Friday, June 8, 2007

On Pirates

Here is an interesting post on pirates, via Lew Rockwell. I find pirates intriguing since my great- great-great grandfather was a Chinese pirate who raided the Philippines in the first part of the 19th century. Eventually he settled down and became a landowner. The article claims that pirates were in some ways better than the merchant ships and ships of the line as far as the way the sailors were treated. And pirates never transported slaves, which the "respectable" ships did. I read somewhere that the pirates had their own code of honor, and while it was cruel and lawless, it was not much different from the justice meted out by the British navy. Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pirates were among the most democratic groups of the era, sharing the loot and even having a plan to compensate workers who lost use of body parts in battle. They may not have been pretty, but they were fair.

elena maria vidal said...

Very interesting!

Anonymous said...

+JMJ+

So all the excesses of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End actually have a real basis in history???!!! :O

I didn't see that coming!

elena maria vidal said...

I didn't either!!!!!