Privateers, corsairs, buccaneers, letter's of marque, and of course pirates, some of the many names given to these men of opportunity. The purpose and indeed origin of these different titles represent a number of things. For this essay it is necessary to divide the types of piracy as their individual significance on particular European expansion varies between the European powers.
During our time period the whole concept of piracy was just breaking free from being inherently associated with illegal acts of theft. The word privateering was at the time emerging from a period of obscurity and only beginning to achieve an official legal status. In 16thcentury England the only way to legally seize a vessel was a general proclamation which included vessels of enemy states, the other way was a Letter of Reprisal, which in time would eventually evolve and become a letter of Mark, then to the universal term of Letter of Marque.
To be a Privateer means you are financially independent and can afford to provision your own vessel, you could be a group of merchants protecting shipping or harassing enemy shipping. You could also be a wealthy individual. All this means your targets are different to that of say a corsair who's quarry was usually that of slave taking and quick raids ashore followed by quicker escapes. A type of vessel typically found in the Mediterranean and along the African Coastline. Essentially it is a private vessel.1 Your objective as a privateer would be twofold, firstly you need to balance your books and make sure your venture isn't costing you more then you gain. Secondly to make profit, and cause maximum disruption to enemy shipping or indeed competition, it wouldn't be a strange thing for an English Merchant to hire a French privateer to harass competitors for trade. But often was the case that early on in the beginnings of piracy government went as far to support and part finance privateers as a covert method of waging private wars on foreign countries. Many maritime countries recognised the opportunity that privateering presented as a mean of defending coasts and attacking enemy commerce, they would eventually legitimise this with Letter's of Marque.2
A Letter of Marque is a different class of vessel, in that its sanctioned by the State to operate as a “pirate” or private Man-o-War with the restriction only of not being able to attack vessels operating under the countries flag. At the time of our discussion however letter's of marque were not pre dominant it wasn't until the 1770's that they became official requirement. 3 Prior to this they were known mainly as a letter of Reprisal.4 Letter's of Marque are quiet similar to privateers in many way's but do have their subtle differences, enough to merit a difference in title. For instance a Letter of Marque was often issued to a captain quite low down the captains list and offered a commission to undertake special works on behalf of the Admiralty such as charting areas of particular interested or even spying. They were often seen as the precursor to a declaration of war, and a common part of naval warfare. Also as their original title suggests, a letter of reprisal, they were issued to merchants, often falsely, who had allegedly lost goods to a foreign vessel and the Admiralty Courts issued a Letter of Marque declaring that the bearer of this letter was allowed seize to the value stated and to recoup any and all losses sustained a the hands of the enemy merchant, this protected the bearer by elevating their situation to that of a diplomatic incident which could not be treated as piracy, that is unless open warfare had been declared, it mattered little then. It is important to note however that privateers required a Letter of Marque to operate, often however this was overlooked and were often issued posthumously as rewards for services rendered. These two titles can be generally classed under a heading of legal piracy. Then you have the illegal piracy.5
Corsairs were often considered illegal as they mainly operated out of African or Muslim states and were in the business of enslaving Europeans, but the French also had corsairs as well as the Spanish. Built for speed long distance and rough seas were not their forte. Corsairs were a class of ship which falls between the areas of legal and illegal piracy, in other words depending on which side of the sword you found yourself. As the Barbary States along the North coast of Africa were allies of English, more often then they were not, they were tolerated even though they did sometimes plunder English Shipping. As late as 1720 many merchant ships travelling any distance to the South or West had to carry more men simply as a deterrent or repellent to the large numbers of corsairs or pirates which operated in such areas.6
Illegal piracy generally has two titles, that of buccaneers and pirates. Buccaneers were men of opportunity and its a title confined to the area of Spanish American colonies. A title of French origin, it developed this new meaning as men of a buccaneering nature began to operate in the Caribbean and south American coast. 7 The buccaneers were originally a collection of mixed non Spaniards who lived in the uninhabited parts of the islands. Living predominantly like hunter gatherers. By the 1640's however they had taken up a more active role of raiding Spanish towns. Some buccaneers were also pirates but there is an important distinction between the two trades as most buccaneers were not seaman and were raiding mainly from another nearby position on land, they did however use ships as a means to get to towns and to transport their goods around the islands.8 Pirates then were simply an evolutionary progression of the buccaneers. As the deeds they engaged in became known as piracy they in turn became known as pirates, as the term pirates became a ubiquitous term for all those engaging in the illegal appropriation of goods not their own. This piracy, the predominant form, will be the main part of this discussion alongside legal piracy as this too was a major influence on the expansion of European colonies.
Piracy had been around for many centuries with records from Greek texts of Piracy as testimony to this from the day ships went to sea piracy has existed. But as this period doesn't have any bearing on our subject of discussion we shall pass over it. Our period can roughly be assigned to 1544 when Henry VIII issued a proclamation declaring that his citizens could now freely engage in piracy. Quickly the trade of the old enemy France was attacked but these new pirates also looked further afield, to Spain and her increasingly affluent seaborne trade, it proved a tempting opportunity for many, and the Spanish suffered badly.9 Since 1520 however English raiders had been making a modest impact on the Spanish Empire in the West Indies. The Scots and Huguenots were however by far superior and were definitely the ones with control in the area.
By the 1570's Spanish rule had been established in the Carribbean with many towns and settlements scattered around. The greatest catalyst to piracy in the new world was the Spanish Treasure Ships. It had been the object of nearly every pirates heart for many years. To attack, seize and bring a Spanish treasure ship home. However the Spanish flotilla system was an outstanding success overall and in three hundred years of operations lost only 2.6 per cent of its shipping 0.5per cent to enemy attacks.10 Seizing part of a cargo destined for a Spanish Treasure Ship on land was to be the method for Francis Drakes rise to fame and wealth. A Pirate who had succeeded where others had not, although what he stole was only a fraction of what was ultimately destined for the Flotilla it had a great moral effect on the Spaniards and indeed the English. It showed that the Spanish territory was not as strong as had been initially thought. This followed a hundred years during which time piracy became established in the new world as a legitimate alternative to open warfare. The precedent had been set by the newly knighted Sir Francis Drake. It came about that English Naval policy became inherently linked to that of piracy as those involved with the English Navy also had their own private interests afloat and used their influence to blur the distinction between piracy and crown operations which were occurring all over the the world from the western, eastern Atlantic coasts and African coasts.
Piracy was rampant all over the world now. With large numbers of French pirates preying on Spanish and Portuguese shipping on both sides of the Atlantic Spanish trade began to suffer. The English and Dutch too began to make their presence felt in the area of the Carribean while the French in the earlier part of the 17th century had been mainly operating off the coast of Brazil. Social unrest was also the target for many of the early privateer expeditionary force. Attempting to destabilise Spanish power so their own interests could be served by providing for a lull in Spanish vigilance allowing the English and French to establish their colonies. Once these settlements were founded these privateers or pirates increasingly stood as the only obstacle between Spanish aggression and their safety. They quickly became the method to engage in secondary warfare locally. In other words private wars contained within the Caribbean. English and French tactics were to become friendly with the native population from whom they built up a substantial quantity of local geographical and maritime knowledge giving them advantages over the Spanish forces in the region. The years that followed would prove to be a baptism of fire for the new settlers in this new world.
For new English settlement times were difficult as Spanish policy at the time was hostile to anyone non Castilian in the area west of Santa Domingo. Even if they were at peace back in Europe with the power in question everyone was fair game in the Caribbean. N. A. M. Rodger's puts it best when referring to the Americas, “...all foreign ships were excluded by Spanish and Portuguese law, so that even if an English ship intended peaceful trade she had perforce to come armed and ready to fight...”11 To the Spaniards in particular there was 'no peace beyond the line' as it were and regarded all attempted trade by foreign powers as potential smuggling, interloping, as well as much more which all fell under the heading of “piracy”.
For the recently founded English Colonies in New England, Virginia and even more recently Port Royal in Jamaica. The Spanish threat remained ever present and loomed over them. In the case of Port Royal, had it not been for piracy this particular English settlement would most certainly have succumb to the ever present and threatening Spanish presence. As in its early days it struggled to feed its citizens and had little prospect of turning a profit, and initially indeed promised to be more trouble then it was worth. However Port Royal enjoyed the favour of fortune. The buccaneers we earlier spoke of now began to use Port Royal as their base. Throughout the following years many governors would legitimise their activities by granting privateering licenses against the Spanish, and Port Royal flourished under this buccaneering activity. 12
An important point to be drawn here must be made obvious however, although the English Authorities legalised the obvious piracy and ignored that which was less so, it was however still piracy. Piracy after all by its definition is the illegal appropriation of goods not your own by means which were more often then not violent, fatal and brutal. The Spanish in particular felt that this so called legitimate piracy was still wholly and entirely illegal and more importantly in breach of the Treaty of Tordesillas. They saw the English Colonies grow fat off Spanish industry and burned with indignity and raged at the insolence. For the foundation of English Colonies in the Caribbean Piracy and Buccaneers were an essential part of of the defence and as relations remained cool in the 1660's the Spanish still indignantly held to their claim that all this new territory was theirs. The Buccaneers and Pirates as a result continued with their stance in relation to the Spanish, Lord Windsor puts it as follows in 1662, “unwillingly constrained to reduce them to a better understanding by the open and just practises of force.13 It is an entirely English attitude to the situation in the Caribbean, but it was not just the English who felt cheated at this so called Treaty of Tordesillas, increasingly the Dutch and the French were seen frequenting the Atlantic in search of what they saw also as fair game.
Although initially French and in particular Dutch presence in the Atlantic was as a predatory force. The Dutch in particular made their presence in the Atlantic felt to all the European powers. They attacked Spanish, Portuguese, English and French ships indiscriminately.14 This Dutch predation proved to be quite detrimental to English and French colonial expansion as the already limited and newly emerging seaborne commerce of the English and French suffered badly at their hands. This point is important because during the Anglo-Dutch war of 1674 the Dutch, although seizing the insignificant number of vessels which stood at three hundred and sixty a figure partially mentioned in a number of documents from the day, provoked a violent response in the Caribbean from the threatened colonists there.15 It was not merely the Anglo-Dutch war that provoked aggressive war in the Caribbean but the fact that the French and Dutch Navies as well as privateer forces were heavily active in the area. The English Buccaneers were active throughout the war and continuing long after with privateering a major part of the campaign in the West Indies due to lack of a sufficient crown navy in the area.16
By the 1660's European piracy was reaching its climactic golden age. With thousands of buccaneers and pirates based around the Caribbean archipelago rewards were initially very high but due to repeated and sustained attacks on Spanish territory in the area the rewards began steadily to become exhausted. By the 1670's piracy had entered a new phase. When in 1668 the Treaty of Madrid was signed under the supervision of Lord Sandwich piracy in the West Indies began a steady transition. Due to the conditions contained within the Treaty English colonies in the Caribbean would be recognised by the Spanish rendering a defence force in the area negligible on the scale it had been operating previously. Trade now too became regulated due to this recognition as now it would be allowed to continue, but it would now be confined to the limitations of the Treaty, in that they were not allowed trade in each others respective colonies, but otherwise had free access. There was also a further clause in the Treaty, a joint effort to suppress the pirates and buccaneers in the Caribbean.17 For their part the English did their best to suppress this piracy in a number of ways. However for the most part piracy continued regardless except now due to this new opposition pirates had a justification for targeting indiscriminately, the English shipping however escaped much of the pirates retribution and good relations continued to be shared after the treaty. So much so that in 1669 the Spanish government broke the Treaty of Madrid and a declaration of local warfare was again declared in Caribbean waters as the activities of local buccaneers were reaching new levels.18
An important figure who is worth a brief aide was the man known as Henry Morgan. He cuts an impressive figure who knew what he was about and from quite early on emerged as a leading figure in the buccaneering trade, indeed he rose to be their chief on the death of one Edward Mansfield. He had an auspicious rise in Jamaica quickly becoming the most important figure involved in buccaneering in the area. Indeed he became the local English Colonial Authorities most reliable personality and often connived with local government in the sack and raiding of Spanish territory.19 Which ultimately provoked the re-declaration of war by the Spaniards in in 1669. That same month the Spaniards announced their declaration of war Henry Morgan destroyed the Spanish Caribbean Squadron in Lake Maracaibo.20During 1670's English and Spanish fighting broke out and Morgan was recruited into the English forces. He was pardoned for all previous crimes and went on to infamously destroy the Spanish city of Panama with huge repercussions for the Spanish interest in the Caribbean. He would later be arrested due to pressure the Spaniards were placing on Charles II. When brought to court in London he was freed and all charges dropped. He was then knighted and made deputy Governor of Jamaica. This is important because it is an example of English laissez faire attitude towards piracy and they went as far as rewarding these pirates.
In the 1680's Piracy began to move into a new phase. This was due to a number of causes, but mainly due to the exhausted supply of wealth in the West Indies. Interest in the area was beginning to move away from deeds of piracy and plantations of sugar cane and tobacco soon became the means to make ones fortune in the new world. This new colonial attitude encouraged the Pirates to disperse and find new wealth elsewhere. This they did with gusto. Levels of piracy elsewhere around the Atlantic and indeed the Pacific Ocean began to increase and reports began to trickle in of new sources of colonial wealth to be pillaged circulated. These bolder spirits who ventured out of the Caribbean went beyond the old limitations of buccaneering and became pirates truer to the sense of the word. Indiscriminately plundering international shipping at the time in all the seas and oceans of the world.21
Piracy had meant many things for many countries. In particular the Spaniards saw it as an invasion of their rights as per the Treaty of Tordesillas. From the beginnings of their imperial designs the Spaniards and indeed the Portuguese too faced much competition not on land but by sea. Although not yet official policy for the French, Dutch and English they were well aware of the wealth of the new world. Initially all three were content to prey on Iberian enterprise. It is strange because from a careful study of the period there is a very obvious turning of the tables going on during the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially it was due to Spanish and Portuguese industry determination and enterprise which had got them to these new lands. It would also be this that would bring them to conquer and control such vast tracks of land which they would later exploit to a seamlessly endless supply of wealth. It would be this new wealthy which would turn the tables on the roles. This reliance on new world wealth meant that the Spanish and Portuguese turned away from other pursuits and began to rely heavily on the incoming wealth. The English and Dutch now took this opportunity to exploit this vulnerability selling everything imaginable to the outward looking Iberian peninsula resulting in a double dependency on the American gold and English and Dutch goods. This is worth noting because of this change in values Spanish and Portuguese interests in the Americas suffered as their economy became reliant on this annual wealth. As a piracy flourished around Spanish colonies which naturally followed as a result of the high level of trade which was necessary to fill the gaps in Spanish Industry. All this served to stunt their expansion in the Americas.
With a stagnated Spain the other European powers who had been trying to muscle in on the trade now found an opportunity. As Spanish military presence in the West Indies steadily declined the door was left open for French, English and Dutch settlers keen to get in on the act. Privateers, buccaneering and piracy would be the means to their ends. For these European powers it was an essential part of their effort in establishing themselves. Many of these countries openly approved of such efforts from their citizens. The English in particular went to great lengths to legitimatise their involvement in piracy. The levels of piracy would remain threateningly high for many years to come until a combined effort from the European powers was made to eradicate them once and for all. It would prove to be a determined effort on their part, and would ultimately be the ruin of these men of opportunity. They could not face a such a sustained, determined and more formidable force and hope to last long. Many merely turned themselves in and turned their hand to more legitimate pursuits and were more often then not found to be on the right side of the law although many still engaged secretly in less obvious and risky ventures. Piracy, even to this day, could not have been eliminated totally and many pockets remained around the world attacking and seizing shipping for as long as there was a market for what they could provide pirates would undoubtedly be a part of life at sea.
So in the cessation of this discussion of the significance of piracy to European imperial expansion a number of conclusions can be drawn. For the Spanish piracy would prove to be the bane to its imperial intentions anywhere in the Americas and indeed it was not until the 18thcentury that an vestige of freedom from piracy was achieved. Pirates of course remained but in these later times would prove less effective generally in comparison to their predecessors. The Spanish were also those worse affected by this age of piracy as the most prominent and obvious target, Spain and her wealth suffered extensively. The cost of human life was also vast, the sacking of Panama alone had resulted in the slaughter of over ten thousand people. The English generally benefited more often then not at the hands of piracy. The main cause for complaint the English had was due to Spanish and Dutch privateers. With the French in particular only increasing their takings as the 18th century rolled in. It was however having little impact on English Shipping as the increasing numbers of new ships were quickly replacing earlier lost trade. Many English settlements encouraged and indeed grew rich due to their handling of the piracy issue in the Caribbean choosing instead to benefit then suffer from. It would prove to be a winning formula as English presence in North America was ever increasing due their initially strong foothold in the Caribbean. The French and the Dutch were less fortunate losing many of their colonies in the new world to the buccaneers who were supported by English authority in the area. It would prove to be a sore point in the end for both countries as both lost substantial territory and wealth at the hands of English sanctioned privateers. So it can be seen that piracy and European expansion went hand in hand with one another. It did not however treat all fairly. Indeed had it not been for piracy the balance of Power in the Americas and indeed Europe might have been very different. Its significance can neither be underestimated nor fully understood without taking the above discussion into consideration and balancing it against the end results of a history of the birth of European Imperialism without initial aid from piracy.
Bibliography:
- Earle, Peter, Sailors, English Merchant Seamen 1650-1775, (London 1998)
- Exquemelin, A.O., The Buccaneers of America translated by Alexis Brown, (Great Britain 1969)
- Goodman, David, Spanish Naval Power, 1589-1665, (Cambridge 1997).
- Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare 1650-1830, (London 1999)
- Mahan, A.T., The influence of seapower upon history, 1660-1783, ( New York 1987).
- Norwich, John Julius., The Middle Sea, A History of the Mediterranean. (Great Britain 2006)
- Padfield, Peter, Maritime Supremacy, and the opening of the western mind, (London 1999)
- Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, (London 2004)
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- Starkey, David J., English Privateering Enterprise, (Exeter 1990)
1Starkey, David J., English Privateering Enterprise, Introduction, pg 13
2Goodman, David, Spanish Naval Power, 1589-1665 Reconstruction and defeat, Introduction: The rise and fall of Spanish Naval power, pg 13
3Starkey, David J., English Privateering Enterprise, Chap. 2 Private Men-of-War and 'Letters of Marque'
4Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea, A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649, The Flower of England's Garland: Operations pg 199
5Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare 1650-1830, The establishment of the battlefleet.
6Earle, Peter, Sailors, English Merchant Seamen 1650-1775, The sailor and his World pg8
7Exquemelin, A.O., The Buccaneers of America translated by Alexis Brown, Introduction pg8
8Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Cromwell's hooves, operations 1654-1659, pg 24
9Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea, A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649, Precarious Isolation, Operations 1523-1550, pg182
10Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea, A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649, The Spanish War, Operations 1572-1587, pg 242
11Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea, A Naval History of Britain, 660-1649, The Flower of England's Garland: Operations pg 200
12Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Cromwell's hooves, operations 1654-1659, pg 24
13Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Operations 1660-1668, Terrible, Obstinate and Bloody War, pg 79
14Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare 1650-1830, The establishment of the battlefleet 1650 – 88 pg105
15Earle, Peter, Sailors, English Merchant Seamen 1650-1775, The perils of the sea, pg120
16Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Operations 1660-1668, Terrible, Obstinate and Bloody War, pg 79
17Exquemelin, A.O., The Buccaneers of America translated by Alexis Brown, Introduction pg14
18Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Operations 1660-1668, Terrible, Obstinate and Bloody War, pg 79
19Exquemelin, A.O., The Buccaneers of America translated by Alexis Brown, Introduction pg14
20Rodger, N.A.M., The Command of the Ocean, a Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815, Operations 1660-1668, Terrible, Obstinate and Bloody War, pg 79
21Earle, Peter, Sailors, English Merchant Seamen 1650-1775, The perils of the sea, pg118-119
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