How Piracy evolved since the 17th Century
By: Andrei Tapalaga
Tags: Pirates, Lifestyle, History, Ship Life

How Piracy evolved since the 17th Century

More of a lifestyle

Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash

Since the second generation of sailing ships have come known on the vast seas pirating has started to become a quite common phenomenon. With most of the sailing ships were accompanied by traders that would carry large quantities of different resources which were quite expensive it was an easy job for those scums that have received their names as ‘Pirates’ to just like taking a candy from a child, they had no firearms or cannons to protect themselves and as they were in the middle of the sea there was no point of shouting for help so they had no choice. If they were to show resistance upon the attack they would be slaughtered or a fan favourite of the pirates:

Dance on the plank until you swim with the sharks.

The sea was too large for the authorities to cover or try to protect these ships, however, as the pirating started to become a quite usual criminal role many big traders and important sailors were accompanied by war frigates that were ready to face these pirates. the first type of frigates could hold up to 24 cannons (12 on each side) and a crew of 120 soldiers ready to repeal the pirates and their cunning.

French war Frigates circa 1805

Now the pirates had a bigger problem as they were not so well equipped however, they played the numbers game and won most of the time by using many small ships to flank the frigates from each side. As some famous pirates such as Blackbeard were gaining a name for themselves they needed a ship worthy of their name. The ship that Blackbeard has been using was a massive warship equipped with over 100 cannons and almost 500 pirates on board. No one was able to take down such a huge sail ship, not even dare to come close to it.

As time has gone on and the pillaging of trade ships continued the wealth was becoming substantial, however, even pirates did not trust anyone so they would find small and far away islands on which they would bury their treasure for dire times. The amount of wealth and treasure they had was how they would measure their reputation as a pirate.

The word pirate originates from the Latin word purateivitia which translates to a sailor that is also a thief. Of course, that piracy has been around for hundreds of years, however, it was only in the 17th century that it became popular.

As time has gone by Piracy started to become a thing of the past, most of the ships were all equipped with serious firepower to ensure that all of the resources that are transferred for trade will get to their destination safely. The wars that have broken out in the 18th and 19th century have been a cause to less piracy on the seas, the pirates were now the ones hunted and therefore they had to retire with whatever treasure they have gained. Many people do not understand that the treasure is all a thing of status or reputation, they would almost rarely use this to purchase luxuries. It is about the life or a robber, gaining all the gold and riches is what has made their lives worthwhile. The reason as to why I mention this is to present piracy as it is today.

Piracy in the 21st century

Things have changed with time and technology, most of the pirates that still undertake the lifestyle of a pirate are in Somalia but, things are different. They don’t do it because of the thrill or status or reputation that hey get on the see but, because of hunger and poverty. One of the poorest parts of the third world is pushed to the limits by the rest of the world to come to such actions as their families are starving to death. Of course, what they do is totally unethical but, at the same time, it’s either this or death so they do not have much of a choice.

Such piracy events are becoming a more rare phenomenon as it is quite difficult to take a whole cruise ship with just a small boat and a few guns and especially with the anti-piracy patrol lurking the seas by air.