Page 26 - The Virgin Islands

n the Caribbean the use of privateers was wealthy businessmen or nobles would be bounty. The most renowned pirate hunter
quite willing to finance this legitimized pira- was Captain William Kidd who hit the peak
I especially popular for what amounted
to legal and state-ordered piracy. The cost cy in return for a share. The sale of captured of his legal career in 1695 but later saw the

of maintaining a fleet to defend the colo- goods was a boost to colonial economies as benefits of illegally piracy and made that his

nies was beyond national governments of well. The main imperial countries operating new intent.

the 16th and 17th centuries. Private vessels at this time and in the region were French,
would be commissioned into a ‘navy’ with PEnglish, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese. Pri-
a letter of marque, paid with a substantial irates involved specifically in the Carib-
vateers from each country were all ordered to bean were called buccaneers. Roughly

share of whatever they could capture from attack each other countries vessels, especial- speaking, they arrived in the 1630s and re-

enemy ships and settlements, the rest going ly Spain in which was a shared enemy among mained until the effective end of piracy in

to the crown. the other powers. the 1730s. The original buccaneers were

T Bhese ships would operate independently y the seventeenth century piracy and pri- settlers that were deprived of their land by
or as a fleet and if successful the rewards vateering became less of an acceptable “Spanish authorities” and eventually were
picked up by white settlers. The word “buc-

could be great—when Jean Fleury and his behaviour, especially because many priva- caneer” is actually from the French boucaner,

men captured Cortes’ vessels in 1523, they teers turned into full blown pirates because meaning “to smoke meat”, from the hunters

found the incredible Aztec treasure that they they did not have to give part of the profit of wild oxen curing meat over an open fire.

were allowed to keep. Later, when Francis they made back to their country of employ- They transferred the skills which kept them

Drake captured the Spanish Silver Train at ment. Corruptness led to the remove of many alive into piracy. They operated with the par-

Nombre de Dios (Panama’s Caribbean port at officials over the years including the individ- tial support of the non-Spanish colonies and

the time) in 1573 his crews were rich for life. uals: Governor Nicholas Trott and Governor until the 18th century their activities were le-

This was repeated by Piet Hein in 1628, who Benjamin Fletcher. One way that government gal, or partially legal and there were irregular

made a profit of 12 million guilders for the found and discarded of active pirates and amnesties from all nations. For the most part

Dutch West India Company. corrupt privateers was through the use of “pi- buccaneers attacked other vessel and ran-

T his substantial profit made privateering rate hunters” whom were bribed with all or sacked settlements owned by the Spanish.
something of a regular line of business; at least most of the wealth that they would
find aboard pirate vessels, along with a set