The Golden Age of Piracy and the British Contribution to its Development

The Golden Age of Piracy and the British Contribution to its Development
Author: Martin Mares
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 89
Release: 2019-12-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 334608101X

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2015 in the subject History Europe - Other Countries - Modern Times, Absolutism, Industrialization, grade: A, University College London, language: English, abstract: This work analyses the public perception of the role of privateers and their transition to pirates and examines both negative and positive outcomes in various areas like diplomacy, international trade, legal, racial and gender issues. The entire topic is examined through various cases of pirates including Bartholomew Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read or Henry Avery as well as historical records including letters, trials and pamphlets. Further, this essay discusses an interesting development of piracy from state-funded expeditions into utterly illegal activity driven by various reasons. Particularly the transition between legal, semi-legal and illicit separates England and Great Britain (from 1707 onwards) from other colonial powers such as France, Spain or Dutch. Despite the fact that they all issued privateering licenses and, therefore they had to face similar problems connected to privateering, the outburst of piracy in the case of England was so dangerous that England (Great Britain) during the late 17th and early 18th century was called a "nation of pirates". Hence, this work analyses both legal and practical actions against pirates in British colonies and their effectiveness after 1715. The last part of this essay is dedicated to piracy regarding an alternative way of life for disadvantaged social groups in the 17th and 18th century and contemporary negative or positive portrayal of piracy.

The Golden Age of Piracy

The Golden Age of Piracy
Author: David Head
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2018-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0820353272

Twelve authors shed new light on the true history and enduring mythology of seventeenth– and eighteenth–century pirates in this anthology of scholarly essays. The twelve entries in The Golden Age of Piracy discuss why pirates thrived in the seas of the New World, how pirates operated their plundering ventures, how governments battled piracy, and when and why piracy declined. Separating Hollywood myth from historical fact, these essays bring the real pirates of the Caribbean to life with a level of rigor and insight rarely applied to the subject. The Golden Age of Piracy also delves into the enduring status of pirates as pop culture icons. Audiences have devoured stories about cutthroats such as Blackbeard and Henry Morgan since before Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island. By looking at the ideas of gender and sexuality surrounding pirate stories, the renewed interest in hunting for pirate treasure, and the construction of pirate myths, the contributing authors tell a new story about the dangerous men, and a few dangerous women, who terrorized the high seas. Contributors: Douglas R. Burgess, Guy Chet, John A. Coakley, Carolyn Eastman, Adam Jortner, Peter T. Leeson, Margarette Lincoln, Virginia W. Lunsford, Kevin P. McDonald, Carla Gardina Pestana, Matthew Taylor Raffety, and David Wilson.

Suppressing Piracy in the Early Eighteenth Century

Suppressing Piracy in the Early Eighteenth Century
Author: David Wilson
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2021
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783275952

This book charts the surge and decline in piracy in the early eighteenth century (the so-called "Golden Age" of piracy), exploring the ways in which pirates encountered, obstructed, and antagonised the diverse participants of the British empire in the Caribbean, North America, Africa, and the Indian Ocean. The book's primary focus is on how anti-piracy campaigns were constructed as a result of the negotiations, conflicts, and individual undertakings of different imperial actors operating in the commercial and imperial hub of London; maritime communities throughout the British Atlantic; trading outposts in West Africa and India; and marginal and contested zones such as the Bahamas, Madagascar, and the Bay Islands. It argues that Britain and its empire was not a strong centralised imperial state; that the British imperial administration and the Royal Navy did not have the resources to mount a state-led, empire-wide war against piracy following the sharp increase in piratical attacks after 1716; and that it was only through manifold activities taking place in different colonial centres with varied colonial arrangements, economic strengths, and access to resources for maritime defence - which was often shaped by competing and contradictory interests - that Atlantic piracy was gradually discouraged, although not eradicated, by the mid-1720s.

Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740

Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740
Author: Mark G. Hanna
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2015-10-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469617951

Analyzing the rise and subsequent fall of international piracy from the perspective of colonial hinterlands, Mark G. Hanna explores the often overt support of sea marauders in maritime communities from the inception of England's burgeoning empire in the 1570s to its administrative consolidation by the 1740s. Although traditionally depicted as swashbuckling adventurers on the high seas, pirates played a crucial role on land. Far from a hindrance to trade, their enterprises contributed to commercial development and to the economic infrastructure of port towns. English piracy and unregulated privateering flourished in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean because of merchant elites' active support in the North American colonies. Sea marauders represented a real as well as a symbolic challenge to legal and commercial policies formulated by distant and ineffectual administrative bodies that undermined the financial prosperity and defense of the colonies. Departing from previous understandings of deep-sea marauding, this study reveals the full scope of pirates' activities in relation to the landed communities that they serviced and their impact on patterns of development that formed early America and the British Empire.

British Pirates and Society, 1680-1730

British Pirates and Society, 1680-1730
Author: Dr Margarette Lincoln
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2014-11-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472429958

This book shows how pirates were portrayed in their own time, in trial reports, popular prints, novels, legal documents, sermons, ballads and newspaper accounts. It examines how attitudes towards them changed with Britain’s growing imperial power, exploring the interface between political ambition and personal greed, between civil liberties and the power of the state. It throws light on contemporary ideals of leadership and masculinity - some pirate voyages qualifying as feats of seamanship and endurance. Unusually, it also gives insights into the domestic life of pirates and investigates the experiences of women whose husbands turned pirate or were captured for piracy. Pirate voyages contributed to British understanding of trans-oceanic navigation, patterns of trade and different peoples in remote parts of the world. This knowledge advanced imperial expansion and British control of trade routes, which helps to explain why contemporary attitudes towards piracy were often ambivalent. This is an engaging study of vested interests and conflicting ideologies. It offers comparisons with our experience of piracy today and shows how the historic representation of pirate behaviour can illuminate other modern preoccupations, including gang culture.

Empire of Blue Water

Empire of Blue Water
Author: Stephan Talty
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2007-04-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307382753

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Talty’s vigorous history of seventeenth-century pirates of the Caribbean [is] a pleasure to read from bow to stern.”—Entertainment Weekly “In Stephan Talty’s hands, the brilliant Captain Morgan, wicked and cutthroat though he was, proves an irresistible hero. . . . A thrilling and fascinating adventure.”—Caroline Alexander, author of The Endurance and The Bounty The passion and violence of the age of exploration and empire come to vivid life in this story of the legendary pirate who took on the greatest military power on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades. Awash with bloody battles, political intrigues, natural disaster, and a cast of characters more compelling, bizarre, and memorable than any found in a Hollywood swashbuckler, Empire of Blue Water brilliantly re-creates the life and times of Henry Morgan and the real pirates of the Caribbean.

Raiders and Rebels

Raiders and Rebels
Author: Frank Sherry
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 638
Release: 2008-08-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 0061982652

I he most authoritative history of piracy, Frank Sherry's rich and colorful account reveals the rise and fall of the real "raiders and rebels" who terrorized the seas. From 1692 to 1725 pirates sailed the oceans of the world, plundering ships laden with the riches of India, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Often portrayed as larger-than-life characters, these outlaw figures and their bloodthirsty exploits have long been immortalized in fiction and film. But beneath the legends is the true story of these brigands—often common men and women escaping the social and economic restrictions of 18th-century Europe and America. Their activities threatened the beginnings of world trade and jeopardized the security of empires. And together, the author argues, they fashioned a surprisingly democratic society powerful enough to defy the world.

Pirates of Empire

Pirates of Empire
Author: Stefan Eklöf Amirell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2019-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108484212

This comparative study of piracy and maritime violence provides a fresh understanding of European overseas expansion and colonisation in Asia. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Why We Love Pirates

Why We Love Pirates
Author: Rebecca Simon
Publisher: Mango Media Inc.
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2020-11-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 164250338X

A historian presents “an excellent guide to how pirates became the outlaw celebrities of the high seas” (Greg Jenner, host of the You’re Dead to Me podcast). During his life and even after his death, Captain William Kidd’s name was well known in England and the American colonies. He was infamous for the very crime for which he was hanged, piracy. In this book, historian Rebecca Simon dives into the details of the two-year manhunt for Captain Kidd and the events that ensued. Captain Kidd was hanged in 1701, followed by a massive British-led hunt for all pirates during a period known as the Golden Age of Piracy. Ironically, public executions only increased the popularity of pirates. And, because the American colonies relied on pirates for smuggled goods such as spices, wines, and silks, pirates tended to be protected from capture. This is the story of how pirates became popularly viewed as “Robin Hoods of the Sea”—and how these historical events were pivotal in creating the portrayal of pirates as we know them today. “Only someone who has lived in the shadows chasing faded pirates for an age, and is blessed with creativity, can pull off a book of this high caliber.” —Wreck Watch Magazine

Pirates

Pirates
Author: David Cordingly
Publisher:
Total Pages: 128
Release: 1992
Genre: Pirates
ISBN: 9781855851306