|
|||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Golden Age of Piracy |
 |
This article or section is incomplete and may require expansion and/or cleanup. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
The Golden Age of Piracy is the common designation given the period roughly spanning from the 1650s to the 1720s. The decade of 1715–1725 experienced a substantial increase in the number of pirates operating throughout the Caribbean, the American coast, the Indian Ocean, and the western coast of Africa. It is also from this period that the modern conception of pirates as depicted in popular culture is derived.
During the early 18th century, many European and colonial American sailors and privateers found themselves unemployed. Factors contributing to piracy included the rise in quantities of valuable cargoes being shipped to Europe over vast ocean areas, reduced European navies in certain regions, the training and experience that many sailors had gained as conscripts in European navies (particularly the Royal Navy), and ineffective government in European overseas colonies.
Contents |
Some historians mark the beginning of the Golden Age of Piracy at around 1650, when the end of the Wars of Religion allowed European countries to resume the development of their colonial empires. This involved considerable seaborne trade, and a general economic improvement: there was money to be made—or stolen—and much of it traveled by ship.
In 1713, a succession of peace treaties was signed, known as the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession (also called 'Queen Anne's War'). With the end of this conflict, thousands of seamen, including Britain's paramilitary privateers, were relieved of military duty. The result was a large number of trained, idle sailors at a time when the cross-Atlantic colonial shipping trade was beginning to boom. In addition, Europeans who had been pushed by unemployment to become sailors and soldiers involved in slaving were often enthusiastic to abandon that profession and turn to pirating, giving pirate captains for many years a constant pool of trained European recruits to be found in west African waters and coasts.
Trafficking on shipping lanes between Africa, the Caribbean, and Europe began to soar in the 18th century, a model that was known as triangular trade, and was a rich target for piracy. Trade ships sailed from Europe to the African coast, trading manufactured goods and weapons for slaves. The traders would then sail to the Caribbean to sell the slaves, and return to Europe with goods such as sugar, tobacco and cocoa. Another triangular trade saw ships carry raw materials, preserved cod, and rum to Europe, where a portion of the cargo would be sold for manufactured goods, which (along with the remainder of the original load) were transported to the Caribbean, where they were exchanged for sugar and molasses, which (with some manufactured articles) were borne to New England. Ships in the triangular trade made money at each stop.1
As part of the war's settlement, Britain obtained the asiento, a Spanish government contract, to supply slaves to Spain's new world colonies, providing British traders and smugglers more access to the traditionally closed Spanish markets in America. This arrangement also contributed heavily to the spread of piracy across the western Atlantic at this time. Shipping to the colonies boomed simultaneously with the flood of skilled mariners after the war. Merchant shippers used the surplus of sailors' labor to drive wages down, cutting corners to maximize their profits, and creating unsavory conditions aboard their vessels. Merchant sailors suffered from mortality rates as high or higher than the slaves being transported (Rediker, 2004). Living conditions were so poor that many sailors began to prefer a freer existence as a pirate. The increased volume of shipping traffic also could sustain a large body of brigands preying upon it.
Many of the most well known pirates in historical lore originate from this Golden Age of Piracy.
Women entered the career of piracy as well (most usually disguised as men). Some of the best-known female pirates were Calico Jack Rackham's cohorts, Anne Bonney (also sometimes spelled Bonny) and Mary Read.
Bonney grew up ferocious, and, unable to leave an earlier marriage, eloped with Rackham, with whom she was in love. Mary Read had been dressed as a boy all her life by her mother, and had spent time in the British military. She came to the West Indies (Caribbean) after the death of her husband, and fell in with Calico Jack and Anne Bonney.citation needed
When their ship was assaulted, the two women were the only ones that defended it. The other crew members were too drunk to fight. In the end they were captured and arrested.citation needed
After their capture, both women stalled their death sentences (the punishment for piracy) by claiming to be pregnant; however, Read died of a fever in jail.
Although the details are often misremembered, the effect upon popular culture of the Golden Age of Piracy can hardly be overstated. Such literary works as Treasure Island and Peter Pan, while romanticized, drew heavily on pirates and piracy for their plots. In turn, they helped implant an (often inaccurate) image of old-time pirates in contemporary minds.2
More recently, even-less-accurate depictions of historical-era pirates (e.g., Jack Sparrow and Talk Like a Pirate Day) have advanced to the forefront. However, these phenomena have only served to advance the romantic image of piracy and its treasure-burying swashbucklers in popular culture.3
By the early 1700s tolerance for privateers was wearing thin by all nations. After the Treaty of Utrecht was signed, the excess of trained sailors without employment was both a blessing and a curse for all pirates. Initially the surplus of men had caused the number of pirates to multiply significantly. This inevitably led to the pillaging of more ships, which put a greater strain on trade for all European nations. In response European nations bolstered their own navies to offer greater protection for merchants and to hunt down pirates. The excess of skilled sailors meant there was a large pool that could be recruited into a nation’s navy as well. Piracy was clearly on a strong decline by 1720. The Golden Age of Piracy didn’t last the decade.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Piracy |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |