Pirates: strong and fierce men plundering ships, bathing in gold coins and drinking the days away-- thanks to the movie Pirates of the Caribbean the pirate life has been shown in a glorified light. Johnny Depp acting as a drunk captain with amazing adventures leads viewers to believe it was fun to be a pirate. In reality, life out at sea was far from fun; risks were everywhere, both from being killed by other buccaneers or illness on the ship. The shocking real life of a pirate contrasts dramatically with the glorified lifestyle shown in today’s media.
A pirate is most commonly known as someone who robs or commits illegal acts of violence at sea or on the shores. Piracy is a way of life, a lifestyle choice where stealing means obtaining money. Piracy today, in many ways is very similar to piracy hundreds of years ago, only now with better technology. Piracy takes place in high routes of trade usually in areas that go through narrow straights or between islands. (Cordingly 18.) Many pirates target merchant ships approaching shores, because the smaller pirate ships could maneuver around come up faster than larger cargo ships. There have been many attempts and organizations working to stop piracy for centuries but it seems to only adapt vs disappear.
The Golden Age of Piracy was not only the most popular period for pirates, but it was and still is the inspiration for art, stories, poems and even movies today. The Golden Age took place at the beginning of the 18th century, and lasted 30 years until 1722 when 52 of Captain Roberts’ men were hung. (Marx 100.) During this period pirates plundered all the seas but most stories come from the Indonesian islands, the English channel, the Atlantic and of course the Caribbean. Thes...
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... Media may alter the way pirates were portrayed but as the world can see piracy has some very deep and dark secrets.
Works Cited
Alchin, Linda. “Pirate Clothing.” Elizabethan Era. Elizabethan-era.org.uk. May 16, 2012.
January 19, 2014. http://www.elizabethen-era.org.uk/copyright.html. Online.
Cordingly, David. “Introduction.” A World Wide Illustrated History: Pirates. North Dighton,
MA: JG Press, 1998. Print
Ellen, Eric. “Piracy Today.” A World Wide Illustrated: Pirates. North Dighton, MA: JG
Press, 1998. Print.
Kirkpatrick, Jennifer. “Blackbeard: Pirate Terror at Sea.” National Geographic.com September/6/2010. Jan/13/2014/. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pirates/ bbeard/html#top. Online
Marx, Jennifer G. “The Golden Age of Piracy.” A World Wide Illustrated History of Pirates.
North Dighton, MA: JG Press, 1998. Print.
Cordingly’s book Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates tells the story of many different pirates of different time periods by the facts. The book uses evidence from first hand sources to combat the image of pirates produced by fictional books, plays, and films. Cordingly explains where the fictional ideas may have come from using the evidence from the past. The stories are retold while still keeping the interest of the audience without having to stray from the factual
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
...rates to succeed in the open waters alone. Pirates also lost their justification when the Spanish accepted the independence of their former colonies in South and Central America so piracy all but vanished when the governors in Cuba and Puerto Rico stopped providing support. The Navy’s relentless fighting contributed to a great decrease in piracy within ten years which not only led to greater United States prosperity but that of all nations with commerce paths through that region.
Little is known about the infamous Blackbeard's early life; in fact, the first documentations of him are not recorded until the early 1700s, long after his childhood. Yet with so little knowledge of him, he is arguably regarded as the most notorious pirate in history due to his fearsome personality, distinguished look, daring acts of piracy, and stalwart death.
Privateering is said to be "almost as old as civilization itself" with the Japanese and Chinese practicing it as early as 1200 B.C (Massachusetts Society). It really started to pick up around the 1500s during Queen Elizabeth's reign over England. One of her major goals during her rule was to strengthen England's navy and eventually make it the world's number one sea power. To do this she created the Sea Dogs, also known as "Elizabethan Pirates", who were to go out onto the sea and attack Spanish ships (even in times of peace). Each was given a "Letter of Marque" as permission to deal in these acts of would-be piracy (Wikipedia.org). Though the Sea Dogs are famous for many things, one of the most remarkable is their assistance in the destruction of the Spanish Armada.
During the Golden Age of Piracy, crime on the high seas flourished. Many individuals had a positive outlook toward a life under the Jolly Roger because they believed they would be independent of the national laws set in place, and more importantly, they expected to be treated better than the typical sailor. It was common for former seaman to become dastardly pirates as they hoped to escape the life of poverty, share out equally in prize money, and to become rich on the plunders of treasure and cargo ships. However, with the increase in privateers around 1717, many pirates were persecuted and brought to justice. With the number of pirate attacks around the world slowly declining, it was assumed that piracy was never to be heard of again, but
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.
One way this essay will be able to quantify piracy will be by how many letters of marque were issued by the Admiralty. For example, the total number of British privateers operating around the territorial waters of England, Ireland and France between 1589 & 1591 was recorded at 236. This was during a time when the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth I of England, advocated privateering and regulated it throughout the Anglo-Spanish War with ‘Letters of Reprisal’ (lettre de mark). She did this for several reasons, but one of them was to distance herself from any direct aggression towards hostile European powers. These letters were only obtainable by the Admiralty court, if the person in question could prove they had been robbed by a foreign power at sea. Nonetheless, it counts as an act of piracy and does show that the dates sourced in the title for Golden age of Piracy are too narrow, as this evidence shows piracy being advocated by the British as early as
Between 2005 and 2012, Somali pirates have hijacked hundreds of ships and collected in total, ransoms between 339 million dollars or 413 million dollars. Each pirate makes between $30,000 and $75,000 per boat, and between all of them a 2.7 million dollar haul, which makes it a profitable and enticing endeavor. Although it may seem like a simple operation, there are quite a few factors that play into their pay. Each pirate receives additions in pay based upon their actions. An example is a crew mate might receive a $10,000 bonus for being the first on the ship to be hijacked. However, they also r...
It is first beneficial to know the definition of piracy. Piracy has been characterized multiple ways from multiple disciplines. For the purpose of this paper, I will apply the definition of piracy from the 1982 United ...
Throughout history pirates have terrorized the world’s seas. There are few men that have been feared as much as pirates were. Names such as pirate, buccaneer, and privateer were given to these men and women that terrorized the seas. Black Sam Bellamy, Bartholomew Roberts, Jean Lafitte, Stede Bonnet, and Ann Bonny are some of the most feared names know to man. These were the names of pirates that dominated the seas during the 1600’s and 1700’s, a time known as the “Golden Age of Piracy.” However, one of the greatest pirates of all time was the great Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard. He terrorized the seas for most of his gruesome life during this era. The “Golden Age of Piracy” marked a time when sea travel was unsafe for everyone, with Blackbeard being one of the lead factors.
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
According to the book “Pirate’s Dilemma,” “Are Pirates have to scupper us? Are they a threat to be battled or innovators we should compete with and learn from?” (Matt Mason 4). Piracy has and will always be a threat to the whole media industry and of course the economy. As long as people can download for free or buy never been released movies in a cheaper price, there is no way media industries can compete with that.