OUTLAWS OF THE OCEAN

Pirates – outlaws of the ocean – had influence far beyond the limits of their small sailing ships. These scoundrels used fear to scare honest sailors into surrendering without a fight. Many pirates deliberately fed their reputation. Blackbeard braided his massive beard and adopted a flag featuring a skeleton, spears and blood-red hearts. Others used torture. One ferocious pirate, annoyed at a mouthy prisoner, sewed the man’s lips together and left him marooned on a deserted island to die.

While pirates were certainly stateless outlaws, they were not lawless. They developed their own customs to survive the cramped life on board ship. Pirates hated authority and subservience. Pirate captains were often elected. Many crews voted together on the ship’s biggest decisions. New crew members joining a ship signed articles or took a loyalty oath. Captured sailors who had useful skills were given a choice to take the oath, or get tossed to the sharks.

Piracy, particularly in its Golden Age between 1650 and 1720, was fed by the Spanish treasure ships voyaging between the Americas and Europe on routes just a few hundred kilometres south of Atlantic Canada. Pirates loved the sunny waters of the Carribean and the Mediterranean, but they also found victims as far north as Newfoundland.

In the late 1700s, governments cracked down on pirates to make the oceans safe for trade. If caught by authorities pirates were sure to hang. Having nothing to lose, many died fighting navy ships from France, Portugal and England. The captured were hung in cages at the mouth of harbours as a sinister warning to others.