Captain Charles Johnson's The General History Of Pyrate

Pirates have been gaining in popularity in the media of today through movies, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean. The representation of pirates clothing, language, and behavior in pop-culture media has been subjected to recent debates that focus mainly on the portrayal of pirates as over-romanticized. The pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean are constantly avoiding the British Navy in order to secure a treasure that will be used to bargain their way out of hanging. This presents an inaccurate representation of the general life of a pirate. The majority of pirates did not rely on buried treasure as their source of income, but instead preyed on merchant ships to provide for their crews. The question of why seaman turned to a life of piracy has

It was published in 1724, two years before the Golden Age of Piracy ended. The identity of Captain Charles Johnson is believed to be Daniel Defoe by many historians. When this work is referenced in other essays or books, Defoe is portrayed as the author of General History of Pyrates. However Arne Bialuschewski provides evidence of The General History of Pyrates being written by Nathaniel Mist in, “Daniel Defoe, Nathaniel Mist, and the ‘General History of the Pyrates’.” Although this does not change the information historians have used, it does provide an interesting and fresh view on the reasons behind writing

The pirates’ goods were confiscated and given to the person responsible for the capture while the merchant ships had one less pirate to fear. This also benefited the British Government as they used less of their own resources to target pirates. In the article, “Three Philanthropic Pirates” a different result provides an amusing tale of three captured pirates who, “fought a fine strategic battle with powerful enemies … and eventually won the majority of their illegally obtained goods.” Their unusual victory came only after many petitions to the king and was long fought