The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

Encouraged by their governments to raid enemy ships, privateers turned pirates when war was over. Anjani Ganase tells the stories of some famous pirates.

The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean extended between 1680 – 1730. During these fifty years, these outlaws roamed the seas from the North Carolina coast to Tobago. Their daring and bold acts became tales that were passed on.  Piracy had an unusual beginning. Leading up to and during the War of Spanish Succession, the British government hired British privateers to seek out and raid the Spanish Galleons (large Spanish merchant ships) on route to Spain. Plying the transatlantic routes with substantial cargoes, Spain was rich on the treasures from the New World. The loot was the reward.  During this time, the British and French formed alliances against the Spanish for this purpose, so French and British privateers were both targeting the Spanish.

 As Spanish power declined in the Caribbean, the privateers began raiding their own British merchant and slave ships to maintain their livelihood. This became an issue especially as the British were establishing their transatlantic trade routes for the shipment of slave to colonies in the Americas. The pirates robbed vessels of supplies, slaves and anything of trading value. The rise of piracy resulted in retaliation and the British Monarch sought to stamp out piracy in the region. Between 1670s and 1718, the Navy fleet grew from two ships to 124 ships.

The Caribbean’s vast geography contributed to the success of pirates, who could hide in any of the scattered islands that served as strongholds and grew on pirate economies. This included Tortuga, off Hispaniola, Port Royal in Jamaica, Nassau in Bahamas and the Isla de Providencia off Nicaragua. The British Navy were challenged by the vastness of the Caribbean and so many islands surrounding it. Many remote islands meant that the pirates could easily relocate to hide out and also lay in wait for ambush. Piracy was brutal, and punishment for pirates was death by hanging. The news of the pirates in the Caribbean and their captures often made it to the British readers. Illustrations of the pirates and tales of their misdeeds were documented and the image of the pirate was romanticised.

Illustration of Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick

 

The Queen’s Revenge

Blackbeard is probably the most infamous pirate, whose character has been resurrected many times in pop culture and most famously in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Edward Teach started out as a privateer, hired by the British, during the War of Spanish Succession but turned to the life of piracy afterwards. Blackbeard acquired his own vessel from the French, who had stolen it from the Spanish. Originally named the Concorde, Teach renamed it, The Queen’s Revenge. It was a magnificent vessel with 40 guns and over 300 crew. During one year of service under Teach, the Queen’s Revenge was used to commandeer many other vessels to build his fleet and fortune. Blackbeard’s appearance was meant to instil fear with a great big black beard that extended to his waist. He would light fuses in his beard to give a mad and crazed look. He was known for torture, and was unpredictable in his behaviour, even turning on his crew to keep them in line. Eventually, Blackbeard scuttled the ship off the North Carolina Coast, and moved to a smaller vessel, called the Adventure. It was only as recent as 1996, that the wreckage of the Queen’s Revenge was found, along with the fortune of gold coin bearing the bust of Queen Anne. Scientists uncovered over 250,000 artifacts from this vessel!

Teach was based in Ocracoke North Carolina and it was there he bribed the local Governor for a royal pardon rescinding his pirate title and restoring the title of privateer. However, the Governor of Virginia hired private pirate hunters, led by Robert Maynard, to overpower Blackbeard and his fleet. The hunters blocked the inlet of the bay where Teach’s fleet was based. Realising the ambush, Teach steered the Adventure directly to Maynard’s ship and attacked them head on. When he boarded the ship, Teach was unaware that Maynard and his men were hiding below deck to ambush. Maynard and Teach fought and eventually Teach was killed by Maynard’s crew. Teach’s body had five bullet wounds and had been stabbed 20 times. Teach’s head was hung from the mast and his crew hanged.

The flag of Blackbeard’s ship was a skeleton spearing a heart and toasting to the Devil. This was a variant of the Jolly Roger, the classic pirate flag that bore a skull and cross bones on a black flag. The flag was used during raids and to encourage trade ships to surrender without a fight. The origin of the name Jolly Roger is speculative. One theory states that the pirate flag was taken from the French privateers who flew a red flag, called the Jolie Rouge or the pretty red. French pirates made their own version of the pirate flag using a red background which was then adopted and altered by English pirates.

 

Illustration of Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Public Domain

The Women Pirates

While most pirates were men, it was not uncommon for women to join ships disguised as men to work as part of the crew. The disguise was necessary as women were considered bad luck on boats and a distraction for the men. The two most famous female pirates were Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Anne was born in Ireland, illegitimately to a lawyer and his maidservant. Anne’s father, Cormac, raised Anne as a boy and moved with her and her mom to South Carolina. Cormac had a successful career and became a wealthy land owner. Anne being very headstrong, feel in love and married James Bonny in spite of the disapproval of her father. Anne and James moved to the Bahamas for work, but Anne abandoned her husband to join a buccaneer, John Rackham also known as Calico Jack on a pirate ship. Anne had a child for Jack in Cuba and then re-joined the crew. It was at this point she met Mary Read, also raised as a man, disguised as one of the crew. They became friends. In 1720 Rackham’s ship was captured and the crew were tried and hanged, except for Anne and Mary who both claimed they were pregnant. A couple months later Mary died in jail but Anne’s father negotiated her release. She moved back to Charles Town, South Carolina where she gave birth to Rackham’s second child. She remarried and had eight more children. Anne became a respectable woman and died at the age of 84.

Today, the pirate is still one who robs ships at sea. Piracy is also the term used for appropriating intellectual property for commercial gain.

 

References

Royal Museums Grenwich https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/blackbeard-edward-teach-pirate

https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-157040