Black Flags, Blue Waters

1. Early American Piracy: Small Beginnings and Spanish Fears.

There was never a time when piracy was not practiced, nor may it cease so long as the nature of mankind remains the same.

Ancient roots. Piracy is as old as seafaring itself, with figures like Homer calling pirates "sea-wolves." Roman historian Dio Cassius noted its enduring nature. In the early colonial era, Spain, enriched by New World silver and gold, feared English settlements like Jamestown could become pirate bases.

Drake's precedent. English "sea dogs" like Francis Drake, though labeled pirates by Spain, were heroes to England for plundering Spanish treasure. Queen Elizabeth I even knighted Drake after his circumnavigation brought immense wealth to the Crown, setting a powerful example of state-sanctioned (or at least tolerated) maritime raiding.

First colonial brush. Virginia had an early, tangential link when a ship sailing from Jamestown with a privateering commission (dubious in peacetime) attacked a Spanish slaver. Dixie Bull's brief, unsuccessful piratical foray off Maine in the 1630s marked the first direct encounter with piracy in American coastal waters, though it spawned few imitators initially.

2. Colonial Embrace: Pirates as Economic Partners.

According to one estimate, “at least half of the coins in colonial America were Spanish” pieces of eight, and most of them likely came from pirates.

Financial lifeline. Pirates brought desperately needed specie (coins) and goods into the colonies, which suffered from chronic currency shortages due to mercantilist policies favoring England. Colonies like Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina welcomed pirate money, sometimes inflating currency values to attract them.

• Pirates spent freely on provisions, drink, and entertainment.
• Pirate silver was melted down into local coinage (like the Massachusetts pine tree shilling) or used by silversmiths.

Circumventing restrictions. Pirates provided a way to bypass the Navigation Acts, offering cheaper East Indian goods directly to colonial merchants. This illicit trade benefited governors (through bribes), merchants (through profits), and colonists (through access to desired goods).

Protection and manpower. Colonies often lacked adequate defense from foreign enemies or other pirates. Pirates, particularly former privateers, offered valuable fighting skills and manpower, sometimes even defending colonial interests, as seen with Captain Thomas Paine in Rhode Island.

3. The Pirate Round: Riches from the Indian Ocean.

“The vast riches of the Red Sea and Madagascar,” noted one contemporary observer, “are such a lure to seamen that there’s almost no withholding them from turning pirates.”

New hunting grounds. By the late 1600s, the Caribbean became less lucrative for pirates due to Spanish fleet protection and crackdowns. Attention shifted to the Indian Ocean, where wealthy Mughal ships offered tempting targets, especially pilgrimage vessels laden with treasure.

Colonial complicity. American colonies, particularly New York under Governor Benjamin Fletcher, became key sponsors and havens for "Red Sea Men." Governors issued dubious privateering commissions as cover for piracy, profiting from fees and shares of the plunder.

• Thomas Tew's success raiding Mughal ships electrified the colonies.
• Fletcher openly courted Tew and other pirates for financial gain.

Madagascar connection. St. Marie (Nosy Boraha) off Madagascar became a crucial base for Red Sea Men, offering a place to careen ships, rest, and trade. Frederick Philipse of New York built a lucrative business supplying pirates there and importing slaves and East Indian goods back to the colonies.

4. The Crown Cracks Down: Laws, Governors, and Naval Power.

“For suffer pirates, and the commerce of the world must cease, which this nation has deservedly so great a share in, and reaps such mighty advantage by.”

Avery's impact. Henry Avery's audacious capture of the Mughal emperor's ship, the Gang-i-Sawai, in 1695 infuriated the Mughals and threatened the East India Company's vital trade. This incident spurred the first "worldwide manhunt" and highlighted colonial complicity, prompting increased pressure from England.

Kidd's notoriety. Captain William Kidd, initially commissioned to hunt pirates, turned pirate himself, further alarming the East India Company and the Crown. His capture and highly publicized trial in London, though perhaps politically motivated and legally questionable, underscored the need for stricter control over colonial piracy.

Systemic changes. England responded with multifaceted efforts:

• Replacing corrupt governors like Fletcher and Markham with anti-piracy officials like Bellomont and Penn.
• Passing the Act for the More Effectual Suppression of Piracy (1700), allowing colonial trials without juries and punishing accessories.
• Increasing naval presence in colonial waters.
• Shutting down the Madagascar slave trade, a key supply line for Red Sea Men.

5. War's Reprieve: A Pause in Piracy.

“It is almost incredible,” the editors observed, “to think what dreadful havoc, mischief, and wickedness” Phillips and his accomplices “have acted and done in eight months time,” having plundered “34 vessels, robbing and taking whatever they pleased, forcing, killing, beating, and abusing them, and often killing some of their own crew.”

War's employment. The War of the Spanish Succession (Queen Anne's War, 1702-1713) provided a temporary lull in piracy along the American coast. Many potential pirates found legal employment in the booming Royal Navy or on privateering vessels commissioned to attack French and Spanish shipping.

Quelch's exception. The case of Captain John Quelch was a notable exception during the war. Commissioned as a privateer, he and his crew mutinied, turned pirate, and plundered Portuguese ships off Brazil (Portugal being an English ally).

Colonial justice. Quelch and many of his crew were captured upon their return to Massachusetts. Their trial in 1704, the first under the new 1700 anti-piracy act, resulted in multiple hangings in Boston, demonstrating a colonial willingness to prosecute pirates, though some citizens still sympathized with those who brought wealth.

6. Post-War Resurgence: Causes of the Golden Age Peak.

“In an honest service there is thin commons, low wages, and hard labor; in this [piracy], plenty and satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it, at worst, is only a sour look or two at choking [hanging]?”

Unemployed mariners. The end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 released thousands of trained seamen from naval and privateering service. Facing low wages and harsh conditions in the merchant service, many turned to piracy as a more appealing alternative offering potential wealth and freedom.

Spanish aggression. Spanish Guarda Costa and privateers harassed British merchant ships in the Caribbean, disrupting trade and leaving British sailors jobless and resentful, pushing some towards piracy.

Disasters and opportunities.

• The 1715 Spanish treasure fleet wreck off Florida created a treasure-hunting frenzy, with many unsuccessful salvors turning pirate.
• Spanish crackdowns on British logwood cutters in the Bay of Honduras displaced many Baymen, an estimated 90% of whom became pirates.

Recruitment and coercion. Pirates actively recruited from captured ships, offering better conditions and the lure of riches. While some joined willingly, others were forced, often under threat of violence, though pirates generally preferred volunteers.

7. Notorious Pirates: Bellamy, Bonnet, and Blackbeard.

“He assumed the cognomen of black-beard, from that large quantity of hair, which like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face, and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time.”

Bellamy's rise. Samuel Bellamy, initially a treasure hunter, became a successful pirate captain, known for capturing the slave ship Whydah, reportedly laden with immense wealth. His partnership with Paulsgrave Williams terrorized shipping before the Whydah's tragic wreck off Cape Cod.

Bonnet's anomaly. Stede Bonnet, a wealthy Barbados planter, inexplicably abandoned his life to become a pirate. Despite his lack of experience, he commanded the Revenge and later sailed with Blackbeard, though often sidelined due to injury or incompetence, earning him the moniker "the gentleman pirate."

Blackbeard's legend. Edward Thatch, or Blackbeard, became the most feared pirate of his era, largely due to his intimidating appearance and reputation, though actual instances of his cruelty were rare. His capture of the French slaver La Concorde (renamed Queen Anne's Revenge) and audacious blockade of Charleston cemented his notoriety.

8. Colonial Resistance: Trials and Executions.

“The execution of forty-nine outlaws in a month,” historian David Duncan Wallace cogently observed, “stands unparalleled in American history as an attack of an aroused community on crime.”

Quelch's precedent. The 1704 trial and execution of John Quelch and his crew in Boston, the first under the 1700 anti-piracy act, set a precedent for colonial prosecution of pirates without juries.

Bellamy's aftermath. Following the Whydah wreck, Massachusetts officials swiftly captured and tried the survivors. Six of Bellamy's men were hanged in Boston in 1717, sending a clear message to pirates operating near New England.

Charleston's stand. South Carolina, particularly hard hit by pirates like Blackbeard and Charles Vane, launched aggressive counter-piracy efforts. Colonel William Rhett's expeditions led to the capture of Stede Bonnet and Richard Worley. The subsequent trials in Charleston in late 1718 resulted in the mass hanging of 49 pirates, a decisive blow against piracy in the region.

9. The Decline: Naval Power and Changing Attitudes.

“Explusis Piratis, Restituta Commercia”—which translates to “Pirates Expelled, Commerce Restored.”

Increased pressure. The period after 1719 saw a significant decline in Atlantic piracy, driven by concerted efforts from the British Crown and colonies.

• Royal pardons offered pirates a chance to surrender, though many returned to crime.
• Stricter laws penalized those who failed to fight pirates or traded with them.
• Increased naval presence actively hunted pirates across the Atlantic.

Nassau's fall. The establishment of civil government under Woodes Rogers in New Providence in 1718 dismantled the "Republic of Pirates." Trials and executions in Nassau removed a key pirate haven and supply base.

Changing colonial views. As pirates increasingly attacked colonial shipping rather than foreign vessels, colonial attitudes shifted from tolerance to hostility. Pirates were no longer seen as economic partners but as threats to trade and safety, reducing their ability to find safe harbor and support in American ports.

10. The Legacy: Myth vs. Reality.

“It cannot but be a source of regret to every true lover of the picturesque that pirates are no more and piracy has lost its popularity. What tremendous fellows they must have been! What heroes, dandies, wits, were to be found among them! They were immensely superior to land brigands, . . . [who] are mere milk compared with Blackbeard and Capt. Kidd.”

Enduring fascination. Despite their often brutal reality, Golden Age pirates have captured the public imagination, fueled by works like Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates and later fictional accounts like Treasure Island and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Myth vs. fact. Popular culture often romanticizes pirates, portraying them as swashbuckling adventurers or noble rebels, a stark contrast to the historical reality of often desperate, violent criminals. Legends like buried treasure (particularly Captain Kidd's) persist despite lack of historical evidence.

Modern discoveries. Recent archaeological finds have brought the reality of Golden Age piracy to light.

• Barry Clifford's discovery of the Whydah wreck off Cape Cod provided the first authenticated pirate ship and treasure.
• The ongoing recovery of artifacts from a wreck in Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, strongly suggests the discovery of Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge.

Historical impact. While their peak was brief, the pirates of the Golden Age significantly impacted colonial life, trade, and governance, leaving a dramatic and unforgettable mark on American history.

Last updated: June 1, 2025