settlements in the New World, criminals and the poor, including indentured servants were sent to colonize and form societies. Therefore, creating a culture were illegal activities such as piracy was for most the only viable economic path to survive, and improve their current social, political and economic status.
Piracy was well established in the West Indies, before the English started to colonize the New World. France was the first nation to employ corsairs to raid Spanish holdings in the Caribbean during the wars between Francis the 1st and Charles V. France and other nations such as England would hire privateers by o...
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...ble the English to pursue and hang the rogues of the sea effectively.
The English government made piracy into what it is now known in fables and stories today. By sanctioning piracy through the use of privateering, England effectively chipped away at Spain's hold and newfound wealth in the New World. However, by supporting and funding acts of piracy by men such as John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan, the English encouraged others to set off in search of fame and fortunes which most of time, these men turned to criminality. But with a newfound desire of peace, England cut off its ties with its former employees thus leading to the golden age of piracy; where any vessel and coastal town was considered fair game for plundering. Thus England spent countless resources and years trying to recapture the seas and close the Pandora's Box they helped open.
Firstly, the Caribbean smuggling was viewed as necessary and positive in the late eighteenth century. According to William Taggart, a British sailor traveling to testify at his smuggling trial in April 1760, the illegal transportation of goods from the Spanish port of Monte Christi led to general prosperity in the area, as there were only 100 relatively poor families and that the governor had full knowledge of this and demanded a tax of one silver Spanish coin. Taggart mi...
It is ironic that the entire notion of privateering began in Great Britain. In 1649 a frigate named Constant-Warwick was constructed in England for a privateer in the employ of the Earl of Warwick.
The British Empire was a World dominant force throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th century, but if it wasn’t for the naval defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the British might have never settled what would be the United States. And the person we have to thank is none other than Sir Francis Drake, a common man whose rise from a small country town, to the mighty dragon that the Spanish feared, was the most brilliant Captain during the Elizabethan Era. Sir Francis Drake’s privateering in the Caribbean and the Pacific were the staging grounds for the destruction of the Spanish Armada and the Rise of the British Empire. It was in the Caribbean where Drake inflicted is greatest defeats and captured his greatest prizes.
Throughout the film there are parts of historical piracy that are shown. In the start of the film, pirate Hector Barbossa is shown as a new privateer for the English. It is revealed that Captain Barbossa is not sailing the seas for the King, but instead
The history of Jamaica is extremely jaded with disease, buccaneering, and slavery. First discovered by Europeans in 1494, Columbus stopped on Jamaica on his second trip to the “New World” and encountered the indigenous Arawaks (Encyclopedia Americana, 2001, P 672). Later colonized by Spain in 1509, the land was abandoned when the lack of abundance of silver and gold was discovered. The indigenous Arawaks were overwhelmed with European disease and died out (Encyclopedia Americana, 2001, 672). These times will be some of the most peaceful times in Jamaican history. Buccaneers used Jamaica as a trade center for booty seized from different galleons. Soon following, England will seize as much of Spain’s Caribbean land as possible.
Blackbeard began his pirating career sometime after 1713, as an ordinary crewmember aboard a Jamaican sloop commanded by the pirate Benjamin Hornigold. In 1716, Hornigold supplied Teach with a small crew, and a small captured vessel to command. By 1717 Hornigold and Teach were sailing in alliance, and together were feared throughout the seas. In November 1717, Hornigold and Teach were able to capture a 26 gun French vessel called the Concorde (recent research has shown that the vessel had originally been built in Great Britain). Blackbeard’s pirate partner, Hornigold, decided to take advantage of a recent offer of general amnesty from the British Crown- and retire in comfort. Teach rejected t...
[11] Anderson, G.M., and A. Gifford (1991), "Privateering and the private production of naval power," Cato Journal.
Piracy is typically an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea ( History of Piracy, )
Drake made several voyages to the Caribbean with English seaman John Hawkins in the 1560’s, which were the early years of Drake’s career. They were not privateering voyages, but attempts to smuggle Spanish goods into the colonies. On the third voyage Hawkins’ fleet of six ships, one commanded by Sir Francis Drake, were driven into the Gulf of Mexico by a hurricane. The ships were led into the Vera Cruz port and demanded supplies. The Spanish however had a different plan of assaulting and killing many men and destroying four ships. Drake and Hawkins returned to England safely but, this incident led to Drake’s desire for revenge on the Spaniards.
Piracy was a risk for any traveler or merchant, no matter how long the trip or how valuable the cargo. Pirates frequently raided ships traveling to and from Sri Lanka, crossing the Indian Ocean (Gordon 82). To lower risk, merchants made use of anything. For example, merchants established partnerships. Not only did this spread risk, reducing individual losses, but also made reputation important (Gordon 94). This made reputation
Routine activity theory satisfies the answer to why ransom, resources, and waste piracy occurs. The theory provides insight and an alternative approach to the notion that pirates terrorists, seeking money and power. Piracy will continue until the international community recognizes Somalia’s instability, the illegal dumping of waste and extraction of resources occurring in Somali waters. Resources and waste piracy would cease with the reformation of Somalia’s government. If authority figures were present, the illegal intruders could be held accountable for their actions. An improvement in Somalia’s economy would reduce, if not prevent, ransom piracy from occurring. If Somalis had valuable and paying occupations on land, they would not need to resort to other means of compensation (Bahadur 2011).
Europeans came into contact with the Caribbean after Columbus's momentous journeys in 1492, 1496 and 1498. The desire for expansion and trade led to the settlement of the colonies. The indigenous peoples, according to our sources mostly peaceful Tainos and warlike Caribs, proved to be unsuitable for slave labour in the newly formed plantations, and they were quickly and brutally decimated. The descendants of this once thriving community can now only be found in Guiana and Trinidad.
The Golden Age of Piracy began around 1650, and ended around 1730. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, but can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the criminal. The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. A pirate is one who commits robberies at sea, usually without being allotted to do so by any particular nation. The usual crime for piracy can include being hung, or publically executed. Some of the most famous pirates who were killed either because of piracy, or because of natural causes, are Barbarossa, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Greaves, William Kidd, Jean Laffite, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Giovanni da Verrazano.
Adam Smith lived in a turbulent and unpredictable world. Indeed Britain was an affluent nation at the time, but that does not over-ride the sometimes-barbaric notions of its citizens. Piracy was rampant in the Eighteenth Century reaching its peak in 1724 when trade almost came to a complete stop due to the constant threat of encountering pirates while at sea. The property-seeking vagabonds would hijack a ship, take what they wanted and either leave the crew to their own means in a damaged vessel or alternatively, enslave them and possibly use them for bartering later. Adam Smith when writing, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, was all too aware of the threat that pirates were still having on trade in 1776. Smith was logical in his assumption that the state should strive to protect the trade industry whenever possible, especially since in those days the sun never set on the British flag and England ruled the seas.
“Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships,” The International Maritime Organization, Accessed March 26th, 2014. http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Pages/Default.aspx