Piracy began in the Carribbean during the Anglo-Spanish War of the mid 17th Century, and privateers were enlisted by both sides to raid enemy ships and settlements. However at the conclusion of the war, with Spain and England technically at peace, a lot of privateers were put out of work, and either turned to piracy or were tempted by the French governors to lend their services to the French crown. Therefore, keeping English sailors in the Restoration inactive meant losing them to France, and so blind eyes were turned to various raids against the Spanish. One pirate captain who took advantage of this situation was Henry Morgan, who in 1668 launched several attacks on Spanish dominion without official condemnation. The English crown refused to condemn him, as he was helping to fill the pockets of many beached English adventurers throughout the West Indies, and averted the danger of them going over to France.
However in 1670, the Spanish officially recognised English dominion of Jamaica, and English ships were given free movement of the Caribbean. This led to a heavy decline in the number of illegal attacks, not just from the external politics of the European crowns, but also the domestic needs of the islanders. Sugar plantation owners, who had previously been accomplices in many illegal raids, now sought only peace and security, and feared reprisals for their part in the raids on neighbouring Spanish territories. Therefore, to distance themselves from the pirates with whom they had had dealings, they openly denounced these former watchmen of their coasts and violent defenders of English interests, and the pirates became personae non gratae in the West Indies. Another factor in the decision of the plantation owners to sever ties with the pirates may have been their continued disruption of the Spanish merchant vessels, who were now peaceful trading partners seeking English sugar.
Between pressure from the European crowns and being shunned by the plantations, piracy in the Carribbean declined and pirates shifted to easier areas of plunder. English and French buccaneers under the captains Coxon, Sharp and Cook discovered a convenient overland trail through the Isthmus to the South Pacific, and plundered enormous wealth from the undefended cities of the Pacific coast, and the English campaign in that area was the most famous and well documented voyage of the age.
Piracy declined sharply in the new world in 1701, when the War of the Spanish Succession were declared, and the mobs of unemployed seamen found work in the naval and privateering services of their respective countries, and England offered a mass pardon for all pirates who agreed to participate in the war. During these years these enemies of all civilised people became privateering patriots, and piracy all but disappeared from the seas. When the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713, the fleets were dispersed, and seamen were once again out of work. However, following this peace, the newly unemployed sailors found themselves bolstered by new armaments, larger Men-O'-War and changes in naval strategy, and these factors led to the greatest decade of pirate activity in modern history. With the peace between the European powers breeding much commerce and prosperity, the pirates of the Caribbean found easy plunder among the slow, poorly defended merchant vessels. In addition, the governors of the islands, through necessity as much as greed, continued to be casual over the commission and allegiance with captains of questionable character. Pirate ships remained largely unchallenged in the Caribbean, as naval captains were reluctant to attack well-armed and fiercely defended pirate vessels when there was no guarantee of capturing a treasure-laden prize that would justify the risk posed by attacking them.
The pirate fleets grew strong enough to rival the European powers, and pirate havens sprang up across the West Indies, a The most famous of the pirate havens was Nassau, a town that between 1703 and 1718, had no official governor and was not occupied by any European force, making in a main place for pirates operating in the area. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1000 pirates in Nassau and that they outnumbered the mere hundred inhabitants of the town. The pirates proclaimed Nassau a pirate republic, arguably the first modern democracy, and established themselves as "governors." By April 1718, Captain Woodes Rogers was dispatched from England with the sole purpose of ridding the Caribbean of pirates for good, and although general pardons were offered to pirates who peacefully surrendered, and bounties offered to those bringing them to justice, piracy continued to be so rife in the area that it all but paralysed trade in the West Indies. The English fleet eventually coaxed the pirates into submission, and with the symbolic death of the deadliest pirate of the day, Bartholomew Roberts, in 1722, the Golden Age of Piracy came to a close. Other examples of pirates that used Nassau as their base are Charles Vane, Thomas Barrow, Benjamin Hornigold, "Calico" Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and the infamous Blackbeard. I will write articles about all of them separately in following weeks.
Hope you enjoyed this week's instalment folks, come back next Wednesday for an article about Madagascan pirates - Captain
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