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Centres of Piracy
Topic Started: Jul 20 2009, 11:48 PM (4 Views)
Aurelius
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There are various ports where pirates are welcome throughout this time and others where they are banned (or hanged, imprisoned, enslaved, blown out of the water, etc.). The ports' attitudes shift as the politics of the age shift. Throughout the entire era, only the bases of the Barbary pirates remain constant – although they suffer from periodic Christian attacks. They are not open to freelance Christian pirates; conversion and agreement to work for the local Bey are necessary prerequisites for safe harbour.

Otherwise, until 1720, pirates always have a safe port - but this might not be the same port they left from. Starting in the 1690s, pirate voyages begin to last longer, and by this time treaties and wars are growing shorter between nations. A pirate ship that leaves an English port to plunder the Spanish might find itself in trouble for attacking England's new ally when it returns! There is always somewhere to go, though.

Tortuga
Tortuga is a small island off Hispaniola. The Spanish claimed it, of course - they claimed all lands in the New World - but never occupied it. After they began to persecute the buccaneers in Hispaniola, Tortuga was used as a buccaneer base and was colonized by the French government. It is rocky and has a good, easily defensible harbour.
The first settler of influence was a man named La Vasseur, an engineer who helped defend La Rochelle from Richelieu's attacks. Utterly paranoid and eventually megalomaniacal, he directed the building of a huge fortress on top of the hill overlooking the harbour. He then proclaimed himself king and was promptly murdered by his subjects. The fortress was magnificent, though. The Spanish attacked Tortuga a few times and took it more than once, but never kept it long - they had too few troops and far more valuable islands to defend. The French and their buccaneer friends kept returning, and it was used as a buccaneer base as long as the buccaneers existed. It had no great drinking and gambling district like Port Royal, but it was nonetheless a safe harbour for a buccaneer to get supplies, walk unmolested, and speak French - a welcome relief for French buccaneers who spent too much time in Port Royal. There were taverns and brothels, of course, but truly outrageous behaviour was discouraged by the governor, who had a fair bit of power. Not only was the harbor's openness dependent on the governor's good will, but he had a strong fortress to live in . . .

The Wickedest City on Earth: Port Royal
From 1656 to 1671, Port Royal, Jamaica was the capital of the buccaneers. Many still lived on Tortuga, and there was much passage between the two islands. England had "conquered" Jamaica in 1655 (it was not heavily defended) when their attack on Hispaniola failed. Jamaica was not recognized as an English colony by Spain, and there was always the threat of a Spanish invasion. The English navy was busy elsewhere, however, so the governor and major plantation owners of Jamaica invited buccaneers to live there and even offered letters of marque to fight the Spanish. No further word was needed, and Port Royal was soon swarming with buccaneers. Sugar cane was the major crop, and the plantation owners were largely upper-class Englishmen trying to make a fortune quickly and retire wealthy to England. They didn't mix well with the rough buccaneers, but tolerated them for their military value. Port Royal was divided into a buccaneer quarter and a genteel quarter, the latter being the smaller. The buccaneers didn't bother the "toffs" much, except with their noise. The elected leaders of the buccaneers were usually well-bred, literate men, who spent an equal amount of time in both quarters. For the most part, relations went smoothly. Both factions hated and feared the Spanish, and both loved Spanish silver and gold.
The pirates' quarter of Port Royal became one of the most infamous cities in the world. Every manner of sensual pleasure was available to those with money. Brothels, gambling houses, and taverns lined the streets for blocks. Many people quoted gloomy Biblical prophesies and mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah as precedents, but the ribald life went on. Buccaneers loved Port Royal; they could refit their ships, take on new crew, and carouse in peace.
Three forts were built, and cannon captured from the Spanish lined their walls. The planters avoided the pirates' quarter, but didn't try to stop any of the goings on. Often Henry Morgan would arrive in Port Royal flushed with victory from a daring raid. He would set a huge cask of Spanish wine in the middle of the street and commandeer all who passed to stop and have a drink with him. Victory celebrations in the streets could last for days. Spain and England were allied against France in 1671, and the buccaneers became personae non grata. They were still able to slip into Port Royal in small groups for entertainment, but no longer did they have the run of the town. The wildness of Port Royal continued but at a lesser pace. Sailors from merchant and navy ships, and those pirates who missed the action enough to risk capture, kept it alive. In 1692, a terrible earthquake destroyed Port Royal, and "the wickedest city on earth" ceased to exist. Many ministers seized on this as proof of God's vengeance, and sermons against piracy and wild living thundered out of many pulpits. In far away New England, Cotton Mather preached against the evils of piracy, citing Port Royal as an example of what would happen to Boston if the pirates were allowed to stay. It was years before Boston closed its ports to pirates, though, and years more before pirates ceased to talk about the wonders of Port Royal.

St. Mary's, Madagascar
After the Caribbean became unprofitable and dangerous, pirates moved to Madagascar. The island was perfect for pirate needs. It was claimed by no European country (no government!). It was large (four times the size of Britain), with thousands of hidden coves to careen in. It was also relatively close to the Red Sea and Malabar Coast, where rich ships were to be found. It was rich in fresh produce and meat and inhabited by semi-friendly natives. The native Madagascans warred constantly among themselves, and pirates were welcomed as powerful allies. Many pirates enjoyed this game of petty warfare, and many had native wives and slaves captured from the enemy. Some even set themselves up as kings.
St. Mary's was an island off the coast of Madagascar, with an excellent harbour. There was a trading post there, founded by an English pirate/merchant. His name was Adam Baldridge. He started as a pirate, but had no love for the sea. He settled in Madagascar early in his career, and found it more to his liking to provide services for other pirates. He built a fort, a huge warehouse, a few inns and taverns, and a general store – where anything could be bought. Baldridge didn't try to enforce any rules, and so was very popular with the pirates, who behaved themselves well with him. His diary reveals that in eight years of dealing with pirates, he was never robbed or swindled! He gave fair prices for stolen merchandise (about one-tenth value, which is good for a fence in the middle of nowhere), and offered cheap warehouse rates for those who preferred to sail to America and try for more money.
He kept a few fast sloops out to look for non-pirate ships. When powerful East Indiamen were spotted, the sloops would warn the pirates in time to leave the area. Some would sail the ships to nearby hidden coves and the bulk of the men would simply melt into the jungle. The Indies merchantmen, most of whom carried papers authorizing them to capture pirates, never found any pirates in St. Mary's, but found wonderful trading bargains.
Every now and then a ship from the American colonies would arrive to trade. They would bring beer, wine, rum, tar, sulphur, medicine, and other ship supplies. The pirates would rejoice and bring their best goods out of Baldridge's warehouse, vying with each other to get the first keg. There is no record of pirates stealing from each other's warehouse booty! St. Mary's was a place of wild times where gambling and drinking went on all night and the neighbours didn't complain. There were no guards, but the society policed itself. There might be a pirate ship in at any time, often looking for crew. Sometimes there would be many ships, or there might be no callers for months at a time. Pirates would stay for months, leaving a ship they were tired of, and then sign on a different ship when life on land got boring or their money was all spent. There was always a ready crew for any adventure that would bring in loot, and they'd all work for shares of the promised plunder.

Libertatia, Madagascar
Libertatia was either an amazing experiment in democracy, or a myth created by one man. Captain Charles Johnson is our only source for this story. Thomas Tew was well known; nothing else in the story is verifiable. According to Johnson, Libertatia was founded about 1690 by a French captain, Misson, and an Italian pirate priest, Signer Caraccioli - their first names are unknown. Misson and Caraccioli apparently had amazing persuasive abilities, for they convinced their crew to rob without offering their victims any violence and not to curse. Any slaves they encountered they freed, and they behaved with utmost courtesy to all. They sailed under a white flag with Liberte written on it. Eventually, they had enough loot to settle down, so they went to Madagascar. Here they married native women and built a new town, Libertatia. There was no private property in Libertatia; all money was owned in common.
They built ships and a fort and houses with no fences. Slavery was illegal. They were joined by Dutch, Portuguese, American, and English pirates, all of whom agreed to live by the laws of Libertatia. Thomas Tew was the most influential newcomer, so much so that he is credited with much of the founding of the town. Misson, Caraccioli, and Tew were elected "chancellors" of Libertatia for a three-year term. The town served as a base for pirate operations for a few years before disaster struck. Tew's ship was wrecked in a storm, and he wasn't able to get back to Libertatia for a few months.

The American Colonies
Pirates in the 17th and 18th centurieshave often been associated with the British colonies in North America. There is a good reason for this - they were encouraged by the colonials for many years. England passed the Navigation Act in 1662, which allowed only English ships to transport goods to or from England or its colonies. English ship-owners promptly jacked up their cargo rates and the colonials complained - to no end.
So when pirates showed up offering goods at a quarter of the cost, they were welcomed in most colonies (though, of course, not by everybody). Boston, New York, Newport, Philadelphia, New Burn, and other ports became "free ports" for pirates - places where they could walk the streets in utter safety, repair ships and buy supplies as if they were honest men. Merchants and judges even offered financial backing to pirates, and many fortunes were made this way. There was no legal way to get one's money back, if the pirates didn't return. Yet, there are very few cases of people losing money on a pirate venture. Captain Kidd's voyage (well financed by government officials and bankers) comes to mind as the only real money-loser.
The governors of these colonies in the 1690s were especially corrupt (except for Virginia, which was hostile to all pirates). Bribes were so common as to be handled in public, and honest citizens who complained were curtly shown to the door. Boston even went so far as to try to lure pirates from Newport, much as large cities today vie for factories and conventions! It is true that Massachusetts was largely Puritan, and the famous minister Cotton Mather railed bitterly against the pirates. Boston itself had grown more cosmopolitan than the rest of Massachusetts by this time, however, and Cotton Mather railed against so many things that many people ignored him. Money talked louder and more clearly to most Bostonians and other colonists. An honest governor arrived in New York in 1698, and the city became closed to pirates. In 1699, Virginia's governor personally pursued and captured a pirate vessel by offering the navy sailors gold out of his own pocket to fight. Captain Kidd's trial in 1700-1701 brought to light the depths of the corruption, and a purge was soon underway. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) saved most pirates by legalizing them. Letters of marque were issued to fight and loot the Spanish and French. After the war, only North Carolina was still open to pirates, and that's where Blackboard had his lair. By 1719, the colonies were as hostile to pirates as was all of Europe.
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