Who Were the Real Pirates of the Caribbean?
Listen to the lyrics of this attraction’s theme song and you will be left in little doubt that pirates were bad news. As you sail past scenes in which buccaneers pillage a town, torture the mayor, and burn the place to the ground, it would not be unwarranted to view pirates as essentially eighteenth-century terrorists. Nevertheless, these villainous individuals are often perceived as loveable rogues, parodied characters complete with peglegs, parrots, and treasure maps. However, this is not what pirates were really like. Although the loss of limbs and pet birds were relatively common, pirates rarely hid their treasure, despite what one character seen in the Disney attraction would have you believe. This prompts the question — who were the real Pirates of the Caribbean?
We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villains and knaves
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!
We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!
Pirates have been the bad guys of the oceans for a long time — the first pirates sailed in the Mediterranean over 3000 ago! Even so, seafaring raiders have not always been viewed as such rascals and scoundrels. At various points throughout history, such behaviour has actually been a respectable way of life called “privateering”. In the 1500s for example, sailors could gain special license called a “letter of marque” from their sovereign which allowed them to attack and seize ships belonging to a hostile nation. It was a win-win situation as the state could fight its enemies without having to build and maintain a large navy, and the privateers could become very wealthy by looting enemy vessels.
However, the practice was problematic. Privateers were essentially licensed pirates and could be very unruly indeed, often paying little attention to peace treaties and calls for them to end their raids. After getting a taste for the fortunes that could be made by marauding on the waves, many privateers transitioned into fully fledged pirates, indiscriminately raiding any ship that appeared on the horizon, and now all without any license to do so. The Golden Age of Piracy had dawned.
Privateers of Pirates?
Sir Francis Drake is knighted by Queen Elizabeth I, 1581. Drake was a privateer and plundered Spanish ships and towns in the name of his Queen.
The Golden Age of Piracy can be loosely defined as the period between the late 1600s and early 1700s. These were the years of fearsome pirates such as Blackbeard, Black Bart, and Sir Henry Morgan, who roamed the waves long before his name was coopted for the popular brand of rum. It is believed there were as many as 2000 pirates in the Caribbean when piracy peaked around 1720, and with the average pirate vessel requiring a crew of about 80 men, there may have been 25 buccaneer ships cruising the region. This large pirate presence was the result of a surge in piracy in the preceding years that was linked to the end the War of the Spanish Succession. Peace in Europe meant that 40,000 seamen were out of work as there were no naval wars to fight, and for many of this unfortunate bunch, sailing was the only skill they had. It is of little surprise then, that some daring souls amongst them turned to a life of piracy, attracted by the lure of plunder.
The Golden Age of Piracy
The decline of piracy in the Caribbean was a rapid process. From a peak of 2000 pirates operating there in 1720, by 1726 there were only around 200. Predictably, pirate attacks also nosedived, down from 50 in 1718 to just 6 in 1726. It seems quite remarkable that the pirate menace was quelled in such a short time, considering the thousands of miles of ocean the navy had to police, in an age without radios and telephones to assist in hunting the scoundrels down. So, just how was this taming of the seas achieved?
Hunting Down the Pirates
Legislation was passed making it far easier to bring pirates to justice. Until the eighteenth-century, the legal procedure for dealing with captured pirates dictated that they be sent to London to appear before the High Court of the Admiralty. Thus, any pirates brought to justice were tried and executed thousands of miles away from where their crimes had been committed and out of sight of their brothers in the Caribbean, meaning the law was an inefficient deterrent. In 1700, however, the “Act for the More Effectual Suppression of Piracy” ended this practice. Suddenly, pirates could be swiftly marched down to the waterfront and executed without the need to transport them to England, and their bodies were often displayed as an ominous threat for any passing buccaneers.
Captain Kidd was transported back to London before his trial and execution. His body was gibbeted over the River Thames as a warning to other pirates, as pictured here.
Not all pirates were ruthlessly executed though. In fact, many pirates were pardoned instead, and this became another effective tool in curbing piracy. On September 5, 1717, King George I issued a royal proclamation in which he pardoned all pirates that handed themselves in to the authorities within a limited time. Hundreds of pirates rejoiced at the news and accepted the offer, often receiving a certificate that recognised the deal. Of course, it was not a complete success; many renegaded on their promise to the king and returned to their former lives of piracy. Well, you know what they say: old habits die hard, and die these pirates would, as they forced the navy to utilise one last method of suppression to finish the job - brute force.
Captain Jack "Calico" Rackam.
The pirates were no match for the might of the Royal Navy, and once sufficient forces were mobilised against them, the game was up. In 1718 the Royal Navy had some 13,000 sailors at its disposal and a vast array of warships that were far stronger than any pirate vessel; even the smallest ships of the line had 50 guns, whilst the majority of pirate ships made do with somewhere between 10 and 20. Furthermore, the navy strengthened its force with allies. Remember those privateers I mentioned earlier? Well, by the eighteenth-century their services were being used to bring pirates to justice, as numerous private ships were given licenses to capture pirate vessels. They were effective too — privateer Jonathan Barnet succeeded in capturing Captain Jack Rackam and his infamous companions, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, whose intriguing stories you can discover in another Distory article .
