1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so 3 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. This is a big moment in 4 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: our history today because we figured out this is gonna 5 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,279 Speaker 1: be a two parter before we started recording, which is 6 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: just huge for us. I know, just exercising a little 7 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: bit of forethought goes a long way. Uh and and 8 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: I thank you Ben for for pointing that out. It's 9 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: it is a milestone. Indeed, for a second, I thought 10 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: you were gonna some like historic anniversary or something, but 11 00:00:58,200 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: but I realized that was not the case. I'm so 12 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: sorry you're Ben. Yeah, your knowl uh huh. I continue 13 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: to be yes. And that's our super producer, Casey Pegram, 14 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram. How do you feel about this? Case he 15 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: does that mean we're gonna like not have to retroactively 16 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:18,320 Speaker 1: like shoehorn in our little bumpers, or we we apologize 17 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: for making it a two parter. This is this is 18 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: brand new territory we're exploring here today. Yeah, it's crazy. 19 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: We're gonna get to think about the outro and the 20 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: intro and where to split it. And yeah, it's it's 21 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: gonna be gonna be interesting. It's a lot of fresh Yeah, 22 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: we better get it right, Yes, well we'll we'll, we'll 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: get It's something I think this This is a fascinating episode, 24 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: fascinating topic today. It's something that the three of us 25 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: were not very aware of before we started working with 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: Gabe and diving into this story. But long story short, 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: the headline for this is that Jamaica was once the 28 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: h Q for Jewish pirates, which is some thing that 29 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: you know, when we think of pirates, most people think 30 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: of like Pirates of the Caribbean, some kind of um 31 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: Johnny Depp esque ragamuffin in rogue, right, lovable rogue. But 32 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: the truth is different. Pirates were very diverse. They depending 33 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: on the ship. They had a more democratic existence than 34 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: a lot of laborers at the time. But we're going 35 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: to explore a story about pirates that you may not 36 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: have heard before. If I might read a small exerpt 37 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: from Ed Kritzler's Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean. Speaking of which, guys, 38 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: quick poll, do you say Caribbean or Caribbean? I go 39 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: back and forth. Yeah, in the same way. It's kind 40 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: of uh, I don't know whatever sounds good in the moment. 41 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: I mean sure feels to me like the Ride of Disneyland. 42 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: Is Pirates of the Caribbean. Absolutely yes, And that phrase 43 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: it's always Caribbean cool. It's like data or data, or 44 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: if you're talking about that billy ocean song, it's Caribbean 45 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: the ocean in the desert, or you would say like 46 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: Caribbean food. You wouldn't say Caribbean food, right. See, Okay, 47 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: that this is great. We have cleared this up entirely. 48 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 1: It's definitely a tastemaker type situation. But also there are 49 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: clear cases where one or the other is more appropriate. 50 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: We can put that to bed now. So again, back 51 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: to the eggs a Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean at 52 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: the dawn of the Age of Discovery, when Spain's monarchs 53 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: banished them to purify and thereby unite their nation, followers 54 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: of the Law of Moses sailed with the explorers and 55 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: marched with the conquistadors. With the discovery and settlement of 56 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: the New World, they took solace in the hope of 57 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: finding there a haven, or at least putting distance between 58 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: themselves and the Holy Terror. Yeah, you know what, let's 59 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: let's go ahead and carry this out a little bit further. 60 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: So Chritzler goes on to say that unlike a lot 61 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: of other explorers, these individuals didn't have a home to 62 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: return to. They were some of the quote unquote foreigners 63 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: to permanently settle in the New World, and a lot 64 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: of them kept their religious beliefs secret, particularly like how 65 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: he breaks down in this next quote where he says 66 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: Jewish explorers, can quistadors, cowboys, and pirates were similar in 67 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: spirit to other settlers. But while others came to conquer, 68 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: search for gold, and collect a his words, not ours 69 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,719 Speaker 1: quote bevy of Indian women, they came as well to 70 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: settle a land beyond the tentacles of the Inquisition. This 71 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: early history is largely unknown because few knew these pioneers 72 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: were Jewish. They would pose often as Christians to avoid 73 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: further persecution in the New World. That's right, and I'm 74 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: assuming Ben in that movie trailer esque exert I read 75 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: from Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, the Holy Terror is 76 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: referring to those that would persecute them for their faith, 77 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: like them being Jewish, and the Holy Terror being what 78 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: the status quo of just Christiane entity Catholicism Inquisition. Yes, 79 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: that's right. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition except when you do, 80 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: and you become a pirate to escape it. M hm. 81 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: And it's strange. It's it's history that is still relatively 82 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: obscure to a lot of people. Each colony in the 83 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: New World had an underground community of Jewish people that 84 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: were known only to each other and to some other 85 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: Jewish people maybe in adjacent colonies or nearby colonies. According 86 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: to Chritzler, and this is also quote un pulling from 87 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 1: The Daily Beast on the Jewish pirates of the Caribbean. Caribbean, Caribbean, 88 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: I'm gonna be thinking about that. But according to Chritzler, 89 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: these individuals did pretty well in the economy of the 90 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: time as merchants, as traders and ship owners. And as 91 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,359 Speaker 1: long as they kept up kind of a lip service 92 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 1: pretense towards Christianity, and as long as they did a 93 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: good job as shippers, as merchants and traders, no one 94 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: bothered to question them two closely. But once they established 95 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: this massive trade network, the powers that be started to 96 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: consider them expendable. Yeah, it's true, and it really was 97 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: a case of fleeing where they wanted to go someplace 98 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: that they would not be persecuted for for those secrets 99 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: and for their faith. And oftentimes some of these uh 100 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: these Jewish merchants of the Sea uh fled to Middle 101 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: Eastern countries like those in the Ottoman Empire, and another 102 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: huge wave of these folks landed in Jamaica. In fact, 103 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: there were so many Jewish folks fleeing for Jamaica that 104 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: they actually occupied a massive number of Jamaican legislative seats. 105 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: So many in fact, that in the nineteenth century, Jamaica's 106 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:05,479 Speaker 1: parliament was the only one in the New World that 107 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: didn't have sessions on Saturdays because of Shabbat. It's fascinating 108 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: and tragic how European expansion across the Atlantic Ocean occurred 109 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: in step with a new wave of anti Semitism. The 110 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: same month that Crystal Bald Cologne or Columbus UH set 111 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: sail right trying to find a route to Asia, King 112 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: Ferdinand and Queen Isabella actually ordered the expulsion of all 113 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: Muslims and Jews from Spain, and then Portugal followed up. 114 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: So people are trying to escape somewhere, to your point, 115 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: and Jamaica became a I don't know, a home away 116 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: from home of sorts. It was anomalous at this time 117 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: because Jamaica was essentially a private possession of Christopher Columbus 118 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: and his family. He had been awarded the ownership of 119 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: Jamaica in perpetuity back in Does that mean he personally 120 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: benefited from any of their cash crops and exports and 121 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,360 Speaker 1: things like that, like it was that even a thing? Yet, 122 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: like all that sugarcane and other farming commodities that would 123 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: come out of Jamaica, which we know was a thing. 124 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: He owned everything, you know what I mean? That's wild man, 125 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: that is wild. Yeah. And before we before we think 126 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: that is just something consigned to the dustbin of history, 127 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: I will point out there is an island in Hawaii 128 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: that is owned by a single family. It's a big island, 129 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: and they also h They also suppressed technology there. You 130 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: literally cannot go. It's like a fiefdom. But anyway, that's 131 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: what Christopher Columbus had and his heirs, who you know, 132 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:53,959 Speaker 1: inherited Jamaica from him, kept their domain free from the inquisition. 133 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: So it does make sense for the Jewish diaspora to 134 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: travel there because it's one of the places and can't 135 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: get you, that's right. And then in sixti UM. This 136 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: was a year after a lot of Jewish refugees um 137 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: had arrived in Jamaica from Dutch Brazil, which is a thing. 138 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: The island wasn't being particularly looked after by It's uh. 139 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: I guess what do you call it? Like it's it's viceroy. 140 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 1: I don't know what. What would columbus of an owner? 141 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: I guess he wasn't doing a pretty shoddy job of 142 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: taking care of business and keeping a good watch on 143 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:38,079 Speaker 1: his possession. And it was seized by Britain, totally hijacked, 144 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: pulled out from under him. No more island for Chrissy 145 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,559 Speaker 1: Colombo yep. And the leader of this attack was one 146 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:49,200 Speaker 1: Admiral William Penn, who will go on to be the 147 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: father of William Penn Jr. Who will go on to 148 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:57,680 Speaker 1: later found Pennsylvania. Religious freedom was in pretty good shape 149 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: under the British rule. By Seventh Team twenty somewhere around 150 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: of the residents of Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, were 151 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: descendants of Spanish Portuguese Jews, So at this point the 152 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: Jamaican Jewish population was pretty well entrenched and they were 153 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: looking for some more opportunities at sea, some adventures, if 154 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: you will, and they started captain ng ships. This j 155 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: Post dot com article lists a few, uh, one of 156 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: which was the Queen Esther, the Prophet Samuel, and the 157 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: Shield of Abraham. So they were really leaning into their 158 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: Jewish faith with the mast heads, you know, of their 159 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: of their of their ships, right and um, they really 160 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: started kind of clustering around the Caribbean looking for sunken 161 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: treasure and sometimes straight up robbing people. Yes, yeah, that's 162 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: that's correct. We will mention though that they had a 163 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: specific bias. They wanted to a tax Spanish and Portuguese 164 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:05,640 Speaker 1: ships because this was seen as payback for the torture 165 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,199 Speaker 1: of Jewish people conducted by the Inquisition. This was also, 166 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: by the way, retaliation for confiscation of property. We have 167 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: to remember when the Inquisition persecutes people, they often have 168 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: laws that incentivize the investigators, the inquisitors. Uh. In one 169 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,959 Speaker 1: of those laws is the idea that if you can 170 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: punish someone right for blasphemy or punish them for being 171 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: a witch or whatever, then you are entitled to all 172 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: or some of their worldly goods. So sometimes people were 173 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:43,440 Speaker 1: getting persecuted just because they were well to do, but 174 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: then also socially vulnerable. So the some of these crews, 175 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: we have to be very clear about this, Some of 176 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: these crews did not see themselves as criminals so much 177 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: as like adventurers and people fighting the power that was 178 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: the Inquisition. This is where we get to really I 179 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: think a fun part of the episode, which is busting 180 00:12:07,559 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: some pirate myths. They set it up at the beginning. 181 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:15,800 Speaker 1: But casey, as you guys know, pirrating was kind of egalitarian, 182 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: like surprisingly so back then, Yeah, that's right. I mean 183 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: you think of pirates is like almost like vikings, which 184 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: also that we didn't we bust some Viking myths recently 185 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: in our our Unicorn Horn episode, so similarly so, they 186 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,839 Speaker 1: were more organized than one would think when would be 187 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: led to believe you think that vikings and pirates alike 188 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: were just bloodthirsty rapers and pillagers, and there certainly was 189 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: some of that going on, but they had a pretty 190 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: egalitarian situation where it was much more democratic than you 191 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: would be led to believe. Um, there was a sense 192 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: of equality among the ranks of some of these pirates, 193 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: and that is a big part of what attracted some 194 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: of these displaced Jews to join in that lifestyle because 195 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: it looked like an opportunity to be treated as equals 196 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: um and to make a little cash while they were 197 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: at it. Pirates were not just you know, going willing 198 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: nilly up and down the coast, burning things to the 199 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: ground with no sense of order. Um. They were totally 200 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: organized in fans of democracy. Right, yeah, yeah, that's right. 201 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:23,599 Speaker 1: And it's not necessarily because of some sort of noble 202 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: altruistic motivation. It's because it's better for business. It's a 203 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: more sustainable model, So that's why they would do things 204 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: like elect their captain. It's brilliant when you think about it. 205 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: You know, this is an age where they're still like 206 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 1: press gangs and people are getting their drinks drugged somewhere 207 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: in Europe and they're waking up as essentially a slave 208 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,120 Speaker 1: on a ship. But in the world of piracy, the 209 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: crew can elect their captain, which means the crew probably 210 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: picks a captain they like and a mutiny is less likely. 211 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 1: They also elect the quartermaster. The captain has like emergency 212 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: powers you could call them, but otherwise he has to 213 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: check with the gang if he wants to do stuff 214 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: during peacetime. I think it's inspiring. I'm not saying that 215 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: I can do in piracy here that I would want 216 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: to live on a pirate ship, but I think the 217 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: power of the vote is cool, and I think it's 218 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: really cool that pirates knew that. Wouldn't it be funny 219 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: if the word quartermaster was actually pronounced something like quormster, 220 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: you know, sort of the way boat swain's pronounced bosen, 221 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: one of these inexplicable nautical terms that just does not 222 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: read at all on paper the way it's pronounced, or 223 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: Worcester exactly like Worcester. What if quartermaster was actually quister? 224 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: I don't know, just spitball in here, but it's true. Um. 225 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: I mean, the the captain certainly was the you know, 226 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:50,000 Speaker 1: the boss, but it was a power that came with respect, 227 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: literally the respect of his underlings, I guess, because they're 228 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 1: the ones that put this person in powers. You're absolutely right, 229 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: ben Um. There was a lot of checks and balances, 230 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: shall we say, built into this system. Pretty cool. Then 231 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: we move into another era of like or another I 232 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: guess wing of piracy UM called privateers, which is you could, 233 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: I guess refer to as legal piracy because it much 234 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: more has to do with reclaiming sunken wreckage on behalf 235 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:31,400 Speaker 1: of a company and getting to keep some of that money, 236 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: or getting to do it for salvage or whatever, or 237 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: things like mercenary bounty hunting and the like. Right. Yeah, 238 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: so privateers are legal pirates at this time. They are 239 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: doing things that would be against the law, but they're 240 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: doing it with the explicit support of a sovereign nation. 241 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: So imagine that you are a bank robber if you're 242 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: listening to this, you and I and Casey nol we 243 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: we got together, we made a heist crew and we 244 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: started robbing banks. That's illegal, right, but imagine that we 245 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: have the support of the government of Canada. Like we're 246 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: right on the Canadian US border, and Canada says, we 247 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: love the way you all robbed banks. We want to 248 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: make your apple dumpling gang UH an official, an official 249 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: arm of UH, you know, the Canadian war machine. So 250 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: you will be pirates for us. But the Canadians seem 251 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: so friendly. I don't know that they would jump into 252 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: business with these uh, these these opportunists pirate weirdos. Yeah, 253 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: but this this example, we're bank robbers that Canada is 254 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: you know, approving of for these folks, I guess you know, 255 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: one interesting difference in the comparison is that these European 256 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: countries are paying people to start trouble and disrupt trade 257 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,600 Speaker 1: lines half a world away. Look, and I'm really sorry 258 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: I characterized pirates as opportunist weirdos. That's the whole point 259 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: of today's episode. We're busting these myths. You know, everyone's 260 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: an opportunist. You're just looking for opportunity on the high 261 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: seas because they want to make a better life for 262 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: themselves and their families. And while there certainly was some absolute, 263 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,239 Speaker 1: uh batty type behavior, I think all pirates were not 264 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: created equally awful. I think that's sort of the the 265 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: takeaway here, and it's interesting to think about. Yeah. I mean, 266 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: if you're a privateer, you're a pirate with a piece 267 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: of paper, an official letter that says you're allowed to 268 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: to break these laws and engage in this economic warfare, 269 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: and in return, you give that monarchy or that state 270 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,080 Speaker 1: power a cut of the booty. Which sounds weird to 271 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: say that way, Okay, you give them a cut of 272 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: the earnings. I like the cut of your booty. Yeah, 273 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: cut of the booty. Yeah, I'm using them. I did 274 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: not see myself coining the phrase cut of the booty, 275 00:17:55,640 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: but here we are. So so the thing is that 276 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,200 Speaker 1: if there wasn't a war going on that the privateers 277 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 1: could participate in, they just went back to being regular 278 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: pirates and they will pull out that letter if they 279 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: ever got in trouble they would essentially so weird. This 280 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: is going to be something for all the vexillologists in 281 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,440 Speaker 1: the crowd. The difference between these ships in peacetime and 282 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,479 Speaker 1: a wartime was mainly the flag. If they're working for Britain, 283 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: their flying the Union Jack or you know, the same 284 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: thing for Holland. But then if they're not currently privateering, 285 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:32,879 Speaker 1: they just throw up the old jolly Roger. Which I 286 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,120 Speaker 1: don't know about you guys, but if you ever looked 287 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: at those the old real examples of pirate flags, uh, 288 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: is the design different. It's still you know, there's still 289 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:46,320 Speaker 1: like a skull crossbones thing, but there there's a lot 290 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: of variation there that hasn't happened that I was unaware of. 291 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: So you'll see one with a like a clothed person 292 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: handing a cup to a skeleton, a skeleton with an 293 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: arrow pointing at a heart, like a Valentine and stay 294 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: card heart and then wearing a crown. It's interesting they're 295 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: more detailed than I thought they were. That sounds pretty cool. 296 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: It sounds like some almost like Tarot card imagery a 297 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: little bit. I like that. Okay, So I think we've 298 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 1: we've laid the groundwork for this thing, this phenomenon of 299 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: of of of Jewish pirates um traversing the high seas 300 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 1: in search of great riches um. And I think this 301 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: is a good spot to close out this episode one 302 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: uh and uh and and and save some of the 303 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: notable um and individual stories of of pirates and privateers 304 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: of the Jewish faith from throughout history. I think that 305 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: gets an episode on. So what do you think, guys? 306 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: Agreed will also solve the mystery of why a lot 307 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: of people haven't heard of Jewish pirates in the modern day. 308 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: What are we talking about? We'll tell you in our 309 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: next episode. We hope that you enjoy Part one of 310 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: Jamaica and Jewish Pirates, and we hope you joined us 311 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: for Part two in the meantime. Thanks as always to 312 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 1: our super producer, the Jolly Roger of your heart and mind, 313 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: Pegram and the Jolly Rancher of my soul Um Casey 314 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: Pegram indeed, yeah, I know this one was a little 315 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: on the short side. We thought it was a clean 316 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: break to get into some really cool stories of some 317 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: of these these badass individuals in the next episode. Until then, 318 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: huge thanks to Alec Williams who composed our name. Christopher 319 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 1: Ocota is here in spirit, Jonathan Strickling the quiz Ster, 320 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: Big big thanks to Eaves, Jeff Cote, Thanks to Gay, 321 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 1: Loesia and Casey. No thanks to you guys, eight we 322 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 1: got so far without doing terrible parts. You cat's see 323 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:54,440 Speaker 1: your next pun Fox. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, 324 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,119 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 325 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.