Imperial authorities and wealthy shipowners denounced the pirates as the enemies of mankind, but huge numbers of common people saw them as heroes. The Royal Navy went from being unable to catch the pirates to being afraid to encounter them at all. At its height it cut off trade routes, sacked slave ships, and severed Britain, France, and Spain from their New World empires. Together they established a crude but distinctive democracy in the Bahamas, carving out their own zone of freedom in which servants were free, blacks could be equal citizens, and leaders were chosen or deposed by a vote.įor a brief, glorious period the pirate republic was enormously successful. This infamous “Flying Gang” was more than simply a band of thieves: Many of its members were sailors, indentured servants, and runaway slaves who turned to piracy as a revolt against the conditions they suffered on ships and plantations. In the early eighteenth century a number of the great pirate captains joined forces, including Blackbeard, Black Sam Bellamy, and Charles Vane. This is the book that inspired NBC’s prime time drama “Crossbones,” informed Ubisoft’s AC4: Black Flag, and put Colin before the cameras of Netflix’s hit docudrama “The Lost Pirate Kingdom.” BOOKS / REPUBLIC OF PIRATES The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |