Talk:Golden Age of Piracy

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I'm going to go check some books out on the subject. As of yet, I've only added a little bit on the subject. Also, since the Golden Age's supposable start and end date are all over the place, should we just use one, or mention the debate over it's time period? User:Caciss

I removed the "unreferenced" tag because I added several external links -- however, the article itself still needs improvement. Drew 04:42, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

I added a little bit about Bart Roberts as he is from this period. (Darth)

Contents

[edit] Sid Meier's Pirates!

Why is Pirates! shown in this article? The game is primarily concerned with piracy in the 17th century, not the early 18th century. The latest start date you can choose is 1680, and I'm not sure it is possible to have your character survive into the Golden Age of Piracy.

What other picture would you propose?
I removed the Pirates! image and replaced it with the painting. Xombie 23:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Very confusing --> End of the seventeenth century?

The first paragraph of this article doesn't make sense. It says that the Golden Age of Piracy arose "with the end of the seventeenth century approaching," but then it gives the years as being a few decades into the eighteenth century. Can someone more knowledgeable in this area than I am re-word this so it makes sense? I think I know what you're going for -- the circumstances of the late seventeenth century gave rise to the Golden Age a few decades later? -- but right now it's very hard to understand. 68.175.61.17 22:49, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

It seems to simply be a line, from the first version of the article -- that for whatever reason -- I overlooked. Yes, there was definantly build-up at this period, but the Treaty of Utrecht the ultimate source. Of course, there is still the debate one when the Golden Age of Piracy began and ended. I'll reword it, for improved clarification -- however, assistance in this article would be greatly appreciated. Devin

[edit] Massive Revision Needed

I came across this article by chance. Much of what I see in a quick reading is contradicted by The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. What first caught my attention was the schooner in the admittedly nice picture: the first schooner was launched in 1730, the date the article marks as the end of the period. While Oxford places the end of the "classic" age of piracy in as 1750, a schooner is still not typical for the period. The lack of topsails on the schooner and the plain--even semi-clipper--bow of the merchant ship suggests to me something like a century later than the period.

Next Oxford states that buccaneers are not pirates, but either technical privateers (the had letters of marque) or pretend privateers, who didn't have papers but acted like them in not attacking their own nation's ships.

Basically, someone needs to rewrite the article with an authoritative reference at hand, like Oxford. Unfortunately, I cannot do so at the present, but Oxford should be easy to find.

The Oxford book is inaccurate with reference to the launch date of the first schooner. The Tryals of Stede Bonnet, a contemporary source available in print, makes clear reference to the "scooner" being used in 1718. Admittedly, the picture may still be anachronistic.
"Pretend privateering" such as that engaged in by buccaneers is in fact piracy, the attacking of a ship without commission from a sovereign nation. Nevertheless, there is no clear consensus on whether the buccaneering period is part of the Golden Age of Piracy. Pirate Dan 18:46, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pirate articles

I agree with the above statement--there are various sources claiming the begining of the Golden Age was around 1680 and other dates. Please post a verfication of the 1690 date.

Also, I'm going to argue with the origins of piracy. People didn't just go "Oh, I think I'll be a pyrate!" when the war ended; there were various other reasons. At this point, the statemenet is original research--whoever posted it, please post your citation.

There is also no mention of Pirate constitutions, which were counteractions towards towards the situation and high mortality rate they faced.

...and also, I added a PROPER citation to Rekider. *sighs* I will be cleaning up and adding to this section when I get the chance. Kyuu 02:43, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Golden Age: when and why

Does anyone know who first popularized the concept of a "Golden Age" of piracy? The earliest use of the phrase I've seen is Doug Botting's The Pirates from TimeLife Books' The Seafarers series, published in 1978. In that book he refers to the Golden Age as running from about 1690 to 1722. That's basically from Thomas Tew's first expedition to the hanging of Bartholomew Roberts' pirates at Cape Coast Castle.

I would contend that the concept of a "Golden Age" of piracy includes three possible elements.

1) That time period when pirates were most numerous in a given area.

2) That time period when the financial rewards of piracy were greatest.

3) That time period which has the most influence on the present-day popular visualization of pirates.

Defining a continuous "Golden Age" of piracy may not be possible. Almost every effort I've seen groups together two or three of the following widely separated time periods:

1) Elizabethan piracy, about 1567-1600. This period includes a lot of element 2, financial reward, because of Drake's capture of the Manila galleon and Peruvian silver train. But it has very little of element 1 - piracy was not much more common then compared to other eras. And it has almost none of element 3: the average modern person who hears the word "pirate" doesn't think of a guy in a ruff and baggy short pants who is likely to use a crossbow or matchlock gun. The only Elizabethan elements in the modern image of the pirate are the rapier and the galleon. And worst of all, the Elizabethan sea dogs were no more than borderline pirates; they thought of themselves as soldiers and were treated as such by their queen.

2) The Tortuga/Port Royal buccaneering period, about 1660-1682. This period includes element 1 - lots of pirates; the shores of Tortuga and Jamaica teemed with Brethren of the Coast. It includes element 2, financial reward, but not from the popularly imagined sources, like galleons stuffed with gold and silver. Most of the big jackpots from this era were plundered towns like Maracaibo. And it probably has the most of element 3: rapiers and knuckle-bow cutlasses both used contemporaneously, bucket-topped boots (worn by gentlemen, though maybe not by real pirates), broad-brimmed hats with plumes, flintlock guns, long Captain-Hook-style wigs, and fiendish tortures by guys like l'Ollonois and Morgan.

3) The Roundsman period, about 1690-1700. This doesn't have so much of element 1. There weren't that many Roundsmen, and most sailors were tied up in the naval service during the War of the Grand Alliance. It has a huge amount of element 2, especially with Tew, Avery and Kidd all hitting the jackpot in the Indian Ocean, by robbing ships, not towns. It has a lot of element 3, especially tricorne hats. But it loses some of the things the buccaneer period had, especially the bucket boots and the rapiers, which are now being replaced by buckle shoes and smallswords. Also, at this time piracy is losing its air of military respectability and beoming more of the "against all flags" affair represented in the movies by Errol Flynn.

4) The post-Spanish Succession period, about 1715-1725. This has a huge amount of element 1, probably the most pirates the Western world ever saw, with all the navy sailors discharged and all the privateer letters of marque being revoked. Pirates in this period ranged from the Caribbean to West Africa to Madagascar, and Bartholomew Roberts robbed over 400 ships. But it has a lot less of element 2: although John Taylor and Oliver LaBuze did strike it rich with the Nossa Senhora do Cabo, basically all the other pirates, even Roberts, were just scraping by. As for element 3: this era has Blackbeard. 'Nuff said.

Pirate Dan 07:24, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Added "incomplete"

I note that a number of people are attempting to work out the exact (or approximate) dates or sets of dates for the (multiple?) "Golden Age(s) of Piracy". However, untill something comes of it, an articel on a "Golden Age" of anything that doesn't give any dates for the "Age" is incomplete. 68.39.174.238 22:16, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Definition

The article needs a clear definition as the first sentence; as is, it only states where the Golden Age of Piracy occurred. I don't know much about the subject, so creating a definition would be better left to others. --MatthewLiberal 01:10, 11 October 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Anybody going to work on this article?

I see no comments from 2008. If anyone wants to work on this article, i will help. Contact me on my talk page. Beam (talk) 15:54, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What caused the end of the Golden Age of Piracy?

Would anyone care to provide insight into this? Aldrich Hanssen (talk) 16:52, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

whoops, read it wrong. Sorry. I thought you said what caused it. I'll try to learn more before I post again. Bon-Pirate (talk) 21:10, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

According to Marcus Rediker in "Villains of all Nations", especially Chapter Seven "To Extirpate them out of the World", it was a massive campaign to "cleanse the seas", undertaken "by royal officials, attorneys, merchants, publicists, clergymen, and writers who created, through proclamations, legal briefs, petitions, pamphlets, sermons, and newspaper articles, an image of the pirate that would legitimate his annihiliation. The rhetorical, military, and legal campaign would, in the end, be successful." There's more of course, that's just a nutshell version. Pfly (talk) 23:04, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
^It's a great book. Have a look-see at this link [1] where he talks about it, and the golden age consisting of three generations. The last having the most activity during the decade 1717-1727. There are other authors writing from a historical perspective in; "Bandits at Sea" by C. R. Pennel, "The Pirate Wars" by Peter Earle, and "The History of Pirates" by Philip Gosse. When I learn more about how this place works, I'll try incorporating some of these writings. Bon-Pirate (talk) 22:49, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

wschoate@csufresno.edu: Just had to reset the page, let cluebot do the work. Somebody goatse'd it. Watch out for this crap on other articles, folks.