The great or classic era of
piracy in the Caribbean
extends from around 1560 up
until the 1720s. The period
during which pirates were
most successful was from the
1640s until the 1680s.
Caribbean piracy arose out
of, and mirrored on a
smaller scale, the conflicts
over trade and colonization
among the rival European
powers of the time,
including England, Spain,
Dutch United Provinces, and
France. Two of the
best-known pirate bases were
Tortuga in the 1640s and
Port Royal after 1655.
A privateer or corsair used
similar methods to a pirate,
but acted while in
possession of a commission
or letter of marque from a
government or king
authorizing the capture of
merchant ships belonging to
an enemy nation. The famous
Barbary Corsairs of the
Mediterranean were
privateers, as were the
Maltese Corsairs, who were
authorized by the Knights of
St. John. The letter of
marque was recognized by
convention—for example, the
United States Constitution
of 1787 specifically
authorizes Congress to issue
letters of marque and
reprisal—and meant that a
privateer could not
technically be charged with
piracy. This nicety of law
did not always save the
individuals concerned,
however, as whether one was
considered a pirate or a
legally operating privateer
often depended on whose
custody the individual found
himself in—that of the
country that had issued the
commission, or that of the
object of attack. Under the
Declaration of Paris of
1854, seven nations agreed
to suspend the use of the
letter of marque, and others
followed in the Hague
Conventions. The most famous
privateer was Sir Francis
Drake. His patron was
England, and their
relationship ultimately
proved to be quite
profitable.
In the popular modern
imagination, pirates of the
classical period were
rebellious, clever teams who
operated outside the
restricting bureaucracy of
modern life. In reality,
many pirates ate poorly, did
not become fabulously
wealthy, and died
young. Unlike traditional
Western societies of the
time, many pirate clans
operated as limited
democracies, demanding the
right to elect and replace
their leaders. The captain
of a pirate ship was often a
fierce fighter in whom the
men could place their trust,
rather than a more
traditional authority figure
sanctioned by an elite.
However, when not in battle,
the ship's quartermaster
usually had the real
authority.Many groups of pirates
shared in whatever booty
they seized, according to a
complicated scheme where
each man received his
alloted share of the prize.
Pirates injured in battle
might be afforded special
compensation. Often all of
these terms were agreed upon
and written down by the
pirates. These articles
could also be used as
incriminating proof that
they were outlaws. Pirates
readily accepted outcasts
from traditional societies,
perhaps easily recognizing
kindred spirits, and they
were known to free slaves
from slave ships and welcome
them into the pirate
fold. Such egalitarian
practices within a pirate
clan were tenuous, however,
and did little to mitigate
the brutality of the
pirate's way of life.
Pirates who operated in the
West Indies during the 17th
century were known as
buccaneers. The word derives
from boucan, a wooden frame
used for cooking meat (also
called a barbacoa), used by
French hunters called
boucaniers. When these
hunters became pirates, they
took their name with them.
The most
famous person
associated with buccaneers
in the West Indies was Henry Morgan. Dutch pirates were
known as kapers or
vrijbuiters ("plunderers"),
the latter combining the
words vrij meaning free,
buit meaning loot, and the
ending -er meaning agent.
The word vrijbuiter was
corrupted into the English
freebooter and French
flibustier. The French
loan-word returned to
English in the form of
filibusters, adventurers who
became involved in Latin
American revolutions and
coups. It finally came to
mean the disruptive
parliamentary maneuver of
talking nonstop.
Pirates are called Lanun by
both the Indonesians and the
Malaysians who form the
nations bracketing the
Straits of Malacca.
Originally a culture of
seafaring people, the Lanun
name became synonymous with
piracy in the 15th
century.Wōkňu were pirates
who raided the coastlines of
China and Korea from the
13th century onwards.
Pirates
with commissions from a
government are called
privateers or corsairs.
In
modern Arabic the word is قرصان from the Turkish
Korsan, which seems to have
been derived from the
European word. Corsair comes
from the medieval Latin
cursa, meaning "raid,
expedition, inroad".
Pirates are also known as
picaroons. This term comes
from the Spanish word
picarón, meaning "rogue."In
Latin, the term pirata --
from which the English
"pirate" is derived -- means
"to attempt."
Famous Pirates:
Golden Age of Piracy:
1690-1730
Black Bart [Bartholomew
Roberts] (c. 1682-1722),
Welsh
Edward Teach or Thatch,
known as Blackbeard (c.
1680-1718), English
Major Stede Bonnet
(1644-1718), English
Henry Every [Avery] (1653-c.
1728), English
John Halsey (1662-1708),
English
James Kelly (1676-1701),
English
Captain William Kidd
(1645-1701), Scotish
Mary Read (c. 1685-1721),
English
Decline of Piracy: 1730-1850
Chi Apu (1822-1851), Chinese
Pirata Cofresi (Roberto
Cofresí Ramirez de Arellano)
(1791-1825), Puerto Rican
Diablitio [Little Devil]
(17??-1823), Cuban
Rahmah bin Jabir al-Jalahimah
(c. 1760-1826), Arabian
Jean Lafitte (c.
1780-1826?), French
Dominique You (1775-1830),
French
