Pirates have played a key role on the seas for many centuries; however, many of their impacts are less known and less romantic than is portrayed in many films. Here, Martin Mumper considers some unexpected aspects of the role of piracy in the Atlantic slave trade.
Captain Henry Morgan, circa 1680.
ew words in history conjure such an iconic image as the word “pirate.” Pirates, particularly the pirates of the “Golden Age,” capture our imagination and exemplify our ideals of freedom. As a perfect example of this cultural popularity, a CNBC article published in 2021 has the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as number thirteen on its list of the highest-grossing film franchises, having generated $4.5 billion since the debut of the first movie in 2003.(1) Thanks to these popular movies, shows like Black Sails (Starz) and The Lost Pirate Kingdom (Netflix), and books like Treasure Island, our image of pirates and their way of life is not always accurate. In the defense of The Lost Pirate Kingdom it is at least presented as more of a dramatic documentary, covering the true events of the “Golden Age of Piracy.” Regardless of the source, names like Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (or Thatch), Sam Bellamy, and Benjamin Hornigold are well known in popular culture, as is their so called “republic” (a misnomer that I will cover in another article). But there is a connection that often goes less noted: piracy and the slave trade.
Slavery emerges
First, let’s set the foundation. The “discovery” of the New World opened land for European colonization and exploitation. This notion was not long in coming; Columbus introduced sugarcane during his second voyage to the New World. It grew well in the climate of the Caribbean and sugar was a highly prized commodity in Europe. The issue was not in the growing, but in finding the labor to work the plantations. Indigenous Caribbeans like the Taino, Arawak, and Caquetio peoples were quick to succumb in the face of European diseases. Indentured servants, though readily available, had difficulty adapting to the Caribbean climate. Some even attempted using indigenous peoples from New England following the Pequot and King Phillip’s wars.(2) Luckily for planters (not so much for the millions affected by the subsequent practice) there was a ready made solution already being practiced. Sugarcane was already being grown and processed in Madeira, the Azores, and the Canary Islands, having been introduced by Arabs and adopted by the Portuguese. During the 1440s the Portuguese had taken over the capturing, then buying, of slaves from African traders on the west coast. These enslaved people were already accustomed to the climate found in the Caribbean, has some natural immunity or resistance to equatorial diseases, and were not Christians.(3) Voila, the Atlantic slave trade is born.
I will not beat the dead horse of pirate formation too much, as other authors and articles have covered that topic. Pirate crews were a motely bunch, and incidentally a remarkable instance of cultural melding. Escaped slaves and unemployed Europeans from all social strata found themselves serving on crews equally. Slavery then became a particularly profitable enterprise for pirates. Slave ships were loaded with money and those looking to escape their current situation. This included the crews of slave ships. Disease, poor hygiene, bad food, and tough discipline were norms aboard slave vessels. Slaves and sailors alike often leaped at the opportunity for the democratic freedom offered by piracy. As the development of plantations in the Caribbean progressed English sugar planters became the richest members of British society, building immense wealth off the backs of slave labor. The slave trade quickly became a particular target for pirates.
Slaves who became pirates
Due to pirate crews’ inclusive nature, there are several documented instances of formerly enslaved people serving on board pirate vessels. Blackbeard had five Black men serving in his crew at the time of his death in 1718. According to “Captain” Charles F.L. Johnson these men were tried and hung with the rest of Blackbeard’s crew in Virginia.(4) In 1722 pirate Bartholomew Roberts was killed in a battle with the HMS Swallow. Approximately 250 men were captured by the victorious Royal Navy, including 75 formerly enslaved men. Captains were even willing to believe slaves over their masters in some instances. Captain Henry Morgan, upon capturing the city of Maracaibo in 1669, interrogated and tortured prisoners in his search for treasure, including an elderly Portuguese man who had been reported as rich by a slave.(5) This indicates Morgan’s willingness to accept the word of a presumed slave over that of a European prisoner. One of the most infamous pirates, Sam Bellamy, captured the slave ship Whydah and used it for his own in 1716. Based on testimony of his victims it is believed there were somewhere between thirty and fifty Black men in Bellamy’s crew. When the ship was wrecked in a nor’easter off of the coast of Cape Cod in 1717 only two men survived. One was Welshman Thomas Davis, the other a half Native American named John Julian.(6) This perfectly illustrates the inclusive nature of pirate crews.
The end of the age
For all intents and purposed the “Golden Age of Piracy” gradually disappeared by 1726 following the defeat of Roberts. Piracy did not end altogether, but the romanticism and profit had waned. During its height it is estimated that nearly one-third of pirate crews were black, likely liberated slaves.(7) The planters and slavers of the early eighteenth century, their profits being impacted significantly by piracy, pushed the Crown to crackdown on piracy. Once pirates were no longer preying on slave ships, and there was no romantic pirate life beguiling captains and crew to piracy, the slave trade boomed. In 1720 approximately 24,780 slaves were transported from Africa to the Americas. By 1725 that number had increased to 47,030. The rest of the eighteenth century saw a steady rise in slave importation into the Americas; the average for the first quarter was 33,000, increasing to 45,000 in the second, and up to 66,000 in the third.(8) Piracy and the slave trade were intricately intertwined throughout the late seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries. Without the introduction of African slavery to the Caribbean and the Americas, piracy would have likely stayed a minor nuisance of maritime trade. The flip side of that coin is that without piracy to check the slave trade, it clearly boomed. Though it is often overlooked with the recent popularity of pirates, the picture of the “Golden Age of Piracy” cannot be considered complete without including its importance in limiting the slave trade.
What do you think of slavery and piracy? Let us know below.
Now read about the Golden Age of Piracy here.
Bibliography
Calloway, Colin. New Worlds For All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
Exquemelin, Alexander. The Buccaneers of America. Amsterdam: Jan ten Horn, 1678. Translated by Alexis Brown, 1969. http://www.loc.gov/flash/pagebypage/buccaneers/bookBorder.html.
Johnson, Charles F. L. The Lives and Adventures of Sundry Notorious Pirates. New York: Robert McBride and Company, 1922.
Sanders, Richard. “Pirates and the Middle Passage.” Times Higher Education, March 23, 2007. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/pirates-and-the-middle-passage/208336.article.
Standage, Tom. A History of the World in 6 Glasses. New York: Walker Publishing Company, 2005.
Webster, Donovan. ”Pirates of the Whydah,” National Geographic. May 1999. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/story.html.
Whitten, Sarah. “The 13 highest-grossing film franchises at the box office.” CNBC. January 31, 2021. The 13 highest-grossing film franchises at the box office (cnbc.com).
References
1 Sarah Whitten, “The 13 highest-grossing film franchises at the box office,” CNBC, (January 31, 2021), The 13 highest-grossing film franchises at the box office (cnbc.com), accessed 3/8/2023.
2 Colin Calloway, New Worlds For All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America, (Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), 104.
3 Tom Standage, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, (New York: Walker Publishing Company, 2005), 102.
4 Charles F. L. Johnson, The Lives and Adventures of Sundry Notorious Pirates, (New York: Robert McBride and Company, 1922), 48.
5 Alexander Exquemelin, The Buccaneers of America, (Amsterdam: Jan ten Horn, 1678) Translated by Alexis Brown, 1969, ) http://www.loc.gov/flash/pagebypage/buccaneers/bookBorder.html, accessed 3/8/2023.
6 Donovan Webster, ”Pirates of the Whydah,” National Geographic, (May 1999), https://www.nationalgeographic.com/whydah/story.html, accessed 3/8/2023.
7 Richard Sanders, “Pirates and the Middle Passage,” (Times Higher Education, March 23, 2007), https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/pirates-and-the-middle-passage/208336.article, accessed 3/8/2023.
8 Sanders, “Pirates.”
