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The Influence Of Pirates On New England

Good Essays

Vanessa Richardson
Mrs. Davis
English III (4)
17 April 2015
Title
The pirates who sailed the Atlantic and frequented the New England coast were made up of several different groups of men, and a few women, who attacked ships off the New England coast and had a rather large effect on parts of colonial America. Although the pirates who frequented these areas came from many different countries, many of those that that targeted the New England area and the waters around it, came from England during the rule of King James I During the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) there was a considerable devolvement of maritime power in England. However, as James I (1603-1625) came into power, he made a resolution to live at piece with all nations, causing …show more content…

To select a captain, pirates would look to those who lead by example. Valuable assets for a captain would include him being “Superior in knowledge and boldness” and have “Undaunted courage and excellent conduct” (Valler) It was also good to have a captain skilled in chasing and capturing a vessel with as little damage as possible to the ship and her cargo.
A captain’s power had many limitations. The only time a captain truly had complete power and say was during the pursuit of a prize or the evasion of capture. “The captain’s power is uncontrollable in chase or in battle, drubbing, cutting or even shooting anyone who dare denies his command.” (Valler) One of Bartholomew’s lutenists, Walter Kennedy confirmed during his trial. Although the captain held say over his crew during battle, any other time the only noticeable difference between captain and crew, was his title and a captain was usually sure to head to his crew’s …show more content…

A quartermaster is described as having “The general inspection of all affairs, and often controuls the captain’s orders: This person is also to be the first man in boarding any ship they shall attack” (Valler) Often one of the most trusted men on a ship, the quartermaster mediated arguments between pirates, selected the boarding party and over saw and kept accounting of any food, drink or share of treasure. The quartermaster could be compared to a sheriff, as he maintained peace on the ship
As shown by the findings of the sunken Whydah, the crew of a ship could be very diverse. They considered their nationality and social structure as ‘pirate’ and no matter the race of man, they were as free as men could be. On Samuel Bellamy’s ship, 30-50 men were former slaves, taken form slave ships. “They were truly a deviant subculture held together by a common spirit of revolt” (Webster) The average [orate crew was made of average men of average height of all

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