Pirates and Sailors; A Deeper Look Into The Unknown
A DEEPER LOOK INTO PIRATES & SAILORS
No Peace Beyond The Line
In 1559, a treaty signed at Cateau-Cambresis represented "no peace beyond the line" between both France and Spain. It then gave implication that whatever application of destruction occurred beyond the Treaty of Tordesillas would be an acceptable act of violence, making the Americas and the Caribbean the frontier zone of colonial violence.
THE BLACK LEGEND
Created King Phillip II of Spain
The Black Legend serves as an manipulation of colonial violence based on the ideals of a Protestant reformation, ideological cleansing, and justification for commerce through expeditions. It also included the use of piratical force in order to maintain trade within foreign affairs.
Throughout the creation of enslavement and domination of invaded colonies, the use of liberation from impure lifestyle allowed for the English and Spanish to justify numerous massacres on indigenous populations in Hispaniola and South America. Although the English and Spanish had the common element of domination and destruction, it was only after indigenous natives converted to Spanish Catholicism would they then be forced to join the English ideals of Protestantism by force.
THE SEA DOGS, BUCCANEERS, AND PIRATES
AND HOW THEY FORMED THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY (1558-1726)
Generally, when we think of pirates we often assume they lived similar to whats depicted on the big screen. We have preconceived ideas of who pirates are, but understanding the different categories of seafarers is critical when observing the difference piratical raids, lifestyle, and governmental ties to each voyage.
One of the most iconic Sea Dogs was John Hawkins because he had marked the beginning of an era in which we see an influence in piratical behavior excused by the English crown.The Sea Dogs are best understood as the rouge, independent, adventurers who constantly interfered within the Spanish empire. The slave trade was the most expensive export due to its economic prosperity that positively influenced Spain's economy. A raid on slave ships and trade within the Spanish Empire lead to excessive violence between the pirates and the Spanish.
English Slave Trader, Naval Commander, Privateer, Merchant, and Administrator
John Hawkins (1532-1595)
THE BUCCANEERS
1603-1714
Starting with the Stuart Dynasty in the Spanish Caribbean, more state-sponsored attacks are justified in the name of imperial expansion. The most iconic Buccaneer was Captain Morgan (1655-1714), as he was driven by the hatred of Catholic Spain, similar to the Protestant ideology of erasing Catholicism from Hispaniola and South America. In doing so, he had permission by Queen Elizabeth to attack and deploy reins of terror upon Spanish export ships, often seizing slaves and commodities.
BLACK FLAG PIRACY
The Villains of All Nations (1714-1726)
Sailing under a new flag, often referred to as the "Jolly Roger," pirates created a civilized law code that was to be respected and followed while ashore. Collectively, sailors would select the mate that they felt was the most honest, portrayed the best military strategy, and the most charisma to represent the Black Flag pirates. It was common for raids to occur on all shipping trades, rather than one particular nation.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATIONS
Works Cited
Denver Brunsman, "The Knowles Atlantic Impressment Riots of the 1740s," Early American Studies 5.2
(2007) 324-366 [find in library or library’s electronic journals data base].
David Cordingly, Women Sailors and Sailors' Women: An Untold Maritime History (New York: Random
House Trade Paperbacks, 2001)
John Donoghue, review of Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570–1740 by Mark
G. Hanna in The English Historical Review vol. 132, no. 559 (2017), 1597-1599.
Carolyn Eastman, “Shivering Timbers: Sexing Up the Pirates in Early Modern Print Culture,”
Common-Place vol. 1, no. 10 (2009) [use this link: http://www.common-place-archives.org/vol-
10/no-01/eastman/]
David Head, ed., The Golden Age of Piracy: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Popularity of Pirates
(Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2018).
Carla Gardina Pestana, “Why Atlantic Piracy?” 15-31.
John Coakley, “Jamaica’s Private Seafarers: Politics and Violence in a 17th Century English
Colony,” 32-49.
Guy Chet, “The Persistence of Piracy in the British Atlantic,” 111-128.
Virginia Lunsford, “A Model of Piracy: The Buccaneers of the 17th Century,” 129-150
Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra: The Hidden History of Sailors, Slaves
and Commoners in the Revolutionary Atlantic (Boston: Beacon, 2000).
-Chapter 7. A Motley Crew in the American Revolution