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Blackbeard and Ben Franklin deserve equal billing for founding democracy in the United States and New World.
Pirates practised the same egalitarian principles as the Founding Fathers and displayed pioneering spirit in exploring new territory and meeting the native peoples.
Hollywood really has given Pirates a bum rap with its image of bloodthirsty, one-eyed, peg-legged men who bury treasure and force people to walk the plank, We owe them a little more respect.
Like the American revolutionaries, pirates developed three branches of government with checks and balances. The ship captain was elected, just as the U.S. president; the pirate assembly was comparable to Congress; and the quartermaster resembled a judge in settling shipmate disputes and preventing the captain from overstepping his authority.
Colonists and pirates also were alike in emphasizing written laws, democratic representation and due process. All crew members were allowed to vote, ship charters had to be signed by every man on board, and anyone who lost an eye or a leg was compensated financially.
These ideals grew out of both groups’ frustration at being mistreated by their leaders; the British forced the colonists to quarter troops and pay taxes, and captains on merchant ships beat their shipmen, starved them and paid less than promised.
It’s no wonder that many sailors seized the opportunity to jump ship and search for a better way of life, namely piracy, which offered better food, shorter work shifts and the power of the crew in decision-making.
During the 17th and 18th centuries as these Brethren of the Sea sailed the world’s waterways, plundering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold, silver and other merchandise, shaping the modern world in the process.
Pirates mapped new territory, expanded trade routes, discovered good ports and opened doors with the native peoples. They really helped European nations explore the Americas before Europeans could afford to explore them on their own.
By selling stolen silks, satins, spices and other merchandise in ports and spending their booty in the colonies, pirates created an economic boom, helping struggling settlements and making Port Royale in Jamaica and Charleston, S.C., huge mercantile centres. They didn’t bury their treasure, they spent it, helping colonies survive that couldn’t get the money and supplies they needed from Europe.
Without the infusion of money into the New World from piracy, it is possible that Britain and France may not have been able to catch up with Spain.
Had it not been for pirates, Britain might have had trouble holding onto the American colonies, Pirates decimated the Spanish so badly that Spain finally had to give up some of its American empire just to get pirating to stop.
Native Americans and black slaves oppressed by the Spanish in the Caribbean gave pirates inside information on where to dock ships and find supplies. Slaves fleeing plantations were welcomed on pirate ships, where they shared an equal voice with white sailors.
Pirates practised the same egalitarian principles as the Founding Fathers and displayed pioneering spirit in exploring new territory and meeting the native peoples.
Hollywood really has given Pirates a bum rap with its image of bloodthirsty, one-eyed, peg-legged men who bury treasure and force people to walk the plank, We owe them a little more respect.
Like the American revolutionaries, pirates developed three branches of government with checks and balances. The ship captain was elected, just as the U.S. president; the pirate assembly was comparable to Congress; and the quartermaster resembled a judge in settling shipmate disputes and preventing the captain from overstepping his authority.
Colonists and pirates also were alike in emphasizing written laws, democratic representation and due process. All crew members were allowed to vote, ship charters had to be signed by every man on board, and anyone who lost an eye or a leg was compensated financially.
These ideals grew out of both groups’ frustration at being mistreated by their leaders; the British forced the colonists to quarter troops and pay taxes, and captains on merchant ships beat their shipmen, starved them and paid less than promised.
It’s no wonder that many sailors seized the opportunity to jump ship and search for a better way of life, namely piracy, which offered better food, shorter work shifts and the power of the crew in decision-making.
During the 17th and 18th centuries as these Brethren of the Sea sailed the world’s waterways, plundering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold, silver and other merchandise, shaping the modern world in the process.
Pirates mapped new territory, expanded trade routes, discovered good ports and opened doors with the native peoples. They really helped European nations explore the Americas before Europeans could afford to explore them on their own.
By selling stolen silks, satins, spices and other merchandise in ports and spending their booty in the colonies, pirates created an economic boom, helping struggling settlements and making Port Royale in Jamaica and Charleston, S.C., huge mercantile centres. They didn’t bury their treasure, they spent it, helping colonies survive that couldn’t get the money and supplies they needed from Europe.
Without the infusion of money into the New World from piracy, it is possible that Britain and France may not have been able to catch up with Spain.
Had it not been for pirates, Britain might have had trouble holding onto the American colonies, Pirates decimated the Spanish so badly that Spain finally had to give up some of its American empire just to get pirating to stop.
Native Americans and black slaves oppressed by the Spanish in the Caribbean gave pirates inside information on where to dock ships and find supplies. Slaves fleeing plantations were welcomed on pirate ships, where they shared an equal voice with white sailors.
do not change the fact that if it had not been for the Pirates your national language today would in all likelihood be Spanish, and the Cat-o-licks would be in charge.
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