The History of the Pirates - Research Paper Example

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The History of Piracy of Outline Introduction..........................................................................................3 Piracy in the Known World..................................................................3 Privateering..........................................................................................4 Buccaneering & the Golden Age of Piracy..........................................5 The End of the Golden Age of Piracy..................................................7 The Napoleonic Wars...........................................................................8 Alliances with Governments of the Known World..............................9 Post World War II Piracy......................................................................9 Conclusion ….......................................................................................9 References.............................................................................................11 Introduction Piracy refers to a person who is involved or has a history of robbery and plunder on the sea (Cordingly, 1997 p3). Pirates are generally people who do not work for the government, are not soldiers or fighters and do not follow the laws of any nation. Their main goal is to steal and murder. Piracy is as old as the practice of traveling over the seas. This paper examines the history of piracy. It looks at how piracy existed at different points in time in history. It covers the various eras in seafaring and how piracy has existed on various popular commercial and transport routes on the oceans. Piracy in the Known World Historically, civilization has developed in lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Smith, 1977). Civilization began in Ancient Egypt. There is evidence that peoples from different parts of the world made journeys across oceans to Ancient Egypt to partake in trade and other activities. This is because there is the mention of ships and boats in Biblical texts like Genesis 49 where Jacob blesses one of his sons to control a port. This shows that ships existed for several thousands of years. Although there are few sources of piracy in that era of Ancient Egypt, there is little evidence that also shows that there was no piracy. This therefore leaves this era of history in some kind of darkness. However, Grainger (1990) states that there is evidence that piracy was quite common in the era where Ancient Greece was at its peak. He quotes an instance the Assyrian King Sennacharib who sought to fight piracy in his time (p77). In Grainger's assessment of Sennacharib's attempt to fight piracy, he notes that the effort was not so successful since there were too many limitations in resources the king had. There were also clear evidence that the pirates had so many options and could evade capture. This is because in that era, there concept of nationality was not so strong and there was little co-operation between nations. This made it difficult to handle instances where ships intercepted other ships and stole the cargo and killed people on the ship. Numerous texts cite that the Phoenicians were notorious for the practice of piracy (Alberton, 2006). These Phoenicians normally operated in the Mediterranean where they attacked ships carrying trade inputs from different parts of the Known World. However, the coming of the Roman Empire saw a single government controlling a large number of nations in the region. This led to some level of naval co-operation that sought to control the activities of pirates and similar criminals (Alberton, 2006) Privateering The Americas were discovered by Europeans in 1492. The journey over the Atlantic presented a larger volume of ocean that ships and vessels were to cover. Unlike the Mediterranean which was a small corridor of water, the huge distance between Known World and the New world made it difficult for the waters to be patrolled and piracy controlled. This led to a new age of privateering. Privateering refers to individuals who had no national allegiance or affiliations but were involved in dubious activities like raiding ships and pillaging (Mallory, 2007 p16). Due to the fact that nations in Europe and the America saw privateers as criminals and treated them as such, they had a major need – a safe haven to sell their booty and also have a peaceful existence (Sachs, 1987 p13) The periodic crackdown on pirates made them more and more interested in grouping at different parts of the New World where they could have a normal life and not be bothered by the numerous legal consequences of their actions. As the network of pirates increased, more and more people from different backgrounds like ship desserters, run-away slaves and other criminals joined in the network of pirates from different parts of the world (Mallory, 2007 p15). Buccaneering & The Golden Age of Piracy The most intense period of piracy in history was the period of the Buccaneers between 1650 and 1700 (Cordingly, 1997 p3). In the present word, the word 'buccaneer' is synonymous to piracy however this has not always been the case (Hamilton, 2007 p6). This is because 'buccaneer' was used to describe pirates in the early 17th Century in the Caribbeans. The word 'buccaneer' is coined from an Arawak Indian word which means to roast wild meat (Hamilton, 2007). The buccaneers were originally French sailors who jumped ships and deserted their crew to escape the harsh lives on the sea in the early 1600s. They were mainly working class crew members who were fed up with their crews or had issues. This implies three things. First of all the buccaneers had experience sailing. They had had several years of experience sailing over long distances and had in-depth knowledge and first hand information about the routes on the oceans. Secondly, these deserters were mainly bondmen and people discriminated against by their European nations. This therefore means that they had some kind of grudge with their countries and ships that were legally recognized. Thirdly, they had a genuine desire to live a life that was at par with the lives they knew in Europe. This is because unlike natives of other parts of the world, these Europeans knew the value of certain modern things and were always ready to acquire them and trade them for financial gains. These three factors therefore created a fertile ground that motivated the buccaneers to begin their trade of hijacking ships. Initially, the buccaneers who jumped ships fled into the forests of the Spanish island of Hispaniola now Haiti and Dominican Republic (Hamilton, 2007 p6). In order to evade capture, the buccaneer moved into the jungles of the island and lived a life in the wild. They were reputed as being ragged individuals who survived on gathering and hunting. They roasted their meat like the Arawak Indians and this was how they got the become known as 'buccaneers' which comes from the root of the Arawak Indian word which means to roast meat. With time, the buccaneers captured ships and began operating on the high seas. They were joined by runaway slaves and other criminals over the years and their numbers increased considerably (Hamilton, 2007 p6). Due to their attacks on Spanish ships, the Spanish government began to crack down on buccaneer ships and this caused them to go to the underground. Since these buccaneers were mainly of French origin, and there are records of many French rivalries and wars with Spain, the buccaneers naturally became enemies of the Spanish government. In 1655, England captured the island of Jamaica from Spain. This was also a time where England was constantly at war with the Spaniards. Spain was the most powerful nation at that time and controlled the largest stretch of territory. At that time however, the Spanish led Southern Europe was constantly at war with the northern Europeans and this had strong links to the Protestant Reformation (Elliot, 1964 p53). Due to this, there were numerous wars fought between Spain and England, France, the Dutch and several kingdoms in present-day Germany. However, the battles between England and Spain were more of proxy wars fought on the seas to control naval routes (Straddling, 1981 p58). So after the capture of Jamaica, the proximity of the island to Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic) posed a threat to English interests in the Caribbeans. This is because there was a suspicion that Spain would want to re-capture Jamaica from them. So there was the need for England to use ways and means to defend its territory. Mallory (2007) states that the English realized that the buccaneers could be used as allies in their war against the Spaniards (p16). Due to that, they encouraged buccaneer attacks on Spanish ships crossing the Atlantic. This kind of attacks can be seen as today's equivalent of terrorist attacks and it served two main purposes. First of all, it enabled the English to protect their interests in Jamaica because their ships were not attacked by the buccaneers and had safe passage across the Atlantic. On the other hands, the attacks on Spanish ships weakened Spanish control in the region and allowed England to consolidate its hold and grow its presence in the Americas. Secondly, the English support for the buccaneers enabled them to carry out their revenge on the Spaniards who had a history of arresting, tormenting and executing the buccaneers. This enabled them to settle old scores and also allowed them to have a normal and peaceful life. The English-Buccaneer alliance created a symbiotic relationship for both the English and the Buccaneers because they both able to achieve their interests with little fear of Spain, which was a common enemy. The English allowed the buccaneers to operate in the Port of Tortuga. This became the primary base for pirate ships and they were allowed to sell their booty legally with no English interference. Port Tortuga became known for buccaneers and people who were into shady and dishonest deals and businesses. Also, the main English port of Port Royal was opened to the pirates. There were no checks and control of the pirates. The raids of the buccaneers made Port Royal rich (Hamilton, 2007). The number of buccaneers increased. This is because their trade was lucrative and more and more runaway slaves and other criminals joined their ranks to create stronger and more powerful groups (or cells as they may be known today). At this time, popular pirates like Jean Laffitte, Pedro Gibert and Benito de Soto rose to fame (Hamilton, 2007). The End of the Golden Age of Piracy With time, Spanish interests in the region weakened considerably. More and more Spanish ships were attacked and their grip over the region and in international matters declined. Spain was also fighting numerous wars on different fronts against the French, Dutch and other parties around the world (Straddling, 1981). Also, internal tensions like the Castille revolution and the break-away of Portugal made it difficult for the king of Spain to continue funding the empire's war efforts in the Caribbeans. In 1670, Spain signed a peace treaty with England and hostilities between the Spaniards and English ended. Meanwhile, the occupation of the buccaneers had flourished over the years. They had recruited more and more runaway slaves and criminals into their ranks. The treaty between England and Spain was meant to seek the mutual interests of both nations in the Americas. The piracy of the buccaneers was one of the threats to the mutual interests of Spain and England in the region. So under the pressures of the treaty, the government of England criminalized piracy and this meant that the activities of the buccaneers was illegal. The government of Jamaica was then required to take action against piracy in the Caribbeans (Hamilton, 2007). In effect, a court for pirates was established at Gallows Point and arrested pirates were to be sent there, tried and if convicted, hanged. The mutual criminalization of piracy by Spain and England made life difficult for the buccaneers. Their primary activity was made illegal and also, the market for the sale of their plundered goods was non-existent. Pirates therefore had to operate in the underground. They had to hide their stolen treasures on islands and other obscure places and also live in hiding to prevent detection and arrest. In the crackdown that followed, the class of pirates recruited by the buccaneers fled up north to New Province in the Bahamas, Texas and sheltered coves in the Carolinas (Hamilton, 2007). This crackdown ended the golden age of piracy in the Caribbeans. The Napoleonic Wars The crackdown of Spain and England ended the Golden Age of piracy. Most of the pirates had to remain in hiding and they operated secretly to evade capture in most of the 1700s. After the independence of the United States and the Napoleonic wars, some weaker nations hired pirates to terrorize their opponents (Mallory, 2007). They used the pirates to intercept and destroy their enemies' vessels. This was meant to weaken their opponents. After the wars the 1820s, the privateers used in the war became redundant and turned to piracy. They used bases in Cuba and Puerto Rico as bases for their operations (Hamilton, 2007). However, the end of the war saw a vast expansion in the British navy. The British navy began to patrol the seas for illegal activities like slave ships and pirates. This affected the activity of pirates tremendously. Alliances with Governments in the New World Although the crackdown by British naval vessels sought to stop the activities of piracy, they existed in secret. In the intermittent wars that were fought between 1850 and 1920, the activities of pirates were solicited by some governments (Hamilton, 2007). Post World War II Piracy Piracy began to rise after the Second World War. Most of these pirates operated from newly established nations in Asia and Africa and in most instances, from politically unstable nations (Porterfield, 2011 p5). Currently, most of the pirate attacks are perpetrated in the seas of Southeast Asia and East Africa. In 2003, a total of 445 ships were attacked (Porterfield, 2011 p7). Jason Porter (2011) continues to state that the activity of piracy has evolved over the years. He states that in the Golden Age of Piracy, pirates operated as full-time criminals with a crew of about 2 to 3 ships. They plundered and sold and lived on the booty alone. However, in the Post World War II era, piracy is carried out by organized crime groups who capture boats, kidnap the crew and demand ransom, using various technological and negotiation tools and techniques. Conclusion Piracy involves the robbery on high seas. It has been practiced since the times of the earliest ships. It gained prominence in the various empires that grew around the Mediterranean sea. However, piracy in modern history begins with the activities of the buccaneers who were run-away sailors. The activities of the earliest buccaneers were supported by the English who used their services to defeat the Spaniards in the Caribbean in the 1600s. In this period the number of pirates increased since runaway slaves and other criminals joined the buccaneers to expand their operations. This became known as the Golden Age of Piracy After the treaty between Spain and England in 1670, the activities of pirates was made illegal and pirates arrested were hanged. This caused them to flee the Caribbeans and settle in other safe havens where they operated secretly. Pirates were engaged intermittently by nations to fight on their sides in wars. After World War II, most pirate activities were restricted to developing nations in Africa and Asia. References Alberton, F. (2006) The Legacy of Piracy Butterworth Publishing Cordingly, D. (1997) Under the Black Flag: The Romans & Reality of Life Among the Pirates Harvest Books Elliott , John H.. "Decline of Spain" 20 (1964), 52-75, http://www.jstor.org/stable/650136. (accessed September 16, 2011). Grainger, J. (1990) Hellenistic Phoenicia Oxford University Press Hamilton, J. (2007) A History of Pirates New York: ABDO Publishing Mallory, S. L. (2007) Understanding Organized Crime Jones & Bartlett Publishing Porterfield, J. (2011) Modern-Day Piracy The Rosen Group Publishing. Sachs, P (1987) The Rise of Tax Havens in the New World Fabbiozzi Press. Smith, R. (1977) Trends in World History Bantam Books. Stradling,R.A.. (1981) Europe And The Decline Of Spain. J.H. Shennan. London: George Allen & Uwin Ltd. Read More