Who and what were Caribbean pirates?
In the media today, pirates are depicted as swashbucklers and plunderers. They are shown on ships, often wearing eye patches or peg legs, having a parrot perched on their shoulder, and saying phrases like "Arr, matey" and "Avast, me hearty." Most recently, they’ve been depicted as charming rogues along the lines of Jack Sparrow, focusing on freedom and speaking with an exaggerated British accent.
Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Carribean by Disney
Another way that pirates are viewed is the classic "historical" villain narrative in which they are frequently depicted as greedy, mean-spirited murderers who only concentrated on pillaging, raping, and profit. In this narrative, pirates sometimes have scars and battle wounds, rotten or missing teeth (suggesting the effects of scurvy), as well as a hook or wooden stump where a hand or leg has been amputated.
Jean Lafitte was infamous for his very successful acts of piracy in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the war of 1812.
Indeed, for many years, historians wrote off pirates as "drunken, bloodthirsty terrors of the high seas who wouldn't think twice about slicing off a captive's ear or sending him down the plank” (Jones,1) However, recently historians have begun to re-examine that narrative, and a new assessment of pirates is emerging. Historians are beginning to discover that while pirates were indeed violent criminals who killed, raped, and pillaged, they were also social rebels who "adopted social mechanisms which can be summarized as libertarian, democratic, federal, egalitarian, fraternal, and communal"(Kinkor,196). In fact, it is beginning to emerge that pirate ships were among the first democratic and diverse communities, with pirates of all sexes, races, and nationalities working together. This "shipboard democracy" can be examined through three topics: 1) The Pirate Code of Conduct, 2) Black Pirates, and 3) Female Pirates
Sam Bellamy attacking the merchant frigate Tanner.
Pirate Paintings for National Geographic Pt. 2 by Gregory Manchess http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2011/08/pirate-paintings-for-national.html
He's a Pirate (Pirates of the Caribbean Theme) Violin - Taylor Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnJ7uOK4nYg
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