Piracy in the Caribbean facts for kids

Central America and the Caribbean (detailed pdf map)

Pirates were the terror of the Caribbean Sea.

Piracy in the Caribbean was the terror of the Caribbean Sea, especially to the Spanish navy that controlled those seas. The English had defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, which stopped the Spanish control of the oceans. However, the Spanish still controlled the Caribbean.

In the 1770s, the English used pirates to help their government. By doing harm to the Spanish navy and export, the English hoped to get more land in the New World and stop the Spanish from controlling the New World trade. They did get what they wanted, but made a new problem.

Pirates, when they captured prisoners, did not usually have mercy on them.

Sir Henry Morgan was one well-known pirate who was encouraged by the English government. He worked for the government, but he kept the money. As time went on, though, Morgan stopped working for the government and began working to get money only for himself. He and other pirates soon began attacking any trading ship, even if it was English.

Morgan and his helpers called themselves the Brethren. They wore rough shirts, knee-long pants, felt hats, and leather belts. On their belts, they hung gunpowder flasks, butcher's knives, and blunderbusses (short muskets.) They had a "pirate code" which said each man had the right to vote on all things, like choosing a captain or the next ship to attack.

Reasons for piracy

The pirates easily found new members. Seamen in naval services often lived much harder lives than pirates. They could be punished cruelly by people higher than them, did not have good food to eat, and were paid only a little money. The pirates offered equality, good food (when it was there), and a chance to become rich.

Pirate life

Pirates often left the people they captured on desert islands to starve to death.

However, pirates were little better. The commanders of trading ships were terrified at seeing pirate ships, because pirates had little mercy on the people they captured.

Life on a pirate ship was very hard. There was never a dry place to sleep; bathing was very rare; food was often bad; and danger was expected. Many pirates had missing arms or legs after bloody sea battles. Even pirates who finally became rich still risked being hanged if they were caught.

Images for kids

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  Main trade routes prey to 16th-century piracy: Spanish treasure fleets linking the Caribbean to Seville, Manila galleons (after 1568) (white) and Portuguese India Armadas (after 1498) (blue)

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  French pirate Jacques de Sores looting and burning Havana in 1555

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  The Iberian Union of Spain and Portugal (1580–1640)

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  Central America and Caribbean sovereignty in 1700

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  The French raid on Cartagena took place on 6 May 1697, as part of the War of the Grand Alliance

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  "Haunts of the 'Brethren of the Coast'", a map of the time reproduced in "Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts" (1897)

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  French pirate François l'Olonnais was nicknamed Flail of the Spaniards and had a reputation for brutality – offering no quarter to Spanish prisoners.

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  Jean Lafitte, New Orleans' legendary pirate

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  Anne Bonny and Mary Read, convicted of piracy on 28 November 1720

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  The Spanish Amaro Pargo performed in the Caribbean and lived in Cuba for ten years.

See also

In Spanish: Piratería en el Caribe para niños