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The
roles of pirates and privateers are an integral part of the history of the
Bahamas. However, in many cases, it is impossible to separate the facts from the
legends. The activity of many of these pirates is well documented in
what is now Nassau, but their activity in the “out islands” is less well
documented. They came to these
islands to rest and relax. They
also came to these islands to careen their vessels in the shallow creeks, where
they cleaned and repaired their hulls. They knew
then as we do now that a clean bottom is essential for good
boat speed. In many cases the success of a “cruise” depended upon the
ability to speedily overtake their prey and out run their pursuers.
Be assured that the pirates invested more effort to clean the hulls of
their vessels than they did their own personal hygiene.
The distances and
geographical features which made settlement and government difficult in these
islands, also served to provide an ideal environment for those hiding from the
law and authority. Charles Town,
later Nassau, on the island of New Providence, became a major headquarters for
buccaneers, pirates, and privateers.
For the purist, there are
clear distinctions to be made between these various labels, however for the
pragmatist, the line becomes somewhat blurred.
Buccaneering arose spontaneously, among the French, against the Spanish.
This unauthorized reaction was soon imitated, successfully, by the
English. Sir Henry Morgan was one
of the early successful “buccaneers” who made life miserable for Spanish
shipping. He, among others made
Nassau his home base. The Spanish, in reprisal for his successes, nearly demolished
Charles Town (Nassau).
During
war, this was considered legal so
long as it was directed toward the enemy. Looting
became legitimate, but few could contain themselves to their legal targets. Most
believe the earlier Capt. Wyatt (1594) stayed for the most part on the legal
side of that very fine line .
The
first recorded act of “piracy” in the Bahamas occurred in September 1713.
A French ship had sailed from Santo Domingo bound for France.
The ship was loaded with sugar, gold, and indigo.
The owner of the cargo was on board.
Off the island of Inagua, a fire broke out.
While the pilot worked to put out the fire, the master of the vessel ran
her aground on a shallow sand bar, with no apparent damage to the ship.
The master made no attempt
to refloat the ship, but he just happened to have “friends” in the area who
appeared in small boats to “save” the cargo.
The owner of the cargo and the pilot of the vessel later complained in
court. I’m sure you can imagine
the difficulty of proving such allegations.
In 1714, the Spanish
treasure fleet carrying the Royal taxes back to Spain ran into a hurricane and
was washed ashore on the shallow reefs of Florida. While the Spanish authorities were attempting salvage
operations, Henry Jennings catapulted his career as a privateer by attacking and
robbing the poorly defended salvage divers.
He then found it expedient to establish a “home base” in Nassau,
where it was relatively easy to elude the Spanish Navy.
Jennings
and many others of his “profession” found New Providence an ideal home base.
The harbor was well protected and had two entrances, which made it extremely
difficult for a single ship to completely “bottle-up” the harbor.
Additionally there was an ample supply of fresh water, fish, turtle, and
wild game for reprovisioning the vessels.
The
island was well positioned between the westbound shipping lanes carrying needed
provisions from Europe, and the eastbound shipping lanes taking gold and silver
back to Europe. Other pirate captains soon joined Jennings and his band. The present site of Nassau literally became an impromptu city
of two to three thousand inhabitants living in tents, huts, and onboard ships.
Jennings became the unofficial mayor.
The pirate economy prompted a significant “service industry” of
traders, followers, and smugglers. In
today’s jargon, they developed a significant “spin-off” industry,
“fencing” the stolen merchandise. Redistribution channels included fellow
pirates as well as legitimate markets in the Carolinas and the Spanish Main.
New
Providence probably offered the wildest frontier of the entire New World.
Yet these uneducated, unruly rascals seemed able to govern themselves
with a kind of democracy unknown in the civilized world at that time!
These independent minded outlaws possessed the same spirit of
independence and sense of freedom which drove Alexander Hamilton and Thomas
Jefferson down a more constructive path. Not
only did these pirate captains run their ships democratically, but they also
established a democratic society in New Providence.
This sociological phenomenon is quite interesting when you consider the
fact that these individuals were not reared in a society where voting was a
household word! They also lacked
intellectual contact with the outside world.
There has been no satisfactory explanation of how this community derived
its concept of self government. Jennings
became the recognized leader of this motley band, but, relying heavily on a
council of the other pirate captains, demonstrated
uncanny “political sense”.
Edward Teach, alias
“Blackbeard”, was one of those pirate captains who made a home base at New
Providence. Teach was one of the
few who rejected King George I’s amnesty offer in 1718. He chose to leave the Bahamas and pursue his career in the
Carolinas. “Blackbeard”
intentionally promoted his image as a brutal cutthroat, solely as an act
of psychological warfare. Teach, a natural leader and politician, struck a business
“deal” with Governor Eden of North Carolina.
He agreed to pay the governor a percentage of his profits.
From this new base, he continued his successful career, until Governor
Alexander Spotswood of Virginia, commissioned Lieutenant Robert Maynard and
Captain Ellis Brand of the Royal Navy to hunt down the infamous pirate. Lt.
Maynard of the Pearl caught Blackbeard in shallow Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina.
There, in a bloody battle, Maynard personally fought Blackbeard to the
death. At “autopsy”, Blackbeard was found to have been shot
twenty three times and had numerous cutlass wounds.
During his life, he was credited with having fourteen wives. Some of his
prowess can be credited to the conch he ate while stationed in the Bahamas!
Governor Spotswood of
Virginia, who actually had jurisdiction over the Bahamas, was probably
instrumental in persuading the king to send Woodes Rodges to New Providence as
governor, to clean up the pirate situation.
Captain Woodes Rogers was
an English sea captain and privateer, who had received much acclaim after his
voyage around the world. In those
days, it was unusual for a private citizen to embark upon such an adventure,
much less complete it successfully. Not
only was his privateering a tremendous financial success, but it came at a time
when the British made heroes of fellows like Rogers, Henry Morgan and Sir
Francis Drake. Part of his
popularity at home can be attributed to the fact that he chronicled his voyage
in what became a best selling book in its day, A
Cruising Voyage around the World. In his book, he detailed the rescue of
Alexander Selkirk a Scottish seaman found marooned in the South Pacific.
This real life story became the basis for Defoe’s Robinson
Crusoe. One can’t help but
speculate why such a man, given to writing and documentation, chose not to
document so well his adventures as the first real governor of the Bahamas!
In 1718 King George I
sent Captain Rogers to New Providence as the new governor.
News of the royal pardon preceded Captain Rogers to New Providence
because one of the pirate ships had actually captured a ship carrying a bundle
of the reprinted proclamation, intended for distribution throughout the New
World.
The entire population of
the island was expecting him when Captain Rogers arrived with two warships, the Rose
and the Delicia accompanied by two small sloops Shark and Buck.
With this small fleet, Rogers was able to secure both entrances to the
harbor at New Providence. This
flotilla would not have been able to overpower the entire pirate community, but
the Royal pardon had left the pirates divided.
Some, including Henry Jennings, the founder of this pirate colony had
already returned from Bermuda, where they had sailed to accept the royal pardon. Edward Teach (Blackbeard) had left in advance of Captain Rogers’ arrival to continue his
career in the Carolinas with no intention of accepting the King’s pardon.
Only Charles Vane and
crew were inclined to fight. Knowing that they were trapped, he accepted the
pardon provided he could keep the stolen goods in their possession.
Rogers, believing that the pardon was already sufficiently generous,
declined to answer.
Vane, not inclined to
part with his recently acquired wealth, and trapped in a small harbor by a much
larger force, awaited darkness. They
prepared their recent prize, an ex-French brigantine for a daring role in their
nighttime escape. The guns of the
French ship were loaded and pointed forward, toward Rogers’ Rose
and Shark at anchor. The
ship was then set sail in the general direction of the anchored ships and the
ship was set on fire. The unmanned
fire ship continued her course directly toward the Royal Navy vessels.
As the cannon began to explode, the crews of the navy vessels were forced
to cut their anchor rodes in order to save their vessels from a fiery collision.
When the powder magazine exploded, the sky lit up enough to see Vane’s
sloop escaping in the night. Vane
then continued his pirate activity along the coast of the Carolinas. When in the
Bahamas, he found safe haven in Green Turtle Cay. Vane later lost his ship to
“Calico Jack” Rackam, when his crew voted him out.
When Vane was finally
captured, he had shipped aboard a merchant vessel as an ordinary seaman.
He was recognized by another captain and former pirate, put in chains and
turned over to the authorities. At
his trial, among his documented offenses was the taking of the sloop John
and Elizabeth off the coast of Abaco. For
his many acts of piracy he was hanged on March 29. 1720.
“Calico Jack” Rackam,
who took over Charles Vane’s ship was another one of the few pirates who
refused the pardon brought to Nassau by Capt. Rogers. Rackam is really best known because of two members of his
crew! Anne Bonney and Mary Read
both gained notoriety as the only two documented cases of female pirates in the
New World. They each hid their sex,
dressing and fighting as men alongside the other members of the crew.
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