Piracy in the Caribbean

The great time of the piracy in the Caribbean begins in the neighborhoods of 1560 and extends until the years 1720. The period more ostentation for the Pirate S is between 1640 and 1680.

Context

Economic context and policy

Piracy in the Caribbean Sea is a consequence of the play of the great nations. The the Caribbean were in the center of the triangular Commerce at the 16th century.

The Treated of Tordesillas (1494) division the New World between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a North-South line located at 370 miles (1770 km) in the West of the islands of the Cape Verde. This gave to Spain control America S, a position which it reinforced with obtaining a papal decree. The continent around the Caribbean was then called Nouvelle Spain. The first ports were Cartagena, Panama, Santiago, Oporto Bello and Saint-Domingue.

Economically, the Spaniards exploited the mine S of the Nouvelle Spain and the Peru to withdraw from them important quantities of ingots of money. For the remainder, it was primarily about Commerce of skins, because the Spaniards preferred the breeding with the Plantation S.

The money cargoes attracted the Pirate S and the Corsaire S as well in the Caribbean as through the Atlantique, until Seville. To avoid that, starting from 1560, the Spaniards adopted the system of the convoy: “the flota”. This convoy gathered very many commercial vessels as well as warships of number in order to counter any pirate attack. The flotilla, each year, took the departure of Seville (and later of Cadiz), fascinating in load passengers, troops and goods of the Old world for the colony S of the New World. Of a certain manner, these cargoes of the way to go were used only as ballast because the principal goal was to bring back one year of production of money and coins in Europe. This return voyage was a target of choice for the pirates, they followed the flotilla discreetly and attacked the Navire S which took delay on the others. The traditional road of the Caribbean started in the Lesser Antilles close to the Spain News, then towards North and through the Canal of Yucatan (between the Mexico and Cuba) in order to be able to benefit from the high winds of the West (the Westerlies) to return to Europe.

The England, in cold with Spain since repudiation by Henri VIII of Catherine d' Aragon, aunt of Charles-Quint, in 1533, then the schism Anglican in 1534, finally, the United Provinces, in rebellion against Spain since 1566, were decided to call into question Iberian exclusiveness on the New World. On its side, France, by the voice of François Ier had as of a long time disputed Spanish legitimacy: " I would like to see the clause of the will of Adam who excludes me from the division of the monde". However, this king sent especially forwardings to Canada (Jacques Cartier) and towards the current New York (Verazzano - the Angouleme News). It is however during a forwarding directed towards the Antilles that Verazzano disappeared. Under the grandsons of François Ier, especially Charles IX, the attempts at colonization were mainly the fact of the huguenots (Protestant), like Villegaignon in Brazil, and the south of the United States, from where perhaps the name of " Caroline". The French were the first not-Spaniards to have a colony in the Caribbean, in fact with St Augustine (Florida), although its existence was of short duration. Helped by their respective governments, the merchants and the colonists English, French and Dutch were unaware of the treaty to invade the Spanish territory: “ No peace beyond the meridian line ”. The Spaniards did not have the means of a sufficient military presence to control the zone or to impose their commercial laws. This led to a permanent Contrebande with colonization in times of peace, and time of war with piracy in all Caribbean.

In the years 1620, after the beginning of the War Thirty Year old (1618 - 1648), the Spanish presence in the Caribbean declined quickly and the Spaniards became increasingly dependant on the work of the slave S African and maintained only one weak military presence. During this time, other countries started to establish colonies on the territories released by Spain. The Barbados was the first really viable English colony, and another colony established on the island of New Providence quickly became a refuge for the pirates.

While the war continued in Europe, towards the end of the 17th century, the situation in the Caribbean had been stabilized. The colonies were more important and the unfavourable economic effects of piracy apparent. England whose presence had become much more important, stationed a naval squadron with Royal Port (Jamaica) as of the years 1680. The acts of piracy became rarer and drives out with the pirates was more intense, although Spain established a coastal guard ( Costa Guarda ) corsair.

Sociological context

At the 17th century and 18th century, the condition of sailor was hardest who is. The trade was physically very testing, the space of life very reduced and nauseous and very insufficient food. The trade of sailor concealed moreover a great number of dangers: the accidents of operation, the storms, the diseases, malnutrition, the loss of the vivres or drinking water constituted as much chance for a sailor to pass from life to demise.

The young people sold with the service of the ship or those which had undergone enrôlement force (what one named the press , a British speciality) had not chosen to go up on board and to endure all the sorrows that represented. They were to however be useful in a system where they did not have almost any right. An iron discipline which included/understood in particular corporal punishments and which could go until the capital punishment applied to them. The sailors occupied one of the lowest positions of the social scale while at the same time their activity allowed the ship-owners and tradesmen to garner benefit than substantial more.

The weakness of the institutional and social structures of capacity in the the Western Indies left the field to the revolt. The choice of piracy was not as well a choice of career, aiming to personal enrichment as a rupture with the company of the time. The democratic organization of the crews, as the reported cases where the pirates punished or killed the officers with cruelty whereas they very often saved the crews, illustrate this questioning of the social rules, it did not only act to plunder and to grow rich, but to protest against the injustice.

The majority of the pirate crews had a career of less than one year, it acted men who did not have anything to lose, condemned to dead to be itself rebelled, which made them particularly frightening to the combat.

Strategy

The pirates employed many strategies to seize ships or cities.

Generally, they preferred the small light, fast and manoeuvrable boats with the heavy commercial galleons or military buildings strongly provided out of guns. Thus, the pirates embarked few guns to the profit of a maximum of men in order to conduct attacks flash, effective and disappeared also quickly with the spoils. Indeed, the pirates were often of former sailors and had a competence aguerrie in art to operate a ship but proved to be also frightening combatants, preferably handling the cutlass and the large knife. The pirates could approach their prey while pretending to be merchants in danger and to deaden the mistrust of the crew concerned to be able to approach without fearing the fire of the commercial guns. The pirates rather close to the ship concerned hoisted the black house then, moored with the prey to prevent that she does not flee and boarding took it.

However, the pirates were able to join together true armies and fleets to attack powerful cities as Cartagena where the Spaniards stored the gold of the new-world during one year. Thus Drake (corsair, and nonpirate) seized Cartagena in 1586, Olonais puts at bag the towns of Maracaïbo and Gilbraltar. One sees even Edward Vernon (which was not pirate, but Britannique officer) to besiege Cartagena with 186 ships, 2000 guns and 25.000 men in 1741.

One recognizes well in the pirate an adversary frightening and general-purpose, able to adapt to any type of situation, and ease as well on ground as on sea. The pirate was thus unforeseeable and constituted a threat for powers differently stronger than him!

Flibustiers

See also: Flibustier

Flibustier comes from Dutch vrijbuiters (literally “free maker of spoils”), who gave French flibustier and English freebooter . This word designates the pirates prevailing in the Caribbean Sea at the end of the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century.

The pirate crews were democratic. The captain was elected by the crew and this last could vote its replacement. The captain was to be a chief and a combatant: in an attack, all expect that it fights with dimensions its men and not whom it gives of the remote orders. The profits were divided into share equal, and if the officers received a higher number of shares, it is that they took more risks or had particular competences. The crews often sailed without wages, their captures accumulating during the months before being distributed. They had, during some time, developped at the point a system of Social security, guaranteeing a silver compensation, Or or slaves for the wounds received during a battle. The pirates could however be right towards the slaves and released sometimes them when they captured a slave ship. A considerable share of the pirate crews was made up slaves released, in escape or more or less enlisted of force. Indeed, a nondemocratic aspect of their company is the fact that the pirates forced sometimes specialists like carpenters to sail with them and released them after some time, simply because no volunteer was not available.

Corsairs

See also: Corsair

In the Caribbean, the use of the Corsaire S was particularly popular. The maintenance costs with a fleet to defend the colonies were beyond the possibilities of the national governments to the XVI {{E}} and XVII {{E}} centuries.

These governments thus granted private vessels, a Lettre of mark (or commission of war) authorizing them to capture enemy ships. They preserved the major part of the spoils, the active remainder with the government silent partner. These vessels operated independently or in fleet and in the event of success, the reward could be substantial. When Francis Drake captured the Spanish money convoy in Nombre of Dios (port of Panama on the east coast) in 1573, its crew grows rich with life.

The possibility of such profits attracted rich person business men and the noble ones who all were ready to finance this legal piracy in exchange of a share of the benefit. The sale of the captured goods was it also a good economic contribution for the colonies.

Buccaneers

See also: Buccaneer

The denomination of buccaneer was specific to the Caribbean. They appeared towards 1630 and were maintained until the end of the period of piracy around 1730. The first buccaneers were often escaped prisoners of the colonies. In the beginning runners of wood on the island of Hispaniola (currently Santo Domingo and Haiti), they drove out the Bœuf S savages. The Viande was prepared with the indigenous manner, i.e. dried and smoked on a kind of grill out of wooden: the din ( barbacoa in Spanish, according to barbicoa in Indian language Arawak, which gives Barbecue). From where the terms boucaner and buccaneer . This meat thus preserved made it possible to make traffic with ships of passage or isolated colonies. After drive outbeing driven out of Hispaniola by the Spaniards, the buccaneers found refuge on the island of the Tortoise ( Tortuga in Spanish), at the time French possession, located at the North-West of Hispaniola, starting from 1663. They operated with the support partial of the not-Spanish colonies and their activity is remained legal or partially legal until in the years 1700.

Obliged to survive with few resources, they were skilful in Naval construction, Navigation and Chasse. One regarded them as wild combatants and they were famous experts in the use of rifles with flint (invented in 1615). However, the operation of these weapons was so dubious that their use in combat was not very current before 1670. They were engaged in the forwardings with ground organized by pirates like Henry Morgan.

A great solidarity reigned between them and the decisions were made jointly for the profit of the community. This is partly at the origin of the democratic rules into force aboard pirate ships.

With the manner of the buccaneers, communities of loggers had been established with the Honduras to cut and sell invaluable timber with the nose and the beard of the Spaniards. With the buccaneers and the flibustiers, they constituted the community of the Frères of the Coast . One passed easily from one profession to the other what explains why the buccaneer term is often synonymous wrongly with pirate.

Note:: confusion also comes from English or the term employed to designate the pirates of the Caribbean is bucaneer or possibly freebooter , while the term filibuster designates adventurers Anglo-American mercenaries of the 19th century engaged in actions of wild colonization with the intention to reverse the government places from there (the colonization of the Texas for example).

End of the age of piracy

The decline of piracy in the Caribbean was done in parallel with the decline of the use of the Mercenaire S in Europe and the increase in the sizes of the national armies, at the end of the Guerre Thirty Year old. The more the capacity of the States extended, the more the armies were codified and controlled by the central capacity. The national marines were extended, their new mission including/understanding the fight against piracy. The elimination of piracy in European water extended to the Caribbean in the years 1700, to the Western Africa and the North America before 1710, and before 1720, even the Indian Ocean had become an inhospitable place for the pirates.

See too

  • Louis Michel Aury international

  • Louis Michel Aury (french)

  • Encyclopirate : The encyclopedia of piracy

  • Pirate, Flibustiers and other gueux of the Pirate seas
  • & corsairs, scummers of the seven seas, a very complete site on the pirates and corsairs

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