"Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me"
Walt Disney, 1967,
There once was a mythical time when brave and dangerous pirates sailed the seas in search of both fortune and fame. In this time heroic villains rose to fame, figures like Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Captain Avery, Captain Morgan and others became household names. They were the famous anti-heroes of their time, much like rock stars today. There was also a historical period from roughly 1680 - 1730 when large numbers of Anglo-American mariners were engaged in piracy and privateering, often against Spanish or other targets of opportunity in the
In this paper I will trace a number of works of history produced over the last 300 years to examine how historians approach to this subject has changed over the years. I will attempt to answer two questions. Why did the Golden Age of Piracy exist, and how have historians studied this period over time? Throughout this paper, I will use the terms piracy and privateering. Piracy was the outlaw practice of preying on merchant ships and raiding coastal towns for profit. Privateering consisted of the same actions, but they were sanctioned by a government to be conducted against an enemy during war. Many mariners engaged in both activities, during times of war, they were legitimate naval axillaries and if captures were treated as prisoners of war. In times of peace, they were outlaws and if captured were treated as criminals. There is another distinction that sometimes existed between the two. Privateers were often, but not always, commercial ventures, financed by merchants and investors, with captains that worked for the ship owner. Pirates were often, but not always, mariner subalterns who had illegally obtained their ship and the captains were selected by the crew, and could be replaced at any time with a majority vote.
As historian Michel-Rolph Trouillot noted, it is not just historians who write history, movies, novels, television and the popular press all greatly influence what the public knows about history.[i] The historiography of this period is the story of a struggle between pop culture and scholars to understand this era. It is very telling to note that the Walt Disney exhibit Pirates of the Caribbean has been one of the most popular attractions at
The Golden Age
One could ague that as long as goods have been transported by sea, there have been pirates. The accent Greek historian Herodotus, in his history of the Persian wars, starts with a tale of piracy.[ii] And we know that pirates exist today in parts of
Like most historical phenomenon, it was the convergence of a number of factors that came together to make this period and the myth that shrouds it. One factor was the high level of legitimacy that privateering and piracy had in
Another key background issue was the expansion and competition between European empires. Ever since Christopher Columbus, the Spanish had the strongest hold on the wealth of the Caribbean,
With this backdrop of legitimacy of piracy and privateering in English society, and the competition to build national wealth and empires, there were several forces that converged in the late 17th Century that built both the myth and reality of the Golden Age. First was the book that cast the image of the swashbuckling pirate that is still with us today. The book was The Buccaneers of America by John Esqemeling, published in Dutch in 1678, in Spanish in 1681 and in English in 1684. Esquemeling presents this book as a first hand account of the daring deeds of French, Dutch and English pirates raiding against Spanish ships and colonies in the Caribbean. This book was very popular at the time and elevated Captain Morgan and others to hero status in
While religious competition between
In addition to a new religious legitimacy for piracy that came out to the English Civil War, I think the radical egalitarianism that was part of the Roundhead movement was put to practice aboard pirate ships. I have not found any sources that make this connection, but it seems the only logical explanation for the radical egalitarianism that existed among many pirate crews of this time. Nearly 100 years before the American and French Revolutions, experiments in egalitarian democracy were being carried out on the decks of hundreds of pirate ships. It was common aboard pirate ships to have the crew elect the captain and make most decisions outside of combat situations with majority vote. Under such governance, captains often had few rights or perk beyond that of a common crewman, and could be replaced at any time with a vote.[vi]
Another factor that pushed many patriot privateers into outlaw piracy was the peace treaties between
While different authors use slightly different dates for the start of this period, from Alexander Winston's 1665 to Marcus Rediker's 1716. I think the factors of national competition, religious competition, egalitarian ideology, pop culture, and the end of sanctioned war came together in the period from 1684-1697 to create what has became known as the Golden Age of Piracy.
The end of this Golden Age of Anglo-American piracy in the
I believe that much of the romantic myth of pirates that is central to this Golden Age is connected to the
Historical Approaches to the Study of Piracies Golden Age
It is ironic that although radical egalitarianism was practiced on many pirate ships, so much of the historical work on the subject falls into the great man model of history. From John Esquemeling seminal work in 1678 until the late 20th Century, most of the scholarly and popular books on the subject have focused almost exclusively on the role of heroic ship captains. John Esqemeling's 1678 work recorded the first generation of captains with a particular focus on Henry Morgan, Charles Johnson's 1724 work recorded the deeds of the next generation of pirate captains including, William Kidd, Blackbeard, Woodes Rogers and others. These two books really defined the era and have been used as key sources for most scholarly and popular works written on the subject since. As a result, many of the books and articles on pirates of this period essentially retell the same stories that Esquemeling and Johnson initially recorded. This is true of Alexander Winston's book No Man Knows My Grave published in 1969, and Robert Richie's Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates published in 1986. This does not mean that these two authors and others have not added to the historical understanding of this era, and brought in other sources. They have. My point is just that they do not venture far from the safe harbor of great man theory interpretation of history (do you like the nautical metaphor?). One of the problems with this historical approach is that it blurs the distinction between the outlaw ships ruled more by the majority vote of the crew than their captains, and the semi-legitimate ships financed by merchants and run with the iron fisted hierarchy of merchant ship of that day. This is a very important distinction, and one that is completely lost in focusing solely on the captains. Blackbeard was an outlaw pirate who was elected by his crews. Henry Morgan and William Kidd started out as rouge pirate captains elected by their crews. Both suffered the reversal of having their command taken away from them by dissatisfied crews, and later were given command of other ships by wealthy and politically connected government and merchant interests.
Another historical approach can be seen in William Thomas Morgan's article "The British West Indies during King William's War (1689 - 97)" which was published in the Journal of Modern History in 1930. Morgan takes a military historical approach and focused on the pirates and privateers as naval axillaries to the British Navy. Morgan sees the geo-political forces of empire building as the engine of history and puts a great focus on actual naval combat and the numbers of ships, cannons etc. engaged in these battles.
The two most compelling and intellectually challenging works I have examined were both written by Marcus Rediker, they are "Under the Banner of King Death: The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates, 1716 to 1726" published in William and Mary Quarterly in 1981, and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea published in 1987. Rediker writes 'bottom up' histories that focus on the social conditions that the common mariner worked under. Moving far beyond Esquemeling and Johnson as sources, Rediker uses linguistics, sociology, economics, anthropology and ethnography to paint a picture of the conditions that sailors, commonly known as Jack Tar, lived under. This approach is very similar to the French Annals historians, and is striking because it is such a radical departure from what came before. With Rediker, history is not driven by the deeds of great men, but by the social and economic forces that lead the lowest and most oppressed class of workers to revolt against dictatorial merchant captains and seek the relative freedom of outlaw piracy. Rediker employs both a social and Marxist historical perspectives. All romanticism is striped away in the stark and gritty details of life aboard early 18th Century ships, and the oppressive social order that was common on merchant and naval vessels. Using a method similar to that of Larry Levin, Rediker examines sea shanties as one type of source to gain insights into a group of workers that is not well documented. Rediker sees the attraction of piracy as a workers revolt against the brutal and oppressive working conditions of life on a merchant ship. The egalitarianism that was so prevalent on pirate ships is portrayed as a result of a workers revolt.
A quite unique historical perspective on pirates is given by Hans Turley in his book Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality, and the Masculine Identity published in 1999. Turley studies the popular myth of pirates, both fact and fiction and draws connections between society's fascination with pirates as economic and social transgressors and the scorned position in society of sodomites. Turley states, "I shall argue, then, that English society's dialectic of fear and admiration of the pirate indicates a conflict between the pirate's representation as legal or economic criminal and his portrayal as a literary antihero. More broadly, this dialectic is a conflict between normative sexuality - private domesticity - and sexually deviant subjectivity."[xi] Turley tries to make the point that because pirates broke with the cultural, legal and economic norms of the day, and because they lived almost exclusively in the company of similar men, that they were most likely homosexual, and further that the popular fascination with pirates, is a hidden fascination with homosexuality.
While Turley certainly brings an original and different perspective to the study of Anglo-American piracy, I think he failed in a number of ways to add much to the historical discourse. First, with pirate homosexuality as a central theme, he fails to offer even one source of historical documentation to support this central theme. While pirate homosexuality seems very plausible, without proof, the central premise of his book falls apart. Secondly, he does not use a wide variety of sources. For historical sources he rests heavily on Charles Johnson's General History of Pyrates, from 1724, and the various novels of Daniel Defoe including, King of Pyrates, Robinson Crusoe, Moll
Although none of the books or articles examined in this paper explore these theories or approaches to history, I believe the study of piracy would benefit form further study in the following areas: gender history, piracy as a means of social mobility, and an intellectual history of the origins of radical egalitarianism as practiced on pirate ships.
While Turley explored the hyper-masculine image of the pirate, he did not look at it through the lens of gender history. I think historians Joan Scott or Ana Alonso would have seen the early 18th Century mariner as the least powerful group in society, a group that cultivated a hyper-masculine persona to gain power and prestige in society. This strategy of using gender identity to gain status in society worked. Pirates became folk heroes at the time. They also perpetuated folklore about an outlaw code of honor that protected women such as how "Black Bart" Roberts would protect that chastity of his women prisoners.[xii] This is very similar to how another lower class population of men gained social standing through the use of a hyper-masculine code of honor in Ana Alonso's book Thread of Blood about the Chihuahuan frontier.
Another possible historical approach would be piracy as a means of social mobility in the late 17th and early 18th Centuries. During a time of rigid social structure, some common mariners were able to use both the popular image of piracy and the wealth potential to move from the lowest rungs of society to the highest. Henry Morgan was able to go from an outlaw pirate to being knighted and made Governor of Jamaica. William Kidd went from lower class mariner, to pirate, to privateer, to being both wealthy and politically connected at the highest levels in the Tory Party in
The last and for me, the most interesting historical approach that I would like to see applied to this subject, is an intellectual history of the democratic social order that existed on many pirate ship of this time. It is fascinating that 100 years before the American and French Revolutions, the lowest social class in Anglo-American society was setting up entirely new and radical social orders on board these outlaw ships. Not only did they elect their captains, but also they drew up articles at the beginning of the voyage that defined the social contract that all the sailors agreed to abide. They used the command structure of the captain only when engaged in battle, and for most other decisions were ruled be majority vote. They also distributed the loot from their raiding very evenly. I strongly suspect that these ideas must have come from the egalitarian ideology of the Roundheads during the English Civil War, but I do not have any proof. This intellectual history is what I was hoping to find when I selected the Golden Age of piracy as the subject for this historiographic essay. I hope someone will fill in this missing piece of history, through further research.
Pirates reside in a mystical place in Anglo-American history. It is often hard to separate fact from fiction, since so much fiction has been written about this subject and even some of the early sources of "facts" are questionable in their accuracy. Yet what we do know, or think we know, is intriguing to say the least. Why mariners in the bottom rungs of society would step outside the law and existing social structure and risk execution if caught is fascinating. It is even more fascinating that through their actions they became the anti-heroes of their time and our. I do not fully understand why this period of piracy is such an important part of our society even today. But I fully admit, that I am and have always been intrigued and drawn to both the myth and reality of Anglo-American pirates of the Golden Age.
Mariner Fact
Thus after Dangers past, now safe and well
The Story to our Friends we often tell,
And they to Recompense us for our Tale
Do Strive to Drown us in a Cup of Ale.
"The Third Journal of Jeremy Roch" (1699)
Mariner Fiction
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We extort, we pilfer we filch and sack
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Maraud and embezzle and even high-jack
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We kindel and char inflame and ignite
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
We burn up the city we're really a fright
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
We're rascals, scoundrels villains and knaves
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
We're devils and black sheep - really bad eggs
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We're beggars and blighters and ne'er-do-well cads
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Aye, but we'er loved by our mommies and dads
Drink up me hearties, yo ho
Disneyland's Pirates of the
End Notes
[1] Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past ( Boston: Beacon Press, 1995) pg. 21
[1] Robert Ritchie, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986), pg.4
[1] Alexander Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, ( Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1969) pg. 3
[1] Ibid, pg. 9-13
[1] William Thomas Morgan, "The British West Indies during King William's War (1689-97), The Journal of Modern History, (vol. 2, issue 3, 1930) pg. 379
[1] Marcus Rediker, 'Under the Banner of King Death: The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates 1716-1726," William and Mary Quarterly, (vol. 38, issue 2, 1981) pg. 209
[1] Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the
[1] Ibid, pg.58
[1] Robert Ritchie, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986) pg. 26
[1] Ibid, pg. 83
[1] Hans Turley, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality, and Masculine Identity, (New York: New York University Press, 1999), pg. 75
[1] Alexander Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, ( Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1969) pg. 36
Bibliography
Esquemeling, John, Buccaneers of
Johnson, Capt. Charles, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates,
Morgan, William Thomas, "The British West Indies during King William's War (1689-97), The Journal of Modern History, vol. 2, issue 3, 1930
Rediker, Marcus, "Under the Banner of King Death: The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates, 1716 - 1726, William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 38, Issue 2, April 1981
Rediker, Marcus, Between the Devil and the Deep
Ritchie, Robert, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates,
Turley, Hans, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality, and Masculine Identity,
Winston, Alexander, No Man Knows My Grave,
[i] Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past ( Boston: Beacon Press, 1995) pg. 21
[ii] Robert Ritchie, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986), pg.4
[iii] Alexander Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, ( Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1969) pg. 3
[iv] Ibid, pg. 9-13
[v] William Thomas Morgan, "The British West Indies during King William's War (1689-97), The Journal of Modern History, (vol. 2, issue 3, 1930) pg. 379
[vi] Marcus Rediker, 'Under the Banner of King Death: The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates 1716-1726," William and Mary Quarterly, (vol. 38, issue 2, 1981) pg. 209
[vii] Marcus Rediker, Between the Devil and the
[viii] Ibid, pg.58
[ix] Robert Ritchie, Captain Kidd and the War against the Pirates, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986) pg. 26
[x] Ibid, pg. 83
[xi] Hans Turley, Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash: Piracy, Sexuality, and Masculine Identity, (New York: New York University Press, 1999), pg. 75
[xii] Alexander Winston, No Man Knows My Grave, ( Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1969) pg. 36
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