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The end
of the 17th century saw the greatest outburst of
piracy in the history of seafaring. Ironically called 'the
Golden Age of Piracy', the era lasted for around 30 years,
from around 1700-1730. Although the most troubled area was
the Caribbean, piracy was also rife off the Eastern seaboard
of America, in the Indian Ocean and off the West Coast of
Africa (where the 'Pirate Round' followed the trade routes
from India to America via Africa). The piracy boom was the
result of circumstances: the end of the War of the Spanish
Succession (between France and an Alliance of England, Holland
and the German States) meant that ports were full of unemployed
sailors and there was a general lack of legal employment.
The majority of the pirates who have gripped the popular imagination
operated during this period.
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| Daniel
Defoe, once believed (under a pen-name) to be the author
of A General History of the Robberies and Murders of
the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724). |
Legends
in their own time, pirates such as Blackbeard and Bartholomew
Roberts now seem larger than life. What we really know of
them is surprisingly little, and is drawn from the recollections
of ex-pirates, former victims, naval officers who encountered
them, or the records of courtrooms and confessions. One other
source is the book A General History of the Robberies and
Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724). The author,
alleged to be a Captain Charles Johnson, had an extensive
firsthand knowledge of piracy, and literary critics have suggested
that Johnson was the nom-de-plume for Daniel Defoe, the author
of Robinson Crusoe. However, the theory that Defoe
had written it was put forth by John Robert Moore in 1932
and generally accepted for over 50 years until two NYU scholars
(P.N. Furbank and W.R. Owens) examined Moore's study in detail
and pointed out that he came to that conclusion because he
wanted to, not through any real evidence. (Thanks to Aurora
on one of the PotC fiction lists for pointing out the latter)
The book
concentrates on pirates operating in the 30 years before its
publication. Characters such as Edward Teach ('Blackbeard'),
Edward Low and Henry Every were portrayed as Ogres, and their
actual deeds embellished with bloodcurdling fictional anecdotes.
One of the problems is that the line between fact and fiction
is extremely blurred. While many elements of his portrayals
were based on fact, it is vital to sift through his descriptions,
comparing his version with the pirates mentioned in other
contemporary accounts.
Lack
of strong government in the majority of the American Colonies
made the seaboard a pirate hunting ground. The benefits of
illicit trade between pirates and townspeople were balanced
against the disruption of shipping and rising insurance prices.
One by one the Colonial Governors clamped down on piracy in
their waters, and judicial pressure was backed by naval force
to end the outbreak. By 1730 the era of rampant piracy was
all but over. Although later outbreaks of piracy occurred,
this short era would remain lodged in popular and romantic
culture as the 'Golden Age of Piracy'. The romantic sounding
name belied the cruelty, harshness and misery created by pirates,
and unlike other 'Golden Ages' it was rarely regarded with
any form of nostalgia. The phrase itself was never actually
used by those who lived through it.
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