Buccaneers: The Golden Age Of Piracy

700 Words3 Pages

In the midst of it all, buccaneers and privateers are generally known as what they are, pirates. But, this hackneyed term is slightly ambiguous. What most people don’t know is that these three hundred year old beings appeared in different situations throughout the Golden Age of Piracy. Many of the pirates from this period lived in separate parts of the world, executing different assignments for different reasons. Although buccaneers and privateers were, in essence, pirates, they were inequivalent in terms of background, purpose, and operation.
Arising from French origin, the term boucan means a place to smoke meat, particularly wild hogs and cattle, and the hunters on the island of Hispaniola used these smokers and sold the meat for profit …show more content…

In addition to that, the buccaneers followed the ships that were laden with treasure. But, this plundering didn't come of nothing. It all originated from continuous indignation by the Spanish and an incident led by a Frenchman by the name of “Peter the Great” from Dieppe. The Spaniards were set on uprooting the buccaneers because they engendered an ongoing threat to their sea commerce. The preferred option of elimination by the Spanish was hunting down the buccaneers and burning them at the stake (Bradford 82). But, the persevering buccaneers refused to capitulate. The brutal pressure put on the men by the Spanish only incensed the buccaneers more, giving rise to their ensuing targets, the Spanish …show more content…

Predominantly, a privateer is a man who is sanctioned by his nation’s government to plunder the enemy’s ships and ports while at war. Another explanation of a privateer is the ship itself (Minster 1). Privateers were just legal pirates. They were men and women who were simply looking for riches and a chance at adventure via the sea. The most important proponent to the voyages was the armateur. This person managed and hired the whole ship and crew, and he tended to all the financial aspects (Crowhurst 48). The success of the excursion depended chiefly on him. Furthermore, his abilities to scout and seize the rival ships had to be of high

Open Document