The Pirate Republic

The Golden Age of Piracy has come to describe the decade between 1715 and 1725 where, with the Treaty of Utrecht bringing an end to Britain’s involvement in the War of the Spanish Succession, a number of enterprising and ruthless commodores had taken to the seas for private gain.

British sailors had suffered particular hardship with the signing of the treaty and the Royal Navy’s subsequent mothballing of its enormous fleet. This left sailors out of work, and those who did find employment saw their wages slashed in the new economic climate.

Indeed, dissatisfaction was so prevalent among those who sailed with merchant vessels or those still working with the Royal Navy that very often, when captured by pirates (or buccaneers as the Caribbean operatives became known), many men immediately switched sides. On board a pirate vessel, not only would they stand to boost their wages, but they would also enjoy a less stringent brand of discipline. One famous example of maritime defection is the standoff between Bahaman pirates and HMS Phoenix in 1718, where, under the cover of darkness, a clutch of Royal Navy men sneaked off to join