During the Golden Age of Piracy, many pirates were hired by world powers like England and Spain to plunder ships, legalizing their actions and granting them a percentage of the loot. However, some pirates were greedy and killed everyone on board. Pirates were common thieves and assassins, and their legacy is often romanticized in modern cinema. Piracy lasted until the 19th century and was not a secret affair. Pirates flaunted their loot and spent their gold in local taverns and brothels. Today, piracy only survives in Disney’s franchise, and the world has enough problems without adding murderous pirates to the mix.
Many of the pirates who plundered the coasts of the Caribbean Sea during the Golden Age of Piracy are well known today because their activities were both sanctioned and registered by the dominant nations of the time. World powers, mainly England and Spain, hired them to walk the fine line between piracy and privateering, legalizing their bloodlust and plunder and granting them a percentage of the loot. But many pirates were greedy, and one piece didn’t look as appealing as the whole pie, so to speak. By killing all the passengers and crew of a captured ship and working for none save their despicable souls, these ruthless pirates of the Caribbean have reaped huge profits from their infamous calling.
The colorful legacy of the Pirates of the Caribbean, as portrayed in modern cinema, clouds the reality of the true criminal nature of many of these seafarers. Many pirates of the Caribbean were common thieves, assassins and citizens of the wind. They were well known in the same way that a full-fledged bulletin or wanted manifesto warns today’s citizenry and police about criminals in general. Competing governments hired the best, like Captain William Kidd, for example, to plunder the ships of those countries they were at war with. Royal records document their exploits.
The Golden Age of Piracy began in the late 17th century and lasted until about the 17th. During this time, legends of Jolly Rogers, buccaneers, free-flowing rums and damsels in distress were born. Pirates of the Caribbean, however, continued to plunder and murder well into the 19th century, when other forms of transportation made maritime piracy no longer a profitable enterprise. Piracy today can be compared to Internet scams, thefts and other illegal machinations that attract the scum of society such as pornographers and paedophiles.
Piracy was not a secret affair. In early New York, pirates flaunted their loot while using their weapons. They were known to parade by the wall that gave Wall Street its name with guns belted into colorful silk vests, spending their gold in local taverns and brothels as if it were rushing silver. The local merchants and businesses thrived on their loot and learned not to question the horde of unsavory men who invaded their premises and would soon have their throats slit to buy them a beer with their ill-gotten earnings.
The Pirates of the Caribbean only survive in Disney’s franchise of popular rides and movies, and that’s a good thing, too. Today’s world in these perilous times has more than enough problems to deal with without throwing a group of murderous pirates into the mix!
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