Villains Of All Nations By Marcus Rediker

The era of piracy, highly exaggerated in modern and popular culture, was seemingly ended by modernization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This can be seen through the development of modern governmental and naval technology, changes in the global economy, and the implementation of new laws, restrictions, and regulations. Throughout history texts provide evidence of the impact of modernization on piracy, highlighting the increasing difficulty for pirates to operate and find profitable targets to continue their life of pirating and poverty. Although there are interesting pirate stories from gruesome attacks and how they operate, from Captain Kidd to Blackbeard, these infamous figures of piracy have been the subject of countless books,

In Villains of All Nations, author Marcus Rediker describes how the Royal Navy used this new technology to pursue and capture pirates in the late 19th century. New technology made the navy more powerful and allowed them to evolve with time, “Valuable piece of technology of the day, the deepsea sailing ship, especially small, fast, and well-armed craft,” (Rediker) He writes about the role of the steam-powered ironclad in the Battle of Simon's Bay, where the Royal Navy become faster and stronger when catching pirates and removing them from the sea. Throughout history, pirates heavily relied on their speed and agility to outrun and outmaneuver the navy vessels looking for them. However, steam-powered ships were a more efficient system, giving naval forces a decisive advantage over pirates. The steam-powered warship, armed with powerful artillery, was a huge upgrade in the fight against piracy. The superiority of the Royal Navy's technology and tactics made it incredibly difficult for pirates to continue their illegal activities making it extremely hard for pirates to continue on the

In Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader provides evidence of the impact of changing global economic conditions on piracy. “Thus, in the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese claimed a commercial monopoly and treated as pirates the Malabar sailors who resisted them” (C.R. Pennell 38) The text describes how the opening of the Suez Canal transformed the shipping routes and patterns in the Indian Ocean. As a result, piracy in the region declined, as the changing economic conditions made it harder for pirates to operate. The change in the environment was extremely hard for pirates to operate with the changes having to change places for trade and profit. In addition to technological and economic changes, modernization also saw the addition of new laws and regulations designed to combat piracy. The international community recognized the need for coordinated action against piracy and established legal action to address the issue. New laws were implemented for the fight agents pirates, “This form of predation on commerce was abandoned in 1856 by most nations by the Declaration of Paris.” (C.R. Pennell 99) Treaties, such as the Declaration of Paris, prohibited the use of privateers and made it illegal for individuals to engage in acts of