The Real History of Pirates

Exploring the reasons piracy endures from ancient times until today; why it is so difficult to both define and eradicate; how one can understand the rule of law and the rights of nations and individuals on the high seas and in borderless realms.

Examining popular pirate legends; discovering which aspects include some truth and which contain none at all; pirate literature can teach a lot about the Jolly Roger, gold-filled treasure chests, the pirate Edward Thatch and more.

How the Spanish's power hold on the Caribbean is broken; which nationalities join in the free-for-all; the historical importance of Alexander Exquemelin's "Buccaneers of America" and Captain Charles Johnson's "A General History of the Pyrates".

Pirates want money or anything they can turn into money; consequently, they usually wish for a speedy surrender, do not want a battle and rarely sink captured ships; the many tactics pirates use to apprehend their prey in the age of sails.

Very few pirates hit it big or try to bury their treasure on a deserted island; exploring the business aspect of piracy, which is one of the few aspects of life pirates can control; piracy is a no-prey, no-pay system; the risk of no pay is very real.

The complex truths of piracy and the pirate life are much different from the common tale surrounding them; the real goals of those pirates who attack and overthrow maritime powers; how the pirate motto, "a merry life and a short one," comes to be.

Pirates often let their captives go as they know what can go wrong with too many unhappy captives on a ship; pondering whether this prisoner release also applies to non-European men; the deep and complex relationships between pirates and enslavers.

Privateers and pirates at the time of Queen Elizabeth I thrive by finding trade and protection; the individual histories of the most famous, ambitious and wealthiest of the Sea Dogs; these are John Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Ralegh.

The corsairs are commissioned to make war primarily against non-Muslims; they do not consider themselves pirates, but the English do; why the English eventually find it easier to negotiate with the Barbary powers than to fight the corsairs at sea.

In the West Indies, the English and French governments encourage buccaneering as a strategy to weaken the Spanish; learning about the most famous buccaneer of all, the Welshman Henry Morgan, whose exploits contribute to popular concepts of piracy.

The pirate round is a sailing route taken by pirates from the western Atlantic; learning about The Rhode Island Rover Thomas Tew, Henry Every and others; their relationships with the British East India Company and the North American slave trade.

In the early 1800s, piracy explodes in Asia; Europeans, Arabs, Persians and many others vie for access to Chinese markets; how Cheng I and Cheng I Sao organize a vast and well-organized system of piracy, unlike the piratical chaos of the Caribbean.

Pirates and privateers are often the first people to head into uncharted waters, returning home with information, goods and coins; uncovering the convoluted reality behind the adventures of Francis Drake, William Dampier and others.

Exploring the complex relationships between piracy and land-based merchants, governments and imperialism; learning how imperial politics in conjunction with globalized pressures on local markets provide fertile ground for piracy.

Pirate crews tend to be more skilled than those of other ships; the many reasons pirates view ship life differently from the masses, for whom life at sea seems harsh and dangerous; whether they are attracted to more than just freedom and profit.

Pirates love their music, with some keeping musicians as prisoners just to hear them play; the many benefits music brings to pirate ships; the musical entertainment produced by pirates; the ballads and melodramas created about the pirates' lives.

A few pirates establish themselves as rulers of a territory or become part of a recognized government; learning about numerous pirate kings, including the Americans Jean Lafitte and his brother, Pierre; they fight with the U.S. in the War of 1812.

There are very few female pirates; when women are on board pirate ships, they are more likely to be passengers, prisoners or laborers; exploring the exceptions to this rule by learning about the Caribbean pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

There are a few female authority figures in the world of piracy, most notably Queen Elizabeth I of England; digging into the backstories of other pirate queens including Ingela Gathenhielm, Grace O'Malley, Sayyida al-Hurra and Cheng I Sao.

Works of the 19th century rehabilitate the image of pirates from criminals into sentimental heroes; considering one's own concept of pirates while exploring their portrayal in works by Lord Byron, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and more.

The British judicial system that oversees pirate trials during the age of Atlantic piracy is highly codified; modern judicial systems find it extremely difficult to prosecute piracy, as seen in the Maersk Alabama pirate trial of 2013.

Governments in the Americas and Asia try to eliminate entire pirate-friendly coastal settlements, but their efforts are never truly successful; exploring the complex motivations that still attract individuals to turn pirate.

While piracy today is more geographically confined, it still seems to be driven by greed and grievance; studying the socioeconomic forces that continue to perpetuate piracy in locations such as the coast of Somalia and the Straits of Malacca.

Asking whether the modern Western depiction of pirates is a harmless fantasy; why scholars insist that the way people talk about piracy affects the world today; considering an important question while examining the aftereffects of colonialism.