Piracy's Golden Age

To what extent did piracy in its “Golden Age” offer hope of a better life to those who embraced it?

To a large extent, the “Golden Age” of piracy had provided hope for a better life to those who embraced it. The Golden Age was between 1680-1730 and this saw an increase in piracy numbers. Many of these men had previous sea experience as merchant seamen or as Royal Navy sailors. The religious cold war between Protestant and Catholic had brought opportunity for quick gains from plunder and on pirate ships, egalitarianism had provided equal and fair democracy for pirates. These factors would have been crucial in persuading previous seamen into a life of piracy.

The way of life of a merchant seaman or a Royal Navy sailor had made piracy life
appeal. According to Marcus Rediker, a merchant seaman had close experiences with “death, disease and accidents.’ Their “rations were often meagre, and discipline was brutal”. The crew were at the mercy of the captain of the ship, which was described by Rediker as a “little kingdom”. The captain who would have nearly total power over the crew would rule this “little kingdom”. This differed from the pirate life where there was a fair division in rations and the crew had a voice in choosing the captain. The mortality rates of sailors on a merchant ship were low. This was due to the over crowded hulls with man, which would have been a breeding ground for disease and the dead. These seamen would have been over worked by the captains and were not able to have access to some basic necessities. On a pirate ship, they crew provide a crewmember with the bed if they need it; the captain sleeps with the rest of the crew. Many The profits and the living conditions of the life of a pirate outweigh the lifestyle of a merchant seaman or a Royal Navy Sailor.

With previous lives as seamen, the pirate life had seen a large amount of sailors joining pirates with skills from merchant ships.
These skills were beneficial and some sailors had been promoted into high positions due to their abilities. An example of this is Captain Bartholomew Roberts. He was a merchant seaman on a slave ship called the Princess. Then Howell Davis, a pirate captain, had captured the ship and made Roberts one of his crew. Even though Roberts as reluctant, he moved quickly up the ranks because of his Welsh background, which was shared with Davis, as well as his skills as a navigator. Finally Roberts had decided to enjoy the pirate life as he realised that “a honest service” had “low wages, and hard labour.” Even though he was openly reluctant, the crew had voted him into the position of a captain due to his skills and his leadership. This had guided him to become one of the most successful pirates. Another factor that had drawn seamen to piracy was the opportunities to strike rich quickly. With many merchant ships carrying slaves and cargo, pirates had attacked these ships and taken their plunder and liberated the slaves. During this time, there was a religious cold war between the Catholic and Protestants. They were transporting manufactured goods and weapons by boat to the Caribbean and the New World. The two different Christian factions were competing with each other for more control. The English and Holland had joined under King William III in 1688 and were in a war against France. Spain had joined with France and transported their good to the New World. These transport ships were prime targets for pirates as well as privateers because they could benefit and gain from these opportunities for striking rich. An example of privateering against the Catholic alliance was Sir Francis Drake’s attack on the Catholic ships, plundering and taking the plunder in the name of England, hence gaining legitimacy for his acts. With low incomes, these seamen
had seen the prospects of plunder. Peace treaties between England, Spain and France in 1697 had seen the unemployment from no official war, which meant that there was an excess of seamen since the Royal Navy had decreased in size. Most of the seaman had moved towards piracy and plundering to sustain their financial needs. The pirate life had seen a large amount of seamen joining bringing with them their skills.

“An egalitarian favors equality of some sort: People should get the same, or be treated the same, or be treated as equals, in some respect.” This is how the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines egalitarianism. It was part of the Roundhead movement. This had many of the pirate crew insisting for a fair division of the loot and a voice and input into voting the captain of the ship. This peaceful democracy had even seen the allowance of the bed to sleep in. Also another benefit from egalitarianism is that the crews were able to make up laws for the ship without the captain’s input so that the captain does not have total power. With this democratic movement, pirate life was more appealing rather than being a legal seaman because of the freedoms of speech and democracy.

In conclusion, the freedoms and higher mortality rates, religious wars and manufactured plunder and the unused skills, opportunities, unemployment and financial benefits with egalitarianism had persuaded legal seamen that the pirate life of freedom and democracy was more fruitful.