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Essays on modern piracy
The importance of piracy
The importance of piracy
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Recommended: Essays on modern piracy
Montaser Huq
Abstract
This essay is aimed at understanding why someone would resort to piracy and justifying its cause. To become a pirate there are 2 options, mutiny or volunteering. Both options give a seaman a chance to survive. There are three reasons why seamen would resort to piracy: money, freedom, and necessity. When a seaman takes up piracy he becomes an outlaw. However, when a country sends their privateers- who were really pirates, only they worked under a letter of marque- they are some how exempt from being an outlaw.
Becoming A Pirate Piracy has had a significant impact on our society. However, trying to justify what an act of piracy is and what is not,
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They weren’t making any money or nearly enough on the navy ship. And the reason why money was such a big issue is because generally the life of a seaman wasn’t very long. “Pirates did not expect to live long, nor did their criminal reputations allow them to settle down and invest in real estate, family, or the future.”(Dawdy 2012:679) The job was dangerous and came with many risks. The conditions on pirate ships were also more appealing to navy sailors. They saw these men living life in their own terms, making money, and enjoying the job. So, when the opportunity arose they accepted. Money became freedom to them. As Dawdy explains, “Pirates exerted social pressure upon one another not only to share their gains but to spend them lavishly in port havens such as Tortuga and Port Royal on instant gratifications such as liquor and prostitution, and on extravagant consumables such as fancy clothes and jewelry.”(2012:679) With money they could do anything they wished. Their money was spent mostly on alcohol and women, but at least they felt in charge of their
Cordingly’s book Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates tells the story of many different pirates of different time periods by the facts. The book uses evidence from first hand sources to combat the image of pirates produced by fictional books, plays, and films. Cordingly explains where the fictional ideas may have come from using the evidence from the past. The stories are retold while still keeping the interest of the audience without having to stray from the factual
Phillips, Richard, and Stephan Talty. A captain's duty: Somali pirates, Navy Seals, and dangerous days at sea. New York: Hyperion, 2010.
Money was tough for people to come by. As Dobie says, “Money sure can buy nice stuff can’t it? Boy, if you had the dough you sure could fix up a swell house. (Bell, 309) Money could do so much for person. Often times there was not enough money to buy meat or pay the bills. Money would come in on paydays and often that would be the only day when the family had money. Like when Francka sar...
The word "privateer" conjures a romantic image in the minds of most Americans. Tales of battle and bounty pervade the folklore of privateering, which has become a cherished, if often overlooked part of our shared heritage. Legends were forged during the battle for American independence, and these men were understandably glorified as part of the formation of our national identity. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of these men were common opportunists, if noteworthy naval warriors. The profit motive was the driving force behind almost all of their expeditions, and a successful privateer could easily become quite wealthy. In times of peace, these men would be common pirates, pariahs of the maritime community. Commissioned in times of war, they were respected entrepreneurs, serving their purses and their country, if only incidentally the latter. However vulgar their motivation, the system of privateering arose because it provided a valuable service to thecountry, and indeed the American Revolution might not have been won without their involvement. Many scholars agree that all war begins for economic reasons, and the privateers of the war for independence contributed by attacking the commercial livelihood of Great Britain's merchants.
5. Rediker, Marcus. 2004. Villains of all nations: Atlantic pirates in the golden age. London [u.a.]: Verso.
Piracy is typically an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea ( History of Piracy, )
Starting with the common necessities of everyday life, hardships were of many aboard the ships of the sea. Days on the water without stop would surely leave any seamen lacking food and supplies. Now more specifically for pirates, crew members would have to rest in hammocks or on the wooden decks. Only the highest ranked members of a pirate ship would get to sleep in actual beds and cabins such as the captain.(Jenson-Elliott) In addition, their sleep would be stretched even more when battles occurred at night. The Barbarossa brothers and their crews snuck up on islands at night in order to gain an advantage, but this would require the pirate crews to stay attentive and possibly fight, very late in the night.(Little) Aside from lack of sleep, pirates also had to face things like brutal storms, wounds, gore and the possibility of seasickness. Some wounds would cripple pirates bad enough that they couldn’t fight and had to become cooks.(Jenson-Elliott) These are just a few hardships; the list goes on, and pirates had to endure it
Elements such as mermaids, the “Fountain of Youth”, and everlasting life are not realistic and are clearly added to the film for entertainment value. However, this film could be helpful in sparking an interest in the general public on the subject of pirates. The film includes actual pirates, like Edward Teach, that may spark an interest in a viewer enough to look into the character. This interest may not have been sparked through a historical documentary because it does not have the same entertainment value as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The use of Hollywood films in understanding the history of pirates can be important in the visual representation of pirates. While reading about the history of pirates is the clear and scholarly way to gain information, it may be difficult for some students to create a visual of the people that were involved in piracy. Films allow for an instant visual to the people involved in the history that inspired the story. Reading can also be a useful way to teach the public factual history, empathy and emotion are much easier to obtain through film because the viewer is able to connect to the characters and find similarities between the content and their own lives. Through this ability for viewers to connect to the characters and themes in the film, it makes this film useful in understanding the history of
The Golden Age of Piracy began around 1650, and ended around 1730. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, but can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the criminal. The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. A pirate is one who commits robberies at sea, usually without being allotted to do so by any particular nation. The usual crime for piracy can include being hung, or publically executed. Some of the most famous pirates who were killed either because of piracy, or because of natural causes, are Barbarossa, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Greaves, William Kidd, Jean Laffite, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Giovanni da Verrazano.
The structure of eighteenth century society made this necessary, especially for the lower classes; a family's income would be totally based on the earning power of the man. Thus, logic dictated that he control all the finances. Even so, some of the l...
Routine activity theory satisfies the answer to why ransom, resources, and waste piracy occurs. The theory provides insight and an alternative approach to the notion that pirates terrorists, seeking money and power. Piracy will continue until the international community recognizes Somalia’s instability, the illegal dumping of waste and extraction of resources occurring in Somali waters. Resources and waste piracy would cease with the reformation of Somalia’s government. If authority figures were present, the illegal intruders could be held accountable for their actions. An improvement in Somalia’s economy would reduce, if not prevent, ransom piracy from occurring. If Somalis had valuable and paying occupations on land, they would not need to resort to other means of compensation (Bahadur 2011).
Although Britain cannot be blamed though for lack of trying, piracy still exists today. Yet, because the act continues at sea often far from land, it gains little media attention, and therefore less action from governments. China, despite being a number one producer of pirates, continues to deny that there is a problem while at the same time often pardoning those who are caught. Countries such as Indonesia and Philippines, which have been hardest hit in the past few years by pirates, are looking for international assistance. The West is, of course, looked to for solutions yet choose seemingly chooses to turn a blind eye, perhaps in the name of diplomacy. When the world is ready to combat the perpetual problem of piracy, it may discover that by intertwining tougher policies aimed at dealing with piracy with current or future trade negotiations, productive steps can be taken to initiate plans to curtail modern day sea wolves who prey on the helpless. The suggestion of ‘Piracy Charters’ will be discussed further as the means of which to add the topic of to multilateral agreements.
The pirate code as it is called in the movie could be considered an analogy to U.S. Constitution for being rules that it’s citizens follow that make up the very being of what makes an American an American or what makes a pirate, a pirate. Becoming a pirate was basically the original American Dream, the idea of coming to America to free oneself and be given a chance to make a name for themselves as well, this is the same for pirates leaving British control and being able to live freely and claim fame for themselves. This is shown in the movie when they go to Tortuga and the town is in anarchy, yet everyone is happy to be free and even though it doesn’t look like it the town is still thriving. Pirates are just men who are looking for a better life beyond what they are living now without the constraints that the government put on them while they were citizens. Americans are the same way and that was how the United States came to be formed because the US didn’t not accept the control that Britain had, so they fought back to free themselves and develop a new country. The diversity of America could also be seen in the Captain Jack Sparrow’s crew, which included African-Americans, women, midgets, and a parrot. This also goes for any of the pirate crew presented in the movie, while the British soldiers are all Caucasian and almost all the citizens
“Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships,” The International Maritime Organization, Accessed March 26th, 2014. http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Pages/Default.aspx
paid for. The pirate has a set of excuses for his actions: prices are too high;