British Imperial Ambitions? What Is The Role Of Piracy In The Caribbean?

How does piracy affect British Imperial ambitions? What is the role of piracy and the British Imperial project in 17c Caribbean?

During the the seventeenth century, the Caribbean islands were dominated by the power of the Spanish. The Caribbean was in the midst of the constant struggle between Spain’s effort to regain control over the trade of goods in their American empire and the attempt to reduce the sphere of influence from the rising imperial powers of Netherlands, France and especially England. In the English side of the spectrum, many English companies were organized to colonize sparsely-occupied Spanish territories: Saint Kitts was occupied in 1624; Barbados in 1627; Nevis in 1628; Antigua in 1632; and Montserrat in 1632. When Barbados
The emerging European empires had become a threat to the Spanish hold of the colonies in the New World. In the 1620s, and following the outbreak of the Thirty Year’s War, the Spanish hold in the West Indies had dropped quickly. While their hold was decline, there were other Empires who had become more and more successful in their establishment of colonies, such as the English in Barbados. Barbados becomes an important place in the history of the relations of the pirates in the Caribbean as it becomes a haven for the pirates. The Caribbean became a place where there is mass movement of European immigrants. Even though the major cities in the early 17th century were under Spanish power, there were more aggressive expansion powers in the peripheries that threatened Spanish power. The English had extended beyond Barbados, the French became well establish in Guadeloupe, Hispaniola and Martinquee, and the Dutch had established at Curaçao. During the periods of warfare in the Caribbean, government officials had actually encouraged and legalized private ship owners to attack other vessels, especially those of Spanish ships. The Spanish was the common enemy of many of the imperial powers in the Caribbean; powers of the English, French, Dutch and even the Portuguese threatened the Spanish hold of the Caribbean. Acts of the raiding of enemy ships were also the act of what was called ‘privateering’. Such actes were usually allowed through the authorization by a ‘letter of marque’. The letters, essence, had legalized piracy in the sense that it “enabled the holder to bring prize cargoes for sale into power without fear of reprisal by the authorities for proving the anger of foreign nations.” Privateering was a source of employment of those who were poor in the West Indies. The entire concept of privateering was