When you think of “pop culture” images of pirates, the first thing that comes to mind is Hollywood’s representation, through movies like “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Hook.” Through these representations, we have become accustomed to believing that all pirates are in search of some hidden treasure and were creating sea crimes without much thought of the consequences that may come. As we have come to learn through lecture and readings, pirates are often intentionally misled through pop culture in order to create a better story. Throughout this paper, I will show that piracy throughout the sixteenth to nineteenth century are vastly mis portrayed and often had major influences on local economies, worked closely with the government and was not a male only profession.
One of the most common misrepresentations is that piracy was strictly a male only profession. While piracy was dominated by males throughout history, there are some female pirates who played major roles throughout history. One of the most famous female pirates is Grace O’Malley. O’Malley made a name for herself for her piracy off the Irish Coast. O’Malley is painted as a fearless leader who came to be known as the “Irish Pirate Queen,” and routinely defied the English crown. Another prominent female pirate that we have learned about is Cheng I Sao. Sao became a pirate through her marriage and took over her husband’s fleet after his death. Sao is painted as a “military” pirate who oversaw a large fleet of ships and pirates. In addition to controlling a large fleet of ships, Sao famously created the pirate laws, which laid the code of conduct and specifically included rules and regulations for female pirates. While O’Malley and Sao are clear representations of the female presence in piracy, modern pop-culture often refuses to acknowledge their existence. You see this clearly throughout the movie “Treasure Island.”
Throughout Disney’s 1950 film, you will notice that the entire cast is male. Throughout the movie, there is no indication of any kind that there are female pirates and goes to great lengths to show that it is male only business. The second major misconception that pop-culture portrays is that piracy has a negative effect on the local nation’s economy. Through movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, we have come to believe that pirates attempt to steal the crowns gold or treasure, hurting the economy. Through Adrian Tinniswood’s book, Pirates of Barbary, we see that pirates had a major impact on the local economy. One factor that pirates contributed to the economy was through the slave trade. As pirates raided and captured ships, they often enslaved the shipmates of the occupied ship. Once the slaves had been captured the Pirates would take them to the Middle East to be sold into slavery. These slaves provided significant funding for the pirates to continue their work while also allowing new demographics and knowledge to travel into the Middle East, improving their economy.
We also see in Pirates of Barbary that pirates, like John Ward, often relocated to the North African coast after being released as privateers. Pirates like Ward relocated to areas like Tunis, Algiers, Tangiers and Tripoli due to the state’s acceptance and reliability on piracy. Throughout the Barbary states, pirates were given places to fix and dock their ships and were allowed to sell stolen goods in the local market. Another example of how piracy improved the economy was through the investment pirates received to raid the high seas. We learned through lecture that pirates were often backed by an “investor.” As the pirates raided ships and occupied their good, they often repaid their investors with “interest,” increasing the profits for the investors, which in turn would be used in their local economy. With the impact that pirates had on local economies in mind, its important to remember that pirates often worked closely with local governments.
In modern pop culture, we often see that pirates were always enemies to the state. We see through movies and books that pirates are often portrayed as the “good guys,” while the government is the “bad guy,” trying to squander the pirate’s plans. You see this through the film Captain Blood. Throughout the movie, Peter Blood leads a crew against the British Crown. We have come to learn that pirates often were created out of their contracts, as privateers, with the government. Privateers were contracted by local authorities to raid and fight the government’s enemy ships Some of the most famous pirates throughout history were hired as privateers. Sir Francis Drake was contracted by the Queen Elizabeth of England to attack Spanish ships and ports throughout the Caribbean. Through his work, Drake was able to help the English push back the Spanish while also returning to England with large amounts of money and goods for the crown. Drake is only one example of the many privateers hired by governments to help with their expansion, especially in the Americas.
