Age Of Piracy

Pirates were a major issue to the British government during the 17th and 18th century or 1600 and 1700, which was known by historians as the golden age of piracy. Piracy had existed before this time period, but the popularity of these acts was high during the time 17th and 18th century. The main issue was the fact it was hard to distinguish between privateers and pirates since in some situations privateers went rogue, becoming pirates themselves even though they existed to prevent pirates from being successful. Pirates were criminals acting outside the law to their own personal gain with no legal ties to a specific mission or goal to achieve. Privateers were people usually with naval training or general sea knowledge (such as in the case of

This is essentially, what a pirate did when he was working. The definition of a pirate was a criminal who acted outside the law, which is what a pirate actually did. The pirates who were successful between 1716 and 1726 used a seamen’s information network, which allowed them access to information needed. There was an estimate of between 1000 and 2000 Pirates at this point in history. Pirates were stereotypically male except there were two famous exceptions of this. Their names were Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Both Read and Bonny ended up on wanted lists due to their actions. Bonny was the lover of the pirate Calico Jack and eventually ended up pregnant with his child which when caught it saved her life as she “pleaded the belly” since in Britain the idea of killing an infant was strongly frowned upon in British society. Mary Read also had her life spared for the same reason but ended dying from a fever before having her child while Anne survived then disappeared from history. When Calico Jack was hanged for being a pirate, his lover Anne told him, “Had you fought like a man, you need not have been hanged like a dog. ” This is in reference to her having to fight other for him when challenged by others. In today’s standards, she was calling him weak. William Kidd who is well known under the name Captain Kidd was born in Scotland in 1645, William Kidd started out as a privateer, hired by European royals to attack foreign ships. When his crew insisted on attacking the Quadegh Merchant, a large Armenian ship laden with treasures on the Indian Ocean, Kidd found himself on the wrong side of the British government. He was hanged in London in 1701, as a warning to other pirates . Kidd also refused to admit his guilt of being a pirate