1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. If you're watching this on Netflix, 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: it looks a little different from how it typically looks 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: because we are recording from the studio at Bahamar and 6 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:28,319 Speaker 1: Nasau in the Bahamas. I thought, since we were in 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: the Bahamas, it might be nice to record something that 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: was specific to where we are, and that of course 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: led me to pirates because for a period during its history, 10 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,199 Speaker 1: Nasau was a notorious hotbed of pirate activity. It is 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: coincidental that the Assassin's Creed franchise has literally just put 12 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: out a remaster of the game that is set both 13 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: here and during all the things that we were talking about, 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: because we're going to be talking about Nasa as a 15 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: pirate republic, particularly home to a maritime criminal network known 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: as the Flying Gang. And to start with a little 17 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: bit of background, today, there are about thirty inhabited islands 18 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: in the Bahamas, which has a total of about seven 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: hundred islands and more than two thousand keys. Prior to 20 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: the arrival of Europeans in the late fifteenth century. This 21 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: archipelago was home to the Arawakan speaking people known as 22 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: the Lukayo or Lucayan people. This name comes from their 23 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: own name for themselves, which is Luku Kairie, meaning island people. 24 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: They may have shared common ancestry with the Tainos who 25 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: lived in other parts of the Caribbean, and they're sometimes 26 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: called the Lucayan Tainos. They probably made their way to 27 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: the Bahamas from other parts of the Caribbean by the 28 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: year eight hundred, and in the late fifteenth century their 29 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: population totaled about forty thousand people. According to a twenty 30 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: fourteen paper titled Naming the Bahamas Islands History and Folk 31 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: Etymology by Wolfgang p Arns, the name Bahama is Lucayan. 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: It comes from their name for Grand Bahama Island that 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: was Bahama, meaning large upper middle land. New Providence Island, 34 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: which is where Nasau is located, was called Nimma or 35 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: a middle water. This paper references sixteenth and seventeenth century maps, 36 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: a lot of which include Lucayan names for all of 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: these islands and almost no Spanish ones, and that also 38 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: referenced a lot of earlier scholarship into history and linguistics 39 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: The first Europeans to arrive in the Bahamas were part 40 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: of Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the Americas. They made 41 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: landfall on Guanahani, known in English as San Salvador Island 42 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: in fourteen ninety two. Columbus and his crew captured and 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: enslaved some of the people they encountered in the Bahamas, 44 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: and other Europeans who arrived later in the fifteenth and 45 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,839 Speaker 1: sixteenth centuries did the same. Lucayans also died of diseases 46 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: that were introduced by the Europeans and as the result 47 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: of violence, as well as while they were doing the 48 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: work that they were forced to do while enslaved. That 49 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: included diving for pearls off the coast of Venezuela and 50 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: working in silver mines. Over the course of this enslavement 51 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: and genocide in the sixteenth century, the Lucayan people ceased 52 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,920 Speaker 1: to exist as a distinct cultural group. When Wamponcee de 53 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: Lyon arrived in the area in fifteen thirteen, he said 54 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: he encountered only one person in the northern Bahama Islands. 55 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: It is likely that some people were able to flee 56 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: to other parts of the Caribbean and to find homes 57 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: with other indigenous communities. There are definitely people with Tino 58 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: ancestry still living today, and in recent years there's been 59 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: a big resurgence in Tino identity in the Caribbean. There 60 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: are also other Ariwuakan speaking peoples in other parts of 61 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: the Caribbean and in South America today. Columbus of course 62 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: claimed all of the islands he encountered for Spain, and 63 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: in the seventeenth century other European powers, including Britain, France, 64 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: and the Dutch Republics, started claiming parts of the Caribbean 65 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: as well. In sixteen twenty nine, British King Charles the 66 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 1: First granted territories in America to Robert Heath, including quote 67 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: Bahama and all other isles and islands lying southerly there 68 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: or near upon the foresaid continent. Heath did not really 69 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: do much to try to settle or occupy the Bahamas, 70 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: and for a few decades after this other British efforts 71 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: to maybe establish some kind of settlement were largely unsuccessful. Then, 72 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,239 Speaker 1: in sixteen seventy the British established Charlestown on the island 73 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: of New Providence. The Spanish raided Charlestown, and they burned 74 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: it down in sixteen eighty four. A little more than 75 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: a decade later, in sixteen ninety five, the British rebuilt 76 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: it and named it Nassau, after the House of Nasau, 77 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: which was a German aristocratic dynasty by that point. The 78 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: King of England was William the Third, also known as 79 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: William of Orange, who was descended from William the First, 80 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: also known as William the Silent or William of Nasau. Unsurprisingly, 81 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: considering that we just talked about Spain burning down Charlestown, 82 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: this whole period was full of ongoing fighting among the 83 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: European powers that were trying to claim and exploit various 84 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: Caribbean islands. They sent colonial officials and naval ships to 85 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: the islands, and they issued letters of mark authorizing privateers 86 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: to use their own ships to attack and capture enemies. 87 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: For the most part, privateers were not paid by the 88 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: government that authorized them to do this. Their income came 89 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: from the ships and cargoes that they captured along the way. 90 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: So this was not just about claiming islands territory. It 91 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: was interconnected with the European powers rivalries and their conflicts 92 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,160 Speaker 1: with one another. The number of privateers surged during the 93 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: Nine Years War from sixteen eighty eight to sixteen ninety seven. 94 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: That was between France and the Grand Alliance, and the 95 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: members of the Grand Alliance included England. The North American 96 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: component of the Nine Years War was known as King 97 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: William's War. The War of the Spanish Succession started a 98 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: couple of years after the Nine Years War ended, and 99 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: that continued until seventeen fourteen. That war was between the 100 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,799 Speaker 1: Spanish Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons and all of their 101 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: various allies. The War of the Spanish Succession also had 102 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: its own American component, and that was known as Queen 103 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: Anne's War. These wars and the hostilities among all these 104 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,919 Speaker 1: nations were interconnected with the rise in piracy in the 105 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: Caribbean in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In theory, privateers 106 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: only attacked the ships that their letters of mark authorized 107 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: them to attack, generally the enemies of whoever it was 108 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: that issued the letter. But that could mean passing up 109 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: some of the most lucrative ships, so some privateers turned 110 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: to piracy because they could just make more money that way. 111 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: When wars ended or when letters of mark expired, privateers 112 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: were left without a legitimate source of income, and that 113 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: also led some to become pirates. Other pirates had previously 114 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: served in navies. When European powers scaled back their navies 115 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: after wars were over, these sailors were similarly left without 116 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: a job. Navies, especially the British Royal Navy, also were 117 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: notorious for very low pay, including long delayed payments, ruling hours, 118 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: terrible working conditions, and an intense culture of discipline. There 119 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: could sometimes be severe punishments like being flogged associated with 120 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: this discipline, so a lot of out of work sailors. 121 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: Once they were put out of a job, they did 122 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: not really want to go back to that life, even 123 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: if a job became available. Pirate ships, on the other hand, 124 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: were seen as an option that was both fairer and 125 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: more lucrative. Sometimes this is depicted in an overly romanticized way, 126 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: with pirate crews having this almost communal spirit and dividing 127 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: their loot equally, and a lot of this comes from 128 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: fictional depictions of pirates and a perception of them kind 129 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: of as folk heroes. But pirate ships of this era 130 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: did typically function under a written compact, which was created 131 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: when a captain was assembling a crew, or at the 132 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: start of a voyage, or if a new captain was 133 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: taking over. This compact outlined how plunder would be distributed, 134 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: what all the rules were, and how discipline would be 135 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,439 Speaker 1: carried out. In most of the surviving compacts, everyone got 136 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: a share of the plunder, with officers getting a little 137 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: bit more. So the captain might get a share and 138 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: a half or two shares, while lower ranking officers usually 139 00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: got more like a share and a half or a 140 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: share in a quarter. This was wildly different from the 141 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: way things worked on most other vessels, where the captains 142 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: and the officers got hundreds or even thousands of times 143 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: more than the ordinary sailors did. On many pirate ships, 144 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,319 Speaker 1: disputes were settled and punishments were determined by voting. If 145 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: someone stole something from another member of the crew, or 146 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: was cowardly during a fight, or broke a relatively minor rule, 147 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: their punishment might be whatever the majority of the crew 148 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: thought was appropriate. That did not mean that everything went 149 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: smoothly or that everybody was satisfied with life or ships 150 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:39,079 Speaker 1: all the time. These ships could still be incredibly violent places. Again, 151 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: these were criminal enterprises. Captains and officers could still be 152 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: unreasonable or cruel. Ships could still run aground, or run 153 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: out of provisions, or get into all kinds of misfortune. 154 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: Some ships codes outlined punishments that could still be severe, 155 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,040 Speaker 1: including death or being marooned on an island somewhere. But 156 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: for the most part, for a lot of people, life 157 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: as a pirates still seemed better than the alternatives. Laps, 158 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:10,679 Speaker 1: privateering contracts, and out of work navymen can't really account 159 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: for all of the pirates in this era. There were 160 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: also pirates who had previously been merchant seamen, who often 161 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: faced similar conditions to those on navy ships, but the 162 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: large majority of pirates had been one of the three. 163 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: Roughly a third were British and roughly a quarter were American, 164 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: and there were also pirates from all over Europe and 165 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: South Asia sailing in the Caribbean and the Atlantic. It's 166 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: likely that between a quarter and a third of the 167 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: sailors on a typical pirate crew were black, many of 168 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: whom had liberated themselves from enslavement. There were also pirates 169 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: who had enslaved people on their crew, or included slaves 170 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: as part of the loot to be distributed. We will 171 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: get to the rise in piracy around Nasau. After a 172 00:10:56,240 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: sponsor break around the time that Britain rebuilt Nassau in 173 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: sixteen ninety five, Sir Nicholas Trott was named governor of 174 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: the Bahamas. Nasau was the capital, but there were really 175 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: not many people there, and Trot did not have a 176 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: lot of support in defending Nassau. This was during the 177 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: Nine Years' War, and he was naturally concerned about the 178 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: possibility of a French attack on Nassau. So when an 179 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: arm ship arrived at port in March of sixteen ninety six, 180 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 1: with a captain calling himself Henry Bridgeman and offering Trot 181 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,000 Speaker 1: a bribe to kind of look the other way, Trot 182 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: thought this ship's presence might work as a deterrent. In 183 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: addition to its armaments, the ship's crew doubled the number 184 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: of men in Nassau. Trot also thought it was possible 185 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: that if he denied entry to this ship, it might 186 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,199 Speaker 1: leave and join the French side. That captain was really 187 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: pirate hen who we've covered on the show before. Six 188 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: months before this, he and other pirates had pulled off 189 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,560 Speaker 1: what's been described as the most profitable pirate raid in history. 190 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: That was on a Mughal Empire fleet whose passengers included 191 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: members of the emperor's family who were returning from the Hajj. 192 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 1: This was a massive international incident, and there was intense 193 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: pressure on British authorities to find every and bring him 194 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: to justice. Eventually, someone told Trot whoevery really was, and 195 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:36,079 Speaker 1: Every fled before he could be captured. By that point, 196 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: most of Every's crew had divided their spoils among themselves 197 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:44,080 Speaker 1: and scattered. Trot was dismissed as governor later that year. 198 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: The War of the Spanish Succession started about five years 199 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: after this, and in seventeen oh three, a combined Spanish 200 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: and French fleet attacked the Bahamas. They raided Nassau. They 201 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,719 Speaker 1: spiked all the cannons in the fort, and they took 202 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: about eighty people prison That included acting Governor Ellis Lightfoot, 203 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: who some sources call Ellis Lightwood. They also took British 204 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: soldiers and enslaved Africans captive. Lightfoot and some of the 205 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: other captives were later ransomed, but a lot of people 206 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: were killed during this raid. When the next appointed governor, 207 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: Edward Burch, arrived in seventeen oh four, he found Nassau 208 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: almost completely destroyed and virtually deserted, and he described the 209 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: few remaining survivors as not even having a shift to 210 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: cover their nakedness. Birch quickly went back to England. After 211 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: he left, no one replaced him in Nassau for years. 212 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: A second Spanish raid in seventeen oh six scattered the 213 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: few people who had made their way back to Nasau. 214 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: For all practical purposes, the Bahamas were ungoverned, with maybe 215 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,679 Speaker 1: five hundred British subjects scattered around the islands and fending 216 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: for themselves. England's part in the War of the Spanish 217 00:14:00,400 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: Succession ended in seventeen thirteen with the Treaty of Utrecht. 218 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: This was one of a whole series of treaties that 219 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: ended this war, and there was a bunch of other 220 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,840 Speaker 1: stuff going on in the treaty. Among other things, it 221 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: ultimately led to the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, 222 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: which we've covered on the show before. The part that 223 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: is most relevant to this episode is that it ended 224 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: England's part in the war, and consequently it ended England's 225 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: need for so many privateers. This is often cited as 226 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: a big factor in the spike in pirate activity in 227 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: the Caribbean in the eighteenth century. As all of those 228 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: former privateers are not all of them, but a number 229 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,000 Speaker 1: of them decided to turn to piracy, and that was 230 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:43,840 Speaker 1: one part of it. But by the time the war ended, 231 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: Nassau was already full of pirates. They had started moving 232 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: in as soon as the British abandoned it. Privateers hired 233 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: by other governments had moved in as well, including ones 234 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: hired by the British colonial government of Jamaica. The big 235 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 1: draw Nasau's harbor. It was too shallow for the kinds 236 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: of large warships that the colonial powers were using, but 237 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: it was great for the smaller, faster ships that pirates 238 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: and privateers preferred. This was also true of other harbors 239 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: and bays in the Bahamas. There is a persistent but 240 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: incorrect idea that the name Bahamas comes from the Spanish, 241 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 1: thanks to Christopher Columbus calling the area Bahamar or shallow sea. 242 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: Two of the pirates who were working out of Nasau 243 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: in the seventeen teens were Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings. 244 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: Sometimes people make it sound like the two of them 245 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: teamed up to spawn an entire world of piracy in 246 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: the Caribbean all by themselves, but they were more rivals 247 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: than friends. They sort of shifted between privateering and piracy 248 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: at different times, and at more than one point one 249 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: of them managed to capture one of the other's prizes. 250 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: It's also likely that there were at least a thousand 251 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: pirates operating in the Bahamas by the time each of 252 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: them turned to piracy, so this was not an ecosystem 253 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: that they just created. At the same time, most of 254 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: the pirate captains operating out of Nassau were connected to 255 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: what are the other of them? Most of the Caribbean 256 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: pirates who were not connected to them were connected to 257 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: George Lother or Edward Lowe, who largely operated out of 258 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: the Bay of Honduras on the coasts of Guatemala and Belize. 259 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: The pirates connected to Horneguld and Jennings became known as 260 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: the Flying Gang, and Nassau was nicknamed the Republic of Pirates. 261 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: The Flying Gang was the largest group of pirates in 262 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: the early decades of the eighteenth century and the biggest 263 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: threat to maritime trade between the Americas and Europe and Africa. 264 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 1: Pirates associated with the Flying Gang also terrorized local people 265 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: living in the Bahamas, including the few British subjects who 266 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: were still living in and around Nasau, and they attacked 267 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: coastal settlements all across the Caribbean and the Americas. The 268 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: Flying Gang was not really a formalized group with like 269 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:08,199 Speaker 1: a clear hierarchy and organizational structure. It was more like 270 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 1: a loose confederation of ships and crews that were all 271 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:17,240 Speaker 1: working under generally similar ideals. This confederation grew and expanded 272 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: over the course of its activities, so newly established pirate 273 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,120 Speaker 1: crews often started with a couple of men who had 274 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:27,119 Speaker 1: served together somewhere on the same ship and kept in 275 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,160 Speaker 1: touch and got a ship of their own. If one 276 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:33,920 Speaker 1: pirate ship captured another vessel, they would either kill its 277 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,399 Speaker 1: crew or put them ashore and then take over that ship, 278 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: sort of splitting the two ships with two crews, bringing 279 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: on the second one and keeping any of the captured 280 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: crew that maybe did want to become pirates. Pirate activity 281 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,960 Speaker 1: also surged after a Spanish fleet was caught in a 282 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: hurricane in seventeen fifteen and driven onto reefs off the 283 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: coast of Florida. These ships were traveling together along with 284 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: a French frigate. Due to fears about all of the 285 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: pirate activity in the area, ten ships, most of them 286 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,200 Speaker 1: laden with silver and gold and other valuable cargo, were 287 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: run aground, capsized, or sunk, with only the French frigate surviving. 288 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: It's likely that at least fifteen hundred sailors died of drowning, injury, 289 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: or dehydration after managing to get ashore. Salvagers rushed to 290 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: this area from all over the Caribbean and eastern North America. 291 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: It was a massive series of shipwrecks in shallow water. 292 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,640 Speaker 1: It was easy pickens for salvagers, and pirates moved into 293 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: salvage from the rexes well and to try to attack 294 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: and plunder the other salvage ships. Of course, Spain really 295 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: objected to all of this, since the rex and their 296 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: cargo were all considered Spanish property, and Spain demanded that 297 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: other nations that had sent the salvage crews withdraw. Governor 298 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: Archibald Hamilton of Jamaica commit Henry Jennings and John Wills 299 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: as privateers. Their commission was ostensibly to attack pirates, but 300 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: Hamilton encouraged them to salvage the Spanish wres he had 301 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: purchased shares from the ships, so he would be getting 302 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: part of that salvage. What Jennings and Wills actually did 303 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: was attack and plunder the storehouse where the Spanish were 304 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: storing the cargo that they had managed to pull out 305 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: of the wreckage. Hamilton eventually ordered the ships that he 306 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: had commissioned to return to Jamaica, and he barred British 307 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: subjects from the Rex site. This just led to more piracy, though, 308 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: as ships that had previously been operating under at least 309 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: his British authority just defied that order and kept doing 310 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 1: it and also attacking other Caribbean targets in retaliation for 311 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,880 Speaker 1: having been barred from the shipwrecks. Hamilton wound up being 312 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: arrested for his role in all of this in October 313 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: of seventeen sixteen. Some of the most well known pirates 314 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: of the eighteenth century were connected to the Flying Gang. 315 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: One of Hornigold's officers was Edward Teach or Thatch, also 316 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: known very famously as Blackbeard. Another was Samuel Bellamy. Charles 317 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 1: Vaine had served under Henry Jennings and John Rackham aka 318 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: Calico Jack, had served under Charles Vain and Bonnie and 319 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: Mary Reid, who we have also covered on the show before, 320 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 1: served on Jack Rackham's ship. And there was also Steed Bonnet, 321 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: who we talked about in twenty thirteen, who was an 322 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: outlier in terms of how people came into piracy. He 323 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: was a wealthy planter who abandoned his wife and family 324 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: to become a pirate and fell in with Blackbeard. Because 325 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: of all of this pirate activity, people started describing Nasa 326 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:51,680 Speaker 1: as another Madagascar. Madagascar was also a hotbed of pirate 327 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: activity that started in about sixteen fifty. Madagascar was also 328 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: home to the pirate utopia of Libertalia, although that might 329 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: have been more legendary than real. We did an episode 330 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: on that in twenty eighteen, and we are going to 331 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,679 Speaker 1: talk about how the golden Age of piracy in the 332 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: Caribbean ended after we paused for a sponsor break. Through 333 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: the early seventeen hundreds and seventeen teens, a lot of 334 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,919 Speaker 1: people were justifiably worried about piracy, from people living in 335 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: the Caribbean and coastal areas of the mainland, to the 336 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: captains of merchant vessels, to international governments whose economies and 337 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: whose colonial efforts really depended on being able to traverse 338 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,440 Speaker 1: the oceans without being continually attacked and plundered, but for 339 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: a while British authorities in the Caribbean did not do 340 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: very much to try to stop it. That changed in 341 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: seventeen seventeen. On September fifth of that year, King George 342 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: the First issued a proclamation offering to pardon acts of piracy, 343 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,719 Speaker 1: giving the pirates a deadline of the following September fifth 344 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: to surrender themselves to officials in Britain, Ireland or the colonies. 345 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,879 Speaker 1: This proclamation also empowered British sea officers, governors, military commanders, 346 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: and others to quote seize and take such of the 347 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: pirates who shall refuse or neglect to surrender themselves. Accordingly, 348 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: it offered a reward for any such person who discovered 349 00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:31,600 Speaker 1: or seized any pirate who had not surrendered. The award 350 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: was one hundred pounds for commanders of ships or vessels, 351 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,879 Speaker 1: and then it went down incrementally to twenty pounds for 352 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: every private man. There was also a bounty for crews 353 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: who turned on their captains, either delivering those captains to 354 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: the authorities themselves or causing them to be delivered to 355 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: the authorities so that they could be brought to justice 356 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: and convicted. The reward for that was two hundred pounds 357 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: for every such commander. As word of this proclamation spread, 358 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 1: sub pirates made their way to British governors or other 359 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: authorities to surrender. When Captain Vincent Pierce of the HMS 360 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: Phoenix arrived at New Providence Island in February of seventeen eighteen, 361 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: more than two hundred pirates surrendered to him. Some of 362 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: the pirates who accepted the King's pardon later returned to piracy. 363 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: The book A General History of the Pirates from their 364 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,919 Speaker 1: First rise and Settlement in the Island of Providence to 365 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: the present time, which was published in seventeen twenty four, 366 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: described men going back to piracy quote like the dog 367 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,679 Speaker 1: to the vomit, which is a turn of phrase that 368 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: I really love. But others took the money that they 369 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: had earned as pirates and started new lives in one 370 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,280 Speaker 1: of the many, many parts of territory that the British 371 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: had claimed in the Caribbean and North America that were 372 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: considered thinly settled at that point. Henry Jennings may have 373 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: been one of those people, although his fate after surrendering 374 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: is somewhat unclear. Some of the former pirates turned pirate 375 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: hunter after being pardoned. One of those was Benjamin Hornigold. 376 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,200 Speaker 1: He tried to bring in Charles Vain, but Vain's ship 377 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: was too fast. Some of his other efforts were more successful, 378 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,640 Speaker 1: and on December ninth, seventeen eighteen, nine pirates Hornigold had 379 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: captured were put on trial in Nassau. They all pleaded 380 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: not guilty, and one of them, named John Hips, was 381 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: given a reprieve when he testified that he had only 382 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: been a pirate because he was forced to. Everyone else 383 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: was found guilty and hanged. Eventually, Hornigold had earned enough 384 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: trust that he was tasked with voyaging to Mexico to 385 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: try to establish a new trade route. But the ship 386 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 1: that he was on wrecked in seventeen nineteen, and Hornigold died, 387 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,360 Speaker 1: either drowned in the wreck or after managing to make 388 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,280 Speaker 1: it to an island. And of course, there were some 389 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,200 Speaker 1: pirates who refused to surrender. One of the most dramatic 390 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: was Charles Vain, who accepted the king's pardon and then 391 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: just turned pirate again. Vain was a Jacobite, a supporter 392 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: of the Stewart claim to the British throne in the 393 00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:10,879 Speaker 1: seventeen teens, he corresponded with Jacobites in Britain, proposing that 394 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: he and his ships be put in service to James 395 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,719 Speaker 1: Francis Edward Stewart. The antagonism between England and Spain was 396 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: also interconnected with the Jacobite movement, with Spain later backing 397 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: a Jacobite uprising. That is another way that these greater 398 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: international disputes were tangled up in the evolution of piracy. 399 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighteen, when new colonial governor Woods Rogers arrived 400 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,640 Speaker 1: in Nassau, there were British ships with him and they 401 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,239 Speaker 1: trapped Charles Vain and his ships in the harbor. So 402 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: Vain filled one of his ships with gunpowder, set it 403 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,919 Speaker 1: on fire, and pointed it at the awaiting British fleet. 404 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: Vain managed to escape as the British ships tried to 405 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: evade the fire ship that he had created. He left 406 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: several ships loaded with cargo behind in the harbor. Other pirates, 407 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: probably hoping that their own crimes would be overlooked, reported 408 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:09,440 Speaker 1: this illicit cargo, which the British impounded. Vain continued attacking 409 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: and harassing ships, including working with Blackbeard off the coast 410 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,000 Speaker 1: of North Carolina. He was eventually shipwrecked and captured in 411 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty and then hanged in seventeen twenty one. Woods 412 00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: Rogers was another big part of the effort to put 413 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:27,679 Speaker 1: down piracy in the Caribbean. From seventeen oh eight to 414 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: seventeen eleven, he had been on a round the world 415 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: privateering expedition that also included slave trading and anti piracy 416 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: efforts around Madagascar. On this voyage, he encountered Alexander Selkirk, 417 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,160 Speaker 1: who had asked to be put ashore off the coast 418 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: of Chile after a disagreement with his captain. Selkirk was 419 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: stranded there for four years and became the inspiration for 420 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:57,440 Speaker 1: Daniel Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe. Rogers had earned about fourteen thousand 421 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: pounds during this voyage and had written a book about it, 422 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,239 Speaker 1: which is called A Cruising Voyage round the World, and 423 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: that came out in seventeen twelve. So Rogers wasn't just 424 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,040 Speaker 1: the governor. He essentially owned the Bahamas. He signed a 425 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,560 Speaker 1: lease on the islands for twenty one years. He was 426 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: tasked with forming a government, rebuilding the Fort of Nasau, 427 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,439 Speaker 1: and getting the colony functioning and was suppressing piracy, and 428 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: he carried a copy of that royal proclamation with him. 429 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: By the time he arrived on July twenty fifth, seventeen eighteen, 430 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: a lot of the most notorious pirates had already accepted 431 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: the King's pardon or maybe been killed, although the ones 432 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: that had not the ones that had returned to piracy 433 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 1: were causing ongoing issues. It is very tricky to put 434 00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: an exact end date on the golden age of piracy 435 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean, but between all of the surrenders, hangings 436 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: in shipwrecks, and the efforts of woods rogers to regain 437 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: control of Nasau and the rest of the Bahamas, most 438 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: of the pirates were either pardoned or dead by seventeen 439 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: twenty one. That included Samuel Bellamy, who was killed in 440 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:09,439 Speaker 1: a shipwreck in seventeen seventeen, Blackbeard, who was killed in 441 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: a fight with the British Navy in seventeen eighteen, Steed 442 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: Bonnet who was hanged in seventeen eighteen, and Jack Rackham 443 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: who was hanged in seventeen twenty and Bonnie and Mary 444 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,359 Speaker 1: Reid were both sent to prison rather than being hanged, 445 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,400 Speaker 1: and their fate after that is not clear. The end 446 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: of the age of piracy had a huge economic impact 447 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: on the Bahamas, and it might not be what you're expecting. 448 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: Rogers had plans to start up a whaling industry and 449 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,959 Speaker 1: to reinvigorate the salt trade. But while piracy had been 450 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: an active threat all over the Caribbean and all across 451 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:50,880 Speaker 1: the Atlantic, fewer pirate ships meant less maritime traffic overall. 452 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: A lot of the time, pirates' illicit goods had also 453 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,280 Speaker 1: been a lot cheaper than goods that were acquired and 454 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: shipped in under legitimate means. Rogers had that twenty one 455 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: year lease on the Bahamas, but he wasn't able to 456 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: make it profitable. He became exhausted and sick and eventually 457 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: went back to England, where he wound up in a 458 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: debtors prison. But things were apparently even worse under his successor, 459 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 1: and he was reinstalled as governor in seventeen twenty nine. 460 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: He continued in that role until his death in Nasau 461 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: on July fifteenth, seventeen thirty two. Of course, Nasau and 462 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: the Bahamas have a whole history after this point. For centuries, 463 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: Britain maintained a white minority rule over a predominantly black 464 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,400 Speaker 1: population largely descended from enslaved people who have been brought 465 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: to the Caribbean. An independence movement evolved in the twentieth century, 466 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: and the Bahamas was granted limited self government in nineteen 467 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: fifty five and broader self government in nineteen sixty four. 468 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,280 Speaker 1: The Commonwealth of the Bahamas was recognized as a sovereign 469 00:29:55,360 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: state on July tenth, nineteen seventy three. And that so 470 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: much piracy? Do you have so much listener mail? I 471 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,080 Speaker 1: do have listener mail. It is from Andrea. And Andrea's 472 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: email was titled perfect Timing. Andrea wrote, Dear Holly and Tracy, 473 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 1: I just wanted to send my thanks for your incredibly 474 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,280 Speaker 1: thoughtful and thought provoking subjects. I just returned from a 475 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: trip to Boston where we visited Bunker Hill. I did 476 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: see the blacard with the quote about the suffrage movement. 477 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: I've planned trips with specific stops to previous podcast subjects, 478 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: including this most recent trip. I was able to visit 479 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as well. I appreciated knowing 480 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: about the unique collection in the art heist. This made 481 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: history and art more relevant to me. I have a 482 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: PhD in SYMHC and have enjoyed listening to you for 483 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: long car rides and commutes. I would suggest George Eastman 484 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: as a podcast topic. He was a fascinating person. Holly 485 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: is nodding. For those of you who cannot see shortlist, shortlist, shortlist. 486 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, Holly, we should reagree about that because I 487 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: might have some resources for you, okay, or if you're 488 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: already on it, it's on your shirt. I'm got on it. 489 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: I just as long as he happened. Yeah, I know 490 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: of some potential things. I'm including pictures of my adopted 491 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 1: kat Uriel. She is quite the lady. She was adopted 492 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: at age twelve when my brother moved overseas and could 493 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: not take her with him. She's truly spoiled in our house. 494 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: Thank you again for your delightful podcasts. Sincerely, Andrea. Since 495 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: we are not recording this from our laptops today, I 496 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: do not have the pictures to describe, but I did 497 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: look at them before we flew to the Bahamas and 498 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: they are indeed adorable. So thank you so much, Andrea 499 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: for this email. If you would like to email us, 500 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,680 Speaker 1: we are at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. You 501 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: can find our show notes, including links to all the 502 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,400 Speaker 1: resources that we used in this episode, at our website, 503 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: which is Missed Inhistory dot com, and you can subscribe 504 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 1: to the show on the iHeartRadio app, but anywhere else 505 00:31:54,360 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in 506 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:05,600 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 507 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 508 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.