Pirates: A Way of Life
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Pirates have been present throughout history. Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates, the buccaneers established themselves in the 1600s to ward off the Spanish and privateers were commissioned by many Nations in the 1500s and 1600s to disrupt trade against their enemies. So why did piracy flourish during what is referred to as the “Golden Age of Piracy”. Evidence shows that many factors contributed to the outburst of piracy. Motivations were high for people to join the pirates in order to escape difficult situations. The pirate way of life also increased the number of men choosing piracy. The way they governed themselves and the possibility of great riches were influential in peoples decision to join the pirate ranks. A pirates way of life was not an easy one and often out of necessity for survival. While being outcasts and outlaws the pirates created a very unique society onboard their vessels. A society that was a foreign concept of that time.
The economic structure of that time, with so many commodities on the seas and the fact that the Atlantic powers occupied land that was far from home and were unable to protect or control the sea-lanes, was the catalyst for the “Golden Age of Piracy”. These factors gave the pirates the opportunities they desired to strike back at those who had wronged them and get rich doing it. During the “Golden Age of Piracy”, thousands became pirates. They came from many different nationalities, race and ages. Not only were they diverse, they also had several reasons for turning to piracy. Some wish to escape slavery, indentured service for a crime they had committed, bad situations at home or simply out of greed. Many pirates had been doing it, legally, for years under “letters of marque” as privateers. The letters would be issued by the government and gave the privateers authorization to legally attack ships from other nations. Many of the first pirates were privateers that had victimized the Spanish and French prior to the ending of the war. The most common group of recruits had previously been employed in a sea-faring occupation, either with the Navy, slave or a merchant ship. These recruits would decide to engage in piracy to escape harsh working environments and poor living condition they experienced on these ships. “Many sought to escape the dreadful working conditions prevailing between 1716 and 1726” (Rediker, 2004, p.58). Sailors experienced a lack of food, cramped living spaces, disease, brutal discipline and low wages for the hazardous work they were doing. The only alternative was to join the pirates and “reap the benefits” of piracy. More man power to do the work, riches and some say in the operations of the ship. Many people who turned to piracy seemed to come to the conclusion that the legality and consequences of piracy did not out way the chance to leave the oppressive life aboard the merchant, slave and naval ships. The final motivational factor was revenge. The buccaneers sought revenge against the Spanish for attempting to run them off their land and killing the wild herds which the survived on. The privateers sought revenge as well. They were angered that the nations that granted them their “letters of marque” had now revoked them and instructed them to stop. Finally, the sailors look to revenge the poor treatment they had experienced from their captains on their respective vessels as well as against the governments that they felt led to this treatment.
The pirates had the difficult task of creating a society from a multi-cultural, racially diverse and social group of people. They did this by following a code. This code was originally created by the buccaneers to manage their ships. The pirates adopted these rules, which were also called articles. The code gave the pirates a set of rules and rights under which they operated. It was developed with many contributing factors. The majority of men had come from occupations that were less than desirable and where one man, the captain, made all the decisions and did not care about their sailors lives or what they had to say. They were victimized by low wages, lack of food, lack of rights and brutal discipline. To guard against this type of environment, the code ensured that every man had a vote on anything that was to take place. “Every man has a vote in affairs of moment” (Defoe, 1999, p. 211). They voted on what to do with captured vessels and men, where they should sail and who the captain and officers would be. Furthermore