James Feldkamp brief on Pirates in the New World - Sallywags and scurvy dogs in Cuba.Click to learn more about the history of Caribbean Pirates

1. Pyrates of the
Spanish Main
“A Common Enemy
whom neither Faith nor Oath is to be Kept”

2. Why Piracy?
 Why would you want to wake up in the AM (or PM as the case maybe)?
 To drink Rum?
 You enjoy the sounds of cannons?
 Boarding a ship to fight hand to hand is fun?
 As a Pirate – That’s what you do!
 For the Treasure!
 For the Freedom!
 For the Fun!

3. Spanish Empire circa 1600’s

4. 1492: Columbus‘ discovery of the New World for Spain
1494: Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal
along a north-south line 270 leagues west of the Cape Verde.
Piracy in the New World
Trade and colonization between European empires

5. The Spanish Main
Settlements: Havana and Santiago on the coast of Cuba, Cartagena, Porto Bello and
Panama City, and Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola.
Silver: Mining large silver from Zacatecas in Mexico, and Potosí in Bolivia.
Spain: Despite being the most powerful state in Christendom, could not
afford a military presence to control such a vast area of ocean.

6. Havana, Cuba
(A notorious place)

7.  Established 1514: Havana was one of the most important New World cities
 Great harbor and excellent staging area for return voyage to Spain
 Spanish Silver fleet: Began in Venezuela and Peru, making stops in
Panama and along the coast of Mexico
 After collecting the loot – fleet would head for Havana,
 To form a massive Flota before heading back to Spain.
 Havana: Pirates would mingle among saloons and whorehouses for Intel
 It was common knowledge that two fleets a year back to Spain
 Summer: Fleets wintered around Cartegena, Vera Cruz, and Acapulco
 Spring: Fleets would make their way to Havana
 Pirates saw the waters around the Cuba as the place to go plundering
 Florida Keys: Staging area for pirates who preyed on the Silver Fleet
as it approached Havana
Havana, Cuba
(A notorious place)

8.  Hurricane season: Short window before safe passage an impossibility
 Spaniards knew it, pirates knew it, Spaniards knew the pirates knew it!
 Spanish colonists in the "Main" and Havana willing to tell sell secrets.
 "Casa de Contratación" or House of Trade (owned by the Crown):
 Merchants: Were not allowed to trade with towns or make trade
arrangements with any settlements of foreign governments.
 Colonists: Had to buy goods that were brought from Spain and could
only sell goods to the same ships
 Hence, every Spanish merchant was willing to sell or trade with anyone
living in the New World
 As such Spanish citizens were corrupt
o A win-win situation for the citizens.
o If Pirates captured a ship; spend money in the New World and the
Spanish merchants would have a place to sell their goods
o If pirates failed, then town people could witness a hanging or two
Havana, Cuba
(A notorious place)

9.  Cuban, or West Indian, pirates operated a century after the Golden Age
 Cuban pirates of the 1820s, remembered as a far grittier lot of
desperados
 Post War of 1812 and Napoleonic wars, maritime commerce began to thrive
 Coincided with Spanish colonies revolting against Spain
 These revolutions provided opportunities for seafaring rogues to sign on
as privateers out of rebel ports like Caracas and Buenos Aires
 Centered around the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico.
 Passages between these islands were principal shipping lanes to Europe
 Privateers rarely bothered to confine their looting to Spanish ships alone
 Were tacitly protected by Havana authorities, who earned a commission
"It was very difficult to secure the trial and conviction of the
corsairs in Havana, however evident their guilt, for the Spanish authorities
were notoriously interested in the profits of their nefarious calling.“
~ Lt. Joseph W. Revere
Cuban Pyrates

10.  Privateers joined by: Runaway slaves, fisher folk and other dispossessed
peasants mounting guerilla attacks from hidden lagoons along Cuban coast
 Cuban-based pirate captains: Villains of almost mythic proportions
 Targets were merchant vessels, carrying manufactured goods, not the
richly laden treasure flotillas of a centuries past
 Robbed of whatever lucrative cargo on board, and
o Clothing of the crew
o Food from the galley
o Spare rigging
o Masts, and spars
o Flags
o Nautical instruments
o Or, anything else that was not bolted down
Cuban Pyrates

11. Cuban Pyrates
 Brutality of the pirate crews enflamed the public;
 Surviving captains and passengers reported being beaten and threatened
with torture and murder if they did not produce secreted money in thee ship
 Men were hammered over the head with the flat sides of cutlasses,
 Stabbed and bled,
 Hung by the neck until almost dead,
 Or, trailed over the side by ropes to encourage them to reveal the
whereabouts of the hidden money
 Stripped of their valuables, ships were often disabled or set adrift, or
set afire with their crews locked in the hold

12. Diabolito
(aka “Little Devil")
Died July 1823
 One of the main fugitives pursued during later American naval expeditions
in the Caribbean during the 1820s
 Operating from his home island of Cuba - Diabolito became known as a
particularly dangerous pirate during the early 19th century
 A key figure when President Monroe authorized the anti-piracy squadron to
combat attacks off the Florida coast
 Based in Key West the Mosquito Fleet soon began patrolling the Gulf of
Mexico and the Caribbean
 April 1823, Diabolito was cornered off the northern coast of Cuba
 Eluding authorities, he again encountered the Mosquito Fleet in Cuba
 Americans attacked, driving the pirates into the sea and shooting amidst
the swimming pirates “exterminated dozens of them"
 Diabolito himself being killed in the water when he refused to surrender

13. Conflicts & Commodities
“Italian War” (aka the Four Years' War): 1521–1526
“Anglo-Spanish War” 1585- 1604: Due to trade disputes in the New World
“Thirty Years' War” 1618 – 1648: Series of wars in Central Europe
“Anglo-Dutch wars” 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674, and 1780–1784: Wars
between English and Dutch states for control of trade routes and colonies.
“Nine Years' War” (aka War of the Grand Alliance) 1688–97: Louis XIV of
France against Austria, Holy Roman Empire, Dutch, Spain, England and Savoy
“War of Spanish Succession” (aka Queen Anne’s War): 1701-1713 after death of
Charles II.
War of Jenkins Ear (1739): Logwood trade between England and Spain
* European Wars facilitated piracy and privateering throughout the Caribbean.

14. Buccaneers: 1650-80, mostly Protestant sea dogs of
England, northern France, and the Netherlands attacking
the ships of Catholic Spain.
Rounders: Pirates of the 1690’s moved to the Indian
Ocean and on the island of Madagascar. Here they could
voyage around Africa and into the Indian Ocean to loot
treasure ships of the East Indies (took more wealth than
any other pirates in history).
Pirate of the years 1717-1726: Were the most numerous
and successful of the three. Numbered around 4000 over
the decade.
Golden Age of Piracy
1650-1730

15. 1713-1726: Were the most numerous and successful of the three.
 Captured more vessels and did greater damage to trade then the combined
naval and privetering campaigns between Spain and France during the war
of Spanish succession.
 1719-1722: Bartholomew Roberts took over 400 vessels
 Edward Low took approximately 140 vessels
 4000 ships captured and plundered
 95% of all vessels taken and plundered happened between West Indies,
North America and West Africa.
1715-1728: Zero growth of English shipping!
When Pirates Roamed Free
1713-1726

16. Economics
War of Spanish Succession
(aka Queen Anne’s War)
1701-1713
 Indian decimation forced Spain to rely on African slaves operate
Creation of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Europe, Africa, New World
 1713: Treaty of Utrecht - Spain gave permission “Asiento” to Great Britain
to supply African slaves to Spanish territories in the Americas
 Surplus of sailors drive wages down coupled with poor living conditions
due to desire to maximize profits
 Increase in shipping trade increased pirates preying in the Caribbean
 Piracy flourished because of pirate friendly seaports such as Port Royal,
Tortuga, and Nassau
 Especially as gold and silver became less important, and replaced by
cash crops that could make men very rich (i.e. sugar, tobacco, and coco)

17. Atlantic Slave Trade

18. The Myth

19. Pyrates: The One’s You Don’t Want to Take
Home to Mother!
 Unlike Lore: The vast majority of pirates tried to avoid violence whenever
possible
 However, that did not stop some from committing some terrible deeds
 In order to gain information, sometimes they had to torture a person, killed
prisoners to keep them from escaping, or even make an example of a fellow
pirate who had turned against his crew
 Whatever the case, pirates had some fairly ingenious and gruesome ways of
murdering their enemies

20. Tied Murderers to Their Victims
& Threw Them Overboard
 Most people believe Pirates to be squabbling thugs who were constantly
fighting each other, but they were actually a rather sophisticated group of
people
 They operate as a democracy with each crewmember having a vote,
 Many did not tolerate crimes such as murder and rape
 Those who did kill a captive, or one of their crew, would often be
tied to the dead body as punishment and thrown overboard
 Certain death for the murderer as they sank to the bottom of the
ocean with their lifeless victim

21. Some Pirates Really Did
Make People “Walk the Plank”
 While “Walking the plank" was used very occasionally, it was often
considered too theatrical for common use
 However, the actual method of making someone walk the plank was also
much more horrific than films generally make it out to be
 Pirates would bind their prisoners with rope so that they could not swim
and weigh them down with cannonballs to ensure they would sink
 Finally, they would often drop the unfortunate captives into shark-infested
waters as a way of guaranteeing they would die

22. Pirates Tied Up Their Victims
and Pelted Them with Glass
 Sometimes, a pirate crew would come across someone who they really did
not like and wanted to humiliate
 A popular way of doing this was to tie them to the mast of a ship and then
hurl glass bottles and barrels at them
 The glass would easily cut through the victim's flesh as it broke, while the
heavy barrels could cause serious internal injuries

23. Forced Prisoners to Run Until
They Died of Exhaustion
 A sadistic form of torture was known as “sweating”
 Used as a form of psychological, as well as physical torture, as it was done in
front of the entire crew
 Also set an example to anyone else who thought of crossing the pirates
 Captain would force the prisoner to run up and down the deck of the ship
while attached to a rope
 While, at the same time, the rest of the crew would be poking and
stabbing the man with swords and other instruments, causing wounds
that would eventually lead to death

24. Keelhauling, a
Common Practice
 One of the worst ways to die at the hands of a pirate was through an act
known as keelhauling
 However, pirates were not the only group to use this method, as several
navies also saw fit to punish people using it
 The victim would be tied to a rope that looped around the entire length of
the boat. The crew would then drag the victim under the ship and keel
several times, leading to loss of limbs and even decapitation as they were
torn to pieces by the hard wood and barnacles
 Those who were not killed by the impact would undoubtedly drown

25. “The Really Bad Eggs”!
And Now……

26. Jacques de Sores
(aka "L'Ange Exterminateur")
 Leader of a band of Huguenot pirates and former lieutenant of
François le Clerc (aka "Pegleg" )
1553 - Le Clerc and Sores set out from France in three royal ships and a number of
privateers under commission from Francis I
1554 - Le Clerc raided Santiago de Cuba
 De Sores, in some accounts also, raided Santiago de Cuba
 Used Cayo Romano and Cayo Coco -archipelago of Jardine del Rey near
northern Cuban coast as a base of operations
1555 - Attacks Havana with between 2 to 20 ships
 Expecting to find stores of gold or ransom important members of the population, he
found neither:
 Upset – he destroyed fortress La Fuerza Vieja , razed Havana, burnt the ships in
the harbor and laid waste to much of the surrounding countryside
French pirate who sacked Havana, Cuba

27. François Le Clerc
(aka "Pie de Palo")
1st Pyrate in the modern era to have a "peg leg"
#13 Forbes Top-Earning Pirates
$8.2 million
Lost his leg while fighting the English in 1549
Led raids against the Spanish, who nicknamed him "Pie de Palo" ("Peg Leg")
1553: Raided San Germán, Puerto Rico, and looted ports of Hispaniola from
south to north. Sacked Santiago de Cuba in 1554 (1st capital of Cuba), which was
so devastating that it was eclipsed by Havana
Le Clerc and his crew (330) were first Europeans to settle island of Saint Lucia,
and used nearby Pigeon Island to target Spanish treasure galleons
1563: Pie de Palo was killed in the Azores while hunting Spanish treasure ships

28. François l’Olonnais
(aka Flail of the Spanish )
1635-1668
 Born Jean-David Nau; He Really, REALLY hated Spain!
 Psychopath: One of the most brutal, cruel and ruthless
pirates!
 Who after almost killed by Spaniards – spent rest of his life on an
anti-Spain rampage
 Raised a fleet of 8 ships (hundreds of men) to terrorize South America
Sacking Spanish-ruled cities, and capturing treasure ships
 Murdered for pleasure, raped and quartered his victims
 Beheaded an entire Spanish crew except one, who he sent back with
message: "I shall never henceforward give quarter to any Spaniard.”

29. 1668: Set sail for Honduras
 There, he captured several Spanish soldiers and interrogated them to
find the safest route to pass through to Central America
 Finding that his methods were not working, l’Olonnais cut open the chest
of a Spanish Soldier – cut his heart out and ate it in front of him!
 The end: l’Olonnais and his crew became stranded on coast of Darién
 Captured by Kuna aborigines
 Who killed, dismembered and cooked them all, except one, who
managed to escape
François l’Olonnais
(aka Flail of the Spanish )
1635-1668

30. Roche Braziliano
c. 1630 – disappeared c. 1671
Roasted Farmers Alive!
 Dutch pirate who lived between 1630 and 1671
 Operated mainly near island of Jamaica, where he would come into
constant conflict with Spanish farmers and sailors
 Particularly cruel and was described by people as a barbarian, thanks to his
violent rampages
 Once two farmers who refused to tell him where their pigs were located:
 He cut off their limbs and roasted them alive on a spit over a fire

31. 1668: Morgan sacked Portobelo, a valuable port, which saw all kinds of
precious commodities transit on way to Spain, including a vast amount of gold
 After taking over the city, he and his crew were unable to find all the
treasure and so he began to torture officials to find the loot
 The main method was called “woodling.”
 It involved strapping a leather cord around a person’s forehead and
then tightening it with a metal bar
 Those who didn’t reveal information quickly enough would die when
the pressure caused their eyeballs to pop out of their skulls
Sir Henry Morgan
1635 - 1688
Once Popped Out Prisoners' Eyes
Using a Metal Bar!

32. Sir Henry Morgan
1635 - 1688
 Gibraltar: Mid-17th century
 Came across a Portuguese man who was unwilling (or unable)
to hand over the treasure they were seeking
 His crew eventually tied up the civilian by his hands and feet to four
stakes before beating the rope with planks of wood, causing intense
vibrations throughout his body
 When he still didn’t give them the information they wanted, Morgan
and crew placed a 200-pound boulder on his stomach and burned him
all across his body

33. Daniel Montbars
1645–1707
Nailed His Victims’
Intestines to Posts
 Daniel Montbars, known as “Montbars the Exterminator” for his violent
and cruel nature
 One of the biggest enemies of the Spanish Empire and developed an
intense hatred of any Spaniards he met
 He did not like to murder anyone without reason
 However, he was merciless to any enemies that fought against him and
would brutally torture any surviving soldiers
 Favorite method: Cut open the stomach of a prisoner, pull out his
intestines, and nail them to a post while hitting the man with a burning log

34. Bartholomew Roberts
17 May 1682 – 10 February 1722
Black Bart Burned People
Alive on Their Own Ships!
 a.k.a Black Bart, developed a reputation for horrific methods
 Extreme violence, and lack of morals helped him, as he is arguably the
most successful pirate of all time
 Estimated to have captured up to 400 ships during his career
 Favorite ways of dealing with ships he had plundered was to simply set
them on fire and sail away
 Unfortunately, he often did not bother to get passengers or crew off the
ships before he set them alight
 In one instance, Black Bart burned 80 slaves alive when he didn’t want
to waste time unshackling them

35.  Often called the most vicious pirate to have ever lived
 Infamous for the maniacal violence he liked to inflict on his victims
 Although he had a rather short career, he quickly acquired an
enjoyment from carrying out extreme torture
 One act he developed saw him tie up the hands of his prisoners with rope
 Then insert lit matches between the fingers so that the rope would burn
 The flames would strip away the flesh and eventually burn down to the
bone, killing the person from blood loss and shock
Liked Burning Prisoners' Hands
Down to the Bone!
Edward Low
1690—1724

36. Edward Low
1690—1724
 Not uncommon for pirates to mutilate enemies and prisoners during
interrogations
 Standard mutilations often involved cutting off:
 Lips,
 Ears,
 Noses of the victim before they were simply left to die
 Edward Low was known to be particularly fond of this type of punishment
 Cut off the ears of one hapless sailor “and made him eat them himself
with pepper and salt.” *
 Once cut off the lips of a captain, boiled them, and then slaughtered the
entire crew
Like to Cut Off Victims’
Lips, Ears, and Noses!

37. Ching Shih
1775–1844
Would Nail Her Enemies' Feet to
The Decks of Their Own Ships!
 Began her life as a prostitute
 Rose through the ranks of Chinese pirate factions and eventually took
command of hundreds of ships when her husband died
 Her favorite method of dealing with rival crews and enemies was to nail
their feet to the deck of their own ship and proceed to beat them to death
 The only way out of this horrendous torture was to agree to join her
ranks and become part the Red Flag Fleet
 This not only sent a message to anyone who would stand against her but
also made sure she had plenty of replacement pirates to bolster her crews

38. “We're devils and black sheep,
we're really bad eggs”

40. Pirate Flag
(Jolly Roger)
 Terrorism: Intention to wage bloody
battle, aiming to achieve either victory
or death.
 Instrument of terror
 Symbology: Death, violence and
limited time
 “Old Roger”
 Devil
 “Man’s Yard” (18th century urban
slang)
 So to “Roger” was to…….
 complete the mission!
No wonder they were happy pirates!

41. 1719: a.k.a Black Bart
 Captured by Pirate Howell Davis and joins the pirates
 Ships all named Fortune: Fortune, Good Fortune, or Royal Fortune
 Between 1719-1722 seized approximately 470 vessels
 Democracy: Demanded participation on issues of the day
 Chivalrous but loathed the French!
 Governors of Barbados and Martinique tried to capture him.
 In anger hung the governor of Martinique from his own yardarm
1722: Killed from grapeshot fired from HMS Swallow's cannons (tore out his
throat). Obeying his standing order, his men threw his body overboard
 152 pirates were arrested: 52 Africans were sold back into slavery
 54 hanged; 37 sentenced to indentured servitude in West Indies
 Rest were acquitted because forced to join the crew against their will
Bartholomew Roberts
1682-1722
#5 Forbes- $35.2 million

42. Jack Rackham
1682- 1720
#19 Forbes -$1.6 million
 a.k.a Calico Jack: Wore calico; Cotton fabric, printed on one
Side (regarded as fancy apparel)
 Know for: His Jolly Roger, which popularized the design
 Had two women as part of his crew (Anne Bonny and Marie Read)
1719: Accepted pardon and moved to New Providence, where he met Anne
Bonny, who was married to James Bonny.
 Bonny left James and sailed the Caribbean with Calico Jack.
1720: Calico returned to piracy with Anne joining him (plus Mary Read).
1720: Captured by pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet, while at anchor (and
intoxicated) at Bry Harbour Bay in Jamaica.
1720: Tried in Jamaica, sentenced and executed in Port Royal on 11/18/1720,
 Gibbeted at Rackham's Cay (entrance to Port Royal).

43.  Illegitimate daughter of Mary Brennan and lawyer William McCormac
 Hot redhead: Said to have stabbed servant girl with a table knife
 Married pirate James Bonny: But bored in Nassau she meets "Calico Jack”
 Pregnant she escaped, had son in Cuba, then rejoined Rackham in
pirating. Bonny stabbed first person to complain about a woman
onboard
 Captured with Rackham she was convicted and sentenced to be hanged.
 “Pleaded their bellies“ (no record of release or death)
 Most likely: Father bought freedom and married her to Virginian Joseph
Buerliegh – Said to have had eight children and died in her 80's.
 Mary Read and Anne Bonny: Only women convicted of piracy during the
Golden Age
Anne Bonny
1702-1782
Born : Anne McCormac, Kinsale, Ireland
“Had you fought like a man, you need not
have been hang'd like a dog.”

44. Mary Read
1690-1721
 A.k.a Mark Read : Born illegitimate in England - disguised
as a boy after the death of Mary's older, legitimate brother
Mark (to receive financial support from paternal grandmother)
 Joined British military who were allied with Dutch against the French
(Spanish Succession)
 Married Flemish soldier (who died early)
 Peace: No advancement in military – boarded a ship bound for W. Indies
 Ship taken by pirates with whom she joined
 Took King's pardon c.1718-1719, became a privateer, until she mutinied
1720: Joined “Calico Jack" and Anne Bonny (both believed her to be a man)
 Divulged sex when accused by Rackham of having an affair w/ Bonny
 Died of fever while in prison, buried on 28 April 1721, St. Catherine's
church, Jamaica

45. Edward Teach
1680—1718
#10 Forbes - $12.5 million
 A.k.a. Black Beard
 AOR: West Indies & eastern coast of American colonies
on Queen Anne's Revenge (200 ton, forty-gun frigate)
 “Callsign” derived from his thick black beard
 Put burning matches under his hat; With face wreathed in fire and
smoke victims claimed he resembled a fiendish apparition from Hell
5/ 1718: Blockaded port of Charleston, S.C. Successfully ransomed
its inhabitants, he ran QAR aground on a sandbar near Beaufort, N.C.
6/ 1718: Royal pardon he retired and settled in Bath Town (now Bath, N.C).
But soon started piracy again.
11/1718: Royal Navy squadron led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard, killed him
 Blackbeard suffered a total of five bullet wounds and twenty slashes
with cutlass before he finally died off the coast of Ocracoke, N.C.

46. Useless Male Trivia

47. Scallywags and Scurvy Dogs

48. • Blackbeard: Didn’t like the use of force, relying instead on his fearsome
image to elicit the response he desired from those he robbed. No known
account of his ever having harmed or murdered those he held captive.
• Black Beards last toast: “Damnation seize my Soul if I give you quarters, or
take any from you!”
Useless Male Trivia I

49. • September 19th: Annual Talk like a Pirate Day
• January: Tampa Bay - Gasparilla Parade:
• Named for legendary pirate, Jose Gaspar, who terrorized the coastal
waters of West Florida during the 18th and early 19th centuries
• May:Lake Charles - Lafeyette Festival “Contraband Days.” Celebrates
Lafitte's exploits and the legend of buried treasure. Sail into the city’s
lake, capture the mayor, and make him "walk the plank.”
Useless Male Trivia II