Speaker 1: Mountains tall enough to pierce the clouds caught his attention.
Speaker 1: Sea turtles swam in water clear enough to see the
Speaker 1: coral reefs. Dense tropical jungle covered much of the one
Speaker 1: forty six by fifty one mile island. Brightly colored birds
Speaker 1: chattered from the tree tops. Christopher Columbus thought he had
Speaker 1: found paradise. Later in the fifteenth century, Jamaica came under
Speaker 1: Spanish rule. Breathtaking and pristine, the island served more as
Speaker 1: a stop between routes and a place to repair ships,
Speaker 1: then a place to colonize. By the mid seventeenth century,
Speaker 1: all of that had changed. As their power grew, the English,
Speaker 1: French and Dutch began to look to the America's and
Speaker 1: the Caribbean for colony expansion. The islands contained precious metals
Speaker 1: and a bounty of valuable goods, and naturally this spurred
Speaker 1: a conflict among the nations who wanted to control them.
Speaker 1: England's Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell sent us special force to
Speaker 1: overtake Hispaniola, headed by experienced captains Richard Venables and William
Speaker 1: Penn in a bid for power, thousands of troops and
Speaker 1: eighteen warships converged on the area in April of sixteen
Speaker 1: fifty five, the endeavor failed. Instead of returning home unsuccessful,
Speaker 1: though the captains set their sights on Jamaica, this time
Speaker 1: they were victorious. While the captains left the island, many
Speaker 1: of their men stayed behind to start colonies and build
Speaker 1: forts in their new found paradise. But paradise had a downside.
Speaker 1: They had arrived in May, Spring gave way to summer,
Speaker 1: and the unrelenting heat forced colonists to change their way
Speaker 1: of life. Wool gave way to more practical attire. They
Speaker 1: avoided hard work during the hottest parts of the day.
Speaker 1: The volcanoes spewed noxious sulfur steam, and storms thrashed the island,
Speaker 1: often for weeks at a time. Diseases they had never
Speaker 1: encountered before wiped out much of the settlement. Cramped and
Speaker 1: poorly built houses reminiscent of England worst slums lined the streets,
Speaker 1: and people empty chamber pots. In a centralized spot not
Speaker 1: far from Port Royal, the overwhelming stench reached the noses
Speaker 1: of sailors entering harbor, and then the pirates and buccaneers came.
Speaker 1: The size of the ports and prime location for raiding
Speaker 1: Spanish vessels, made the area a base for pirates, buccaneers,
Speaker 1: and unscrupulous traders. Authorities profited from illicit activities. Port Royal
Speaker 1: thrived before long. Taverns and brothels made up nearly a
Speaker 1: fifth of the port's business. Drunken pirates stumbled through the
Speaker 1: streets with a woman on each arm. Some men spent
Speaker 1: upwards of three thousand pieces of eight for a single
Speaker 1: night at a brothel. By nine estimates put half the
Speaker 1: town earning a living from the pirate trade, while the
Speaker 1: port harbored immense wealth. Visitors likened Jamaica to assess Pool
Speaker 1: as wicked as the devil and hotter than Hell itself.
Speaker 1: The pirates reign in Port Royal had already started a
Speaker 1: slow descent. Peace treaties and legal action began to take
Speaker 1: their toll. The death knell occurred twenty minutes before noon
Speaker 1: on June seven. That's when an earthquake struck, followed by
Speaker 1: more minor quakes. Buildings toppled, and the sea reclaimed the
Speaker 1: dock on the northern side of the port. The bree
Speaker 1: trapped roughly a thousand people. The tsunami swept others away.
Speaker 1: The quake claimed two thousand lives. Another couple of thousand
Speaker 1: perished from injuries or illness in the weeks that followed,
Speaker 1: and then in seventeen a second earthquake hit and the
Speaker 1: survivors abandoned town, which is why the only things left
Speaker 1: in Port Royal's harbor today our legends. I'm Aaron Manky
Speaker 1: and welcome two pirates. When we talk about pirates and
Speaker 1: the Caribbean, we often hear about the Spanish Maine. Early on,
Speaker 1: that meant any mainland or coastal waters around Spanish controlled territory.
Speaker 1: Toward the end of the Golden Age of piracy, buccaneers
Speaker 1: used the term to include regions in the Caribbean Sea,
Speaker 1: except for the Lesser Antilles. During the late fifteenth century,
Speaker 1: Spain controlled much of the Caribbean and South America. Ships
Speaker 1: laden with precious metals and stones brought in great wealth,
Speaker 1: So much wealth, in fact, that European countries took notice.
Speaker 1: The English, the Dutch, and French had settlers that moved
Speaker 1: to the area, hoping to stake acclaim on both land
Speaker 1: and treasure. To further slow Spain's colonization and tremendous wealth.
Speaker 1: The country's captured Spanish controlled islands. Sugar and tobacco crops
Speaker 1: in Jamaica brought in considerable cash. Hiring privateers to raid
Speaker 1: Spanish trading ships also became a profitable business. Of course,
Speaker 1: the new colonies needed protection from other countries and the
Speaker 1: swarms of pirates looking to take advantage of their riches.
Speaker 1: In the late sixteen nineties, pirates, buccaneers and privateers found
Speaker 1: the Spanish main a luke of hunting ground. Often their
Speaker 1: names seem interchangeable, though there are some differences. Pirates operated
Speaker 1: under their own laws and were not government sanctioned. The
Speaker 1: crew kept bounties for themselves and hunted wherever and on
Speaker 1: whomever they wished. They sailed on ships that they either
Speaker 1: owned or stole, and although they occasionally raided towns, they
Speaker 1: mostly kept their attacks on vessels at sea. Buccaneers, on
Speaker 1: the other hand, focused on Spanish ships and towns. For
Speaker 1: the most part, they only operated in the Caribbean. They
Speaker 1: were more mercenaries, happy to help attack the Spanish who
Speaker 1: had once ruled and mistreated them. Now most buccaneers consisted
Speaker 1: of English, Dutch, Portuguese and frenchmen who found themselves on Hispaniola.
Speaker 1: For one reason, or the other. Some had escaped servitude
Speaker 1: and others had survived shipwrecks. The Spanish considered them squatters
Speaker 1: and ordered bloody raids to rid them from their land.
Speaker 1: But as their numbers grew, the buccaneers hatred of the
Speaker 1: Spanish and the need for revenge showed in their violent
Speaker 1: and awful brutal raids. As you might imagine, this caused
Speaker 1: the governments who hired them plenty of headaches. Politically speaking,
Speaker 1: of course, privateers were essentially government sanctioned pirates who sailed
Speaker 1: on privately owned ships, usually during times of war. They
Speaker 1: received government authorization to conduct raids in the form of
Speaker 1: a letter of mark. The privateers provided their country with
Speaker 1: captured warships and treasures, and the attacks hindered the opposing
Speaker 1: country's wealth. The cruise and the ship owner received a
Speaker 1: portion of the bounty, though the rest went to the
Speaker 1: commissioning government. Privateers typically considered themselves patriots, abstaining from attacking
Speaker 1: ships from their own country. Harassing other country ships didn't
Speaker 1: bring them esteem, though most saw privateers as nothing more
Speaker 1: than sanctioned pirates, especially those on the receiving end of
Speaker 1: their raids, and a great example is a guy named
Speaker 1: Henry Morgan. Although he served as a privateer, the Spanish
Speaker 1: denounced him as a pirate. In reality, Morgan walked the
Speaker 1: line between both private year and buccaneer, and like some privateers,
Speaker 1: he didn't behave much better than pirates and often worse.
Speaker 1: You see, buccaneers often tortured their victims. Beatings, lighting fuses
Speaker 1: between their toes and fingers, nearly choking them with cords,
Speaker 1: among other forms, served to strike fear among the Spanish.
Speaker 1: Torture served a few purposes for them. The Spanish became
Speaker 1: more likely to surrender without a fight and to give
Speaker 1: up information quickly. They also tortured prisoners for revenge and
Speaker 1: for sport. The use of privateers or buccaneers after peace
Speaker 1: treaties stems mainly from a colony's lack of funding. Without money, supplies,
Speaker 1: and proper military might, settlements employed privateers to fund and
Speaker 1: protect their colonies. Of course, this caused plenty of diplomatic
Speaker 1: conflicts between countries. Back in Europe. During the sixteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: the buccaneers grew large enough to create their own society,
Speaker 1: referred to as the Brethren of the Coast. Like pirates,
Speaker 1: they lived by a set of rules. At first, they
Speaker 1: operated out of Hispaniola, eventually expanding to Tortuga. Over time,
Speaker 1: their numbers increased, putting fear into any Spanish ship sailing.
Speaker 1: The Caribbean. Buccaneers became so successful that they changed the
Speaker 1: course of history, turning the tide of power and wealth
Speaker 1: away from the Spanish. But the most famous buccaneer of
Speaker 1: all time is forever linked with one thing, in particular,
Speaker 1: spiced rum. Scholars place Henry Morgan's birth sometime around six
Speaker 1: His parents were Welsh farmers. He had two uncles, Major
Speaker 1: General Sir Thomas Morgan, who served in the English Civil War,
Speaker 1: and Colonel Edward Morgan, who became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.
Speaker 1: There are different accounts of how Morgan ended up in Jamaica.
Speaker 1: He may have sought opportunity. Others say that the teenaged
Speaker 1: Morgan had been aboard Pen's failed mission to capture his
Speaker 1: Spaniola and the eventual successful capture of Jamaica. However, he arrived,
Speaker 1: he found work with buccaneering crews. Morgan's tenacity during raids
Speaker 1: moved him through the ranks to captain. In sixteen sixty two,
Speaker 1: Jamaica's governor granted him a license as a privateer captain.
Speaker 1: Morgan successfully led attacks on Via Rmosa and Grand Granada.
Speaker 1: He returned to Jamaica in sixteen sixty five with substantial plunder.
Speaker 1: With his share of the bounty, he bought a plantation
Speaker 1: and wed Mary, his cousin. Instead of settling down, Morgan
Speaker 1: continued to raid and attack the Spanish, with the governor's blessing.
Speaker 1: Of course, the governor was also a close friend. Over
Speaker 1: the next few years, his attacks made him exceptionally wealthy,
Speaker 1: and he bought more plantations. The governor appointed him the
Speaker 1: commander of the militia group, the Port Royal Volunteers. Morgan
Speaker 1: also became the Admiral of the Brethren of the Coast.
Speaker 1: He continued taking prizes from the Spanish, and, just as importantly,
Speaker 1: to Jamaica's government, he collected intel. When the governor received
Speaker 1: word that the Spanish plan to attack, Morgan doubled his efforts.
Speaker 1: His methods solidified him as highly creative and intelligent, and
Speaker 1: one of the most brutal captains on the island. He
Speaker 1: and his fleet of a dozen ships left Jamaica in
Speaker 1: sixty eight. During their travel, he learned two things. The
Speaker 1: Spanish had begun to gather forces in Cuba, and information
Speaker 1: about a critical Spanish port. Heavily guarded ships loaded with
Speaker 1: gold and silver made the Spanish Harbor one of the
Speaker 1: most formidable fortresses in the Caribbean. Castles flanked both sides
Speaker 1: of the bay. The San Felipe Castle typically housed a
Speaker 1: hundred men and twelve guns, while Santiago Castle housed two
Speaker 1: men with thirty two guns. And Morgan's intel provided him
Speaker 1: with critical knowledge. You see, the men who served in
Speaker 1: those castles hadn't been paid in well over a year.
Speaker 1: Many had left entirely, leaving the fortresses with just one
Speaker 1: thirty men on watch. And while the governor hadn't granted
Speaker 1: him the authority to attack the Spanish on land, Morgan
Speaker 1: reasoned that a raid could gain them additional informational detail.
Speaker 1: Oh and while he was at it, he might as
Speaker 1: well plunder Port a Bellows immense treasure. Morgan loaded five
Speaker 1: men into canoes and rowed ashore around midnight. Just before dawn,
Speaker 1: the men arrived at Port de Bella. His crew quickly
Speaker 1: overtook the five guards at the outpost. Gunfire jostled the
Speaker 1: residence awake. Morgan's men stormed towards Santiago Castle, fully expecting gunfire.
Speaker 1: To their surprise, a single cannon ball plopped harmlessly into
Speaker 1: the sea behind them, and only one guard fired a shot.
Speaker 1: It hit no one. The buccaneers then split up. One
Speaker 1: group took their position on a hill, aiming with long
Speaker 1: barreled muskets at the soldiers below. The other group ran
Speaker 1: through town, killing anyone who resisted and forcing the rest
Speaker 1: into a church. With a town under their control, Morgan
Speaker 1: and his men turned their focus on capturing the treasure.
Speaker 1: At first, soldiers at the yet unfinished fort of San
Speaker 1: Geronimo refused to surrender. Morgan's men simply waded through the
Speaker 1: shallow water and overtook them anyway. Santiago Castle proved more difficult.
Speaker 1: Morgan gathered the mayor and an assortment of nuns, friars, women,
Speaker 1: and older men to walk in front of them as
Speaker 1: they approached. A single gunshot and one cannon fire injured
Speaker 1: a resident and killed another buccaneer, but that was all
Speaker 1: the resistance. His men found ladders and used them to
Speaker 1: gain entry. They killed forty five of the eighties soldiers
Speaker 1: inside the constable of artillery. Ashamed of the troop's failure
Speaker 1: to defend the castle begged Morgan's men to kill him.
Speaker 1: They obliged and took the others as prisoners. After raiding
Speaker 1: the castle, the men took to eating and drinking in
Speaker 1: excess for the remainder of the day. The following morning,
Speaker 1: the men advanced on San Felipe Castle. After a short standoff,
Speaker 1: two hundred buccaneers attacked the castle. Morgan had taken all
Speaker 1: three castles, the port, and the town. He wrote to
Speaker 1: Panama's president demanding a hefty ransom or he would burn
Speaker 1: the city to ash. Although it took weeks of negotiations
Speaker 1: and a few skirmishes, the president paid up, and with
Speaker 1: it Morgan had pulled off one of the most impressive
Speaker 1: land and sea operations of the entire century. Morgan and
Speaker 1: his crew arrived in Jamaica to a hero's welcome. They
Speaker 1: spent weeks drinking, eating, gambling, and partaking in brothels until
Speaker 1: they were broke. Despite the peace treaty between England and Spain,
Speaker 1: Morgan called for buccaneers to meet on a lavaca off
Speaker 1: the coast of Hispaniola. Ten ships and eight hundred men,
Speaker 1: including French buccaneers from Tortuga joined him. The h MS
Speaker 1: Oxford also arrived. Officially, England sent the warship to quell piracy. Unofficially,
Speaker 1: the captain related instructions that granted the Jamaican governor the
Speaker 1: power to do whatever was necessary regarding raids on Spanish
Speaker 1: vessels and towns. Morgan transferred his flag to the Oxford,
Speaker 1: and after holding council, all agreed to target the city
Speaker 1: of Cartagena. A celebration followed, which included drinking and the
Speaker 1: firing of the Oxford's guns and for Sinnately, gunpowder in
Speaker 1: one of the magazines caught fire. The explosion killed two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty men. Rescue crews pulled ten survivors to safety,
Speaker 1: including Henry Morgan. Without the Oxford and a severe reduction
Speaker 1: in men, Morgan scratched plans to attack Cartagena and headed
Speaker 1: to Aruba for supplies and provisions. On March nine, they
Speaker 1: arrived at Laguna de Maracaibo, a poorly manned port that
Speaker 1: made for an easy victory. The buccaneers raided the nearby
Speaker 1: towns and seaports and imprisoned hundreds of residents. Allegedly, Morgan's
Speaker 1: men tortured prisoners to extract the locations of even more treasure.
Speaker 1: In response, Don Alonzo de Campos, an admiral with Spain's
Speaker 1: West Indian fleet, sailed to Maracaibo with three warships to
Speaker 1: block Morgan's escape. Outmanned and outgunned, the Buccaneers set to
Speaker 1: work disguising a Cuban merchant ship as one of their own.
Speaker 1: They painted logs to resemble cannons and poked them through
Speaker 1: holes cut to look like gunports. Men loaded barrels of
Speaker 1: gunpowder onto the deck, and then, in a scene pulled
Speaker 1: straight from some lost episode of the nineteen eighties classic
Speaker 1: The A Team, they transferred Morgan's flag to the ship,
Speaker 1: and then sailed to the Magdalena, the largest of the
Speaker 1: Spanish vessels. Using grappling hooks, they tethered the two ships together.
Speaker 1: Campos ordered a boarding party to capture Morgan's men. However,
Speaker 1: they found that the Buccaneers had not only left in canoes,
Speaker 1: but they'd also lit the fuses on those barrels of gunpowder.
Speaker 1: A moment later, the Magdalena erupted into flames. As Morgan's
Speaker 1: men rowed back to their ship. The second Spanish ship
Speaker 1: stranded itself on a sandbar. Morgan and the crew chased
Speaker 1: down the last of Campos ships and captured it, but
Speaker 1: they weren't in the clear just yet. They still had
Speaker 1: to get out of the lagoon, and the fort that
Speaker 1: was guarding the way had been refitted with more soldiers,
Speaker 1: preventing an exit. Morgan led the guards to believe that
Speaker 1: he planned an assault by land. With the guard's attention elsewhere,
Speaker 1: Morgan pulled anchor in the middle of the night and
Speaker 1: safely drifted out to sea. The crew received another hero's
Speaker 1: welcome up on arriving home, but all was not well.
Speaker 1: Governor Thomas Modiford had received word from England insisting that
Speaker 1: Jamaica stop all hostilities with Spain. The news devastated the crew,
Speaker 1: who had spent all their money at the taverns and brothels,
Speaker 1: but the mandate was an opportunity for Morgan, who had
Speaker 1: saved his share. He bought more plantations and spent more
Speaker 1: time with his wife, his family, and his friends. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the Queen of Spain authorized letters of mark against English ships.
Speaker 1: Modiford also learned that Spain had declared war on Jamaica.
Speaker 1: To prepare for what was to come, Morgan received another
Speaker 1: letter of mark and the title of Admiral and commander
Speaker 1: in chief. By October of sixteen seventy, he had commissioned
Speaker 1: thirty eight ships and a couple of thousand men. He
Speaker 1: chose legendary Panama City, with all its treasures of gold
Speaker 1: and silver, as his first target. The task would not
Speaker 1: be easy, though Council President Don Juan Perez de Guzman
Speaker 1: had heavily fortified the city. Morgan and his crew traveled
Speaker 1: up river and proceeded on foot through a dense jungle.
Speaker 1: When they reached Panama City, nearly six hundred soldiers blocked
Speaker 1: their path, But these defenders proved less battle season than
Speaker 1: Morgan's own men, and by noon, five hundred of Don
Speaker 1: juan soldiers lay dead. Don Juan had also moved the
Speaker 1: treasures before Morgan's men arrived, and rigged the homes with gunpowder.
Speaker 1: The explosions tore apart the city, leaving just a stone
Speaker 1: tower and a few buildings standing. The buccaneers divided what
Speaker 1: little treasure they could find and then parted ways. Morgan
Speaker 1: returned to Jamaica. Unfortunately, he was temporarily arrested and sent
Speaker 1: to England due to political fallout. Morgan prevailed, though King
Speaker 1: Charles eventually knighted him for his efforts. He returned to
Speaker 1: Jamaica and became lieutenant governor and even acting governor. Henry
Speaker 1: Morgan died in sixteen eighty eight while still in his
Speaker 1: early fifties, and for all his raids and buccaneer behavior
Speaker 1: as governor, he helped curtail piracy and rebuild Jamaica's reputation
Speaker 1: from a pirate den to a booming economy. We have
Speaker 1: romanticized pirates over the years, occasionally likening them to a
Speaker 1: robin hood of the sea, and while that's not accurate,
Speaker 1: it's easily understood. For England, out of sight, out of
Speaker 1: mind rang true. But without funding, colonists found themselves needing
Speaker 1: lots of support, medicines to combat tropical illnesses, help with
Speaker 1: Spain constantly rating English ships or attacking outposts, so hiring
Speaker 1: buccaneers who hated Spain made political and financial sense. Pirates
Speaker 1: helped the colonies to survive and even thrive. The service
Speaker 1: came at a cost, though, pirates and buccaneers lived a
Speaker 1: more seed life, making places like Port Royal appear more
Speaker 1: like a slum than a tropical paradise. Henry Morgan helped
Speaker 1: perpetuate the notoriety of pirate infested cities, and in his
Speaker 1: later years he did try to work to clean up
Speaker 1: Jamaica's reputation. Despite his brutality and former buccaneering ways, Morgan
Speaker 1: died a seafaring celebrity, earning him a twenty two guns salute.
Speaker 1: That's one more than the average military funeral. When the
Speaker 1: earthquake of two struck, the sea reclaimed Morgan's body one
Speaker 1: last time. Today, we look upon his escapades and call
Speaker 1: him a pirate. Since Morgan worked for the Jamaican government
Speaker 1: and operated while he had a letter of mark that
Speaker 1: made him a privateer instead. But as raids on land
Speaker 1: and solely on Spanish vessels also qualified him as a buccaneer,
Speaker 1: perhaps we could safely call him a privateering buccaneer, more
Speaker 1: in line with many buccaneers. His brutal tactics were not
Speaker 1: as common among most pirates. In fact, Morgan despised being
Speaker 1: called one. Not only did he angrily object to the
Speaker 1: title of pirates, but he also sued to London publishers
Speaker 1: for printing articles that depicted him as one. Morgan won
Speaker 1: the lawsuits and publishers paid out damages to the tune
Speaker 1: of two pounds, but the damage to his reputation was
Speaker 1: already done. Today, many sources still quote those publishers early editions.
Speaker 1: Of course, when we think of the captain, we also
Speaker 1: think of spiced rum. But that's a misconception that needs
Speaker 1: clearing up. You see, rum was a British Island liquor,
Speaker 1: and the ships that Morgan raided were Spanish. Those ships
Speaker 1: you see didn't carry rum. It's ironic, really. While Captain
Speaker 1: Morgan was indeed a heavy drinker, it's not likely that
Speaker 1: he drank much rum, spiced or otherwise. He and his
Speaker 1: men most likely stumbled upon an entirely different beverage during
Speaker 1: the course of their raids, Madeira wine, which admittedly doesn't
Speaker 1: taste nearly as good in a glass of cola. Buccaneers
Speaker 1: were brutal parts of the pirate world, and I hope
Speaker 1: today's exploration of their world helps shed better light on
Speaker 1: Captain Henry Morgan and his exploits. But we're not finished
Speaker 1: just yet. My shipmates, Alie Steed has one more buccaneering
Speaker 1: adventure to share with you. Stick around through this brief
Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear all about it. Buccaneer Bartholemew Sharp
Speaker 1: was probably born in England sometime in the mid seventeenth century.
Speaker 1: While in his early twenties, he served as a privateer
Speaker 1: during the Third Anglo Dutch War. Sometime between sixteen seventy
Speaker 1: two and sixteen seventy four. He and his crewmates attacked
Speaker 1: Dutch ships sailing in the Leeward Islands. At some point
Speaker 1: he worked his way up to captain. When the war ended,
Speaker 1: Sharp found himself out of the job, along with scores
Speaker 1: of other privateers whose letters of mark had been revoked.
Speaker 1: With work scarce, he joined the ranks of other buccaneers
Speaker 1: such as John Coxon, Richard Skins, William Dampierre, and Basil
Speaker 1: ring Rose. On a perfectly fine autumn day in sixteen
Speaker 1: seventy nine, the newly banded fleet of buccaneers sailed into
Speaker 1: the Bay of Honduras. The raid of merchant ships and
Speaker 1: several storehouses netted them a bounty of cacao, indigo, money,
Speaker 1: and other valuables. In mid January sixteen eighty the men
Speaker 1: hunted together again, this time under the command of Admiral
Speaker 1: John Coxon. The men voted to attack Portobello just as
Speaker 1: Morgan had done years before. When they drew closer, the
Speaker 1: fleet decided to anchor and continue their journey on foot
Speaker 1: in order to avoid detection, but a young boy spotted
Speaker 1: them in the jungle. He ran to town and alerted
Speaker 1: the residence, but the townsfolk dismissed him a mistake they'd
Speaker 1: soon regret. The assault on February seventh was swift and brutal.
Speaker 1: The buccaneers plundered a sizable amount of silver, and the
Speaker 1: next evening they set sail to Boccaste Toro to divide
Speaker 1: the bounty and meet with a couple other captains. When
Speaker 1: they later regrouped at the Golden Island, Coxon told the
Speaker 1: others he intended to follow in Morgan's footsteps and head
Speaker 1: to Panama. Sharp and over three hundred and thirty men
Speaker 1: began their trek across the land towards their target. During
Speaker 1: their journey, they came across a tribe of Cuna Indians
Speaker 1: who aired to the buccaneers hatred of the Spanish. The
Speaker 1: chief added two hundred and fifty warriors to their mission
Speaker 1: in retaliation for several Spaniards assaulting his daughter. After raiding
Speaker 1: Santa Maria, they took to the sea, capturing several ships,
Speaker 1: including the Trinidad Coxon headed to the Caribbean, while Sakins
Speaker 1: and Sharps sailed towards South America's Pacific coast. During a
Speaker 1: raid on Pueblo Nuevo, Sawkins was killed and the crew
Speaker 1: voted for Sharp to replace him as captain. News of
Speaker 1: the growing fleet of buccaneers spread, and the Spanish sent
Speaker 1: out orders to keep all ships in port. Their caution
Speaker 1: wasn't solely focused on the treasure. Sharp had developed a
Speaker 1: nasty reputation for cruelty towards Spanish prisoners. You want shot
Speaker 1: a friar aboard a Spanish ship and then tossed the
Speaker 1: dying man overboard, never to be seen again. In an
Speaker 1: attack on Citadade de la SaRenna, the buccaneers held the
Speaker 1: town for a ransom of over a hundred thousand pieces
Speaker 1: of eight. Sharp wrote in his journal that the Spaniards
Speaker 1: had agreed to their terms at first, but went back
Speaker 1: on a word. The buccaneers plundered what they could, then
Speaker 1: burned every house to ash. Tempers among the crew rose
Speaker 1: with the Pacific coast heat. Some demanded they head home
Speaker 1: to England with their bounty. Others requested they returned to Jamaica,
Speaker 1: while the rest of the crew wanted to continue hunting.
Speaker 1: Mutiny brood and crewman John Watling replaced Sharp as captain.
Speaker 1: The crew was forced to reinstate Sharp after Watling's death
Speaker 1: during a raid on the ports city of Arica. Targets
Speaker 1: became scarce and the crew voted to return home via
Speaker 1: the Magellan Straits, but storms pushed them further south, forcing
Speaker 1: a detour around Cape Horn. Sharp was one of the
Speaker 1: first English captains to make such a trip. Meanwhile, a
Speaker 1: Spanish ambassador sailed to England to file a complaint against
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers. To satisfy the Spanish and prevent another war,
Speaker 1: the Crown sent orders to the Jamaican governor to issue
Speaker 1: a warrant for Sharp and his crew. Sharp arrived in
Speaker 1: Barbados to discover that the HMS Richmond was waiting for them.
Speaker 1: The Buccaneers fled to enter equal only to find the
Speaker 1: governor there refused to allow them entry. The crew disbanded,
Speaker 1: some choosing to take their chances on the island, while
Speaker 1: others headed back to Jamaica, where they were promptly arrested
Speaker 1: and tried for piracy. Sharp and a handful of men
Speaker 1: secured safe passage to England in March of sixteen eighty two,
Speaker 1: where they themselves were promptly arrested. In May, the High
Speaker 1: Court tried them for piracy. Surprisingly, the court acquitted all
Speaker 1: the men, and King Charles the Second granted them a pardon,
Speaker 1: much to Spain's protests. It said that Bartholome you Sharp
Speaker 1: negotiated with the court in exchange for a pardon, he
Speaker 1: provided the crown with detailed maps of Spanish ports, always
Speaker 1: useful in times of war, and that Jamaican governor who
Speaker 1: issued a warrant for buccaneer Barthlome you Sharp. Henry Morgan
Speaker 1: Pirates was executive produced by Aaron Manky and narrated by
Speaker 1: Aaron Manky and Alexander Steide. Writing for this season was
Speaker 1: provided by Michelle Mudo, with research by Alexander Steve and
Speaker 1: Sam Alberty. Production assistance was provided by Josh Thain, Jesse Funk,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about this
Speaker 1: and other shows from Grimm and Mild and I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit Grimm and Mild dot com