The Pirates Part II

  Sir Francis Drake traveled to Spain and sacked Vigo, he then departed with his fleet for Columbia and captured Cartagena, then headed for Santa Domingo which they also plundered.
  They then traveled up the coast of Florida and plundered St. Augustine Florida. He returned with his fleet and attacked the Spanish Fleet in Cadiz Spain destroying their supply ships along with many Galleys and war ships at anchor in the harbor.

The attack on Cadiz delayed the attack by the Spanish Armada on England by a year. Sir Francis Drake was a leader in the defense of England during the attack by the Spanish Armada in 1588 and was once again proclaimed as England’s hero!

In 1589 his fleet was defeated in Lisbon and he retired to Plymouth England for a number of years and once again headed for the New world. His final voyage to the west Indies left Plymouth in 1595, this voyage wasn't a successful endeavor and Drake died off the coast of Panama in 1596.

Sir Frances Drake's cousin Sir John Hawkins was also a famous Masonic Privateer who also died in 1595. Between 1562 and 1569 Sir John Hawkins was a slave trader. He delivered slaves from Africa to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies.

On his third voyage to the West Indies, he was involved in a battle with his cousin Sir Francis Drake off the Mexican coast where he was attacked by the Spanish fleet. The battle of San Juan de Ulua was devastating and he lost many of his men and several ships.

Sir John Hawkins commanded a portion of the English fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. He was on the expedition to the West Indies with Sir Francis Drake and they both died off the coast of Panama in 1596.

The following century Sir Henry Morgan was the center of attention as the Masonic Privateer who preyed on Spanish shipping, but he crossed the line into piracy because he didn't have a Marque from England. In 1688 he captured Puerto Principe, (Camaguey) Cuba, then sacked Portobelo Panama. In 1669 he raided Maracaibo in Venezuela.

Sir Henry Morgan is well noted for his capture of Panama City in 1671. He was primarily well noted for the brutality his crew exhibited. Much of the booty was somehow lost and his crew accused him of cheating them.

In 1672 he was captured and returned to England for piracy, however he was then treated as a hero, he was Knighted and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica, where he lived peacefully until his death in 1688, who says crime doesn't pay?

The success of the campaign’s against the Spanish colonies in America and the West Indies spread like wild fire. It was spoken of in taverns the way we now talk football in the same taverns. Taverns were many in colonial America. In populated areas in the New England states there were taverns every 8 miles

 Taverns were the town center, often serving as community centers, town halls in some instances they were used as churches. In these tavern's the lure of piracy was great, legends of piracy were spread and no doubt over stated in most cases, it's always greener on the other side of the fence.

Their was nothing shameful in being a privateer, they were the hero's of the colonists! The era of royally commissioned privateers was coming to an end. England had become a powerful nation and because England and Scotland were no longer in constant skirmishes and because of the Templar tradition, they now had a powerful navy.

However because privateering was no longer sanctioned by the crown, and privateers were being chased down by the English Navy, it was now losing it's adventuring appeal.

The flying of flags on ships has been customary and very important since the middle ages. Signals were sent from ship to ship and ship to shore by using various flags.

  With nations at war and ship's often switching sides, the flag you were flying often determined whether you would be attacked or not.

  Pirate ship's had a different set of rules, they carried the flags of several different nations, they would fly what ever flag would bring them close to what ever ship they were preying upon.

  The pirates just like sharks were in a position of superiority when approaching their prey! They would follow ships for hours if not days seeing how well they handled the ship, Blackbeard was famous for using this strategy.

    If the ship proved to be a well manned warship they could change course and seek a more vulnerable victim.
The pirates would either take their prey by surprise by getting close to them by flying flags of the same or friendly nations, or by a frontal attack.

   When the pirate ship hauled down the national flag and replaced it with a red flag it meant “no mercy”! There were many flags of the Jolly Rodger, any of them would associate them with the lost Templar fleet. 

 The skull and cross bones of the Jolly Rodger has always been the symbol of piracy, of master Masons and goes back to burial standards of the first century.



Other symbols on pirate flags include bleeding hearts, blazing balls, hourglasses, crossed cutlasses, spears and whole skeletons. All of these symbols were in white on black flags, prior to the mid 18^th century red flags were being used while assaulting their victims and meant no mercy.



  Often while being surveyed the merchantman would drop their sails and lay their cargo on deck and surrender it and be at the mercy of the pirates.

This actually was a recruitment method of the pirates, and they usually left the merchantman unharmed.



When you are being pursued by the Jolly Rodger you have an excellent chance of surviving the ordeal, when being pursued by the Red Flag, it's time for your last will and testament!

   Edward Teach the North Carolina pirate known as Blackbeard flew a flag with a full skeleton holding a dart in one hand, striking a bleeding heart, and in the other hand a hourglass.



Historians believe that pirates flying the Jolly Rodger weren't cold blooded killers, just sailors going about their business. 

In David Cordingly's book “Under the Black Flag” he represents that quite a few pirates were quite “gentlemanly” in nature!



Cordingly represents that most merchantmen surrendered without a fight! They usually disarmed the merchantman, transferred the cargo from the merchantman and usually with the help of the merchantman’s crew. They would leave them unharmed with food and water.



Piracy was a democratic society, every one worked on shares of the treasure, they would agree on which ships to pursue and standard operating procedures, quite similar to modern day “outlaw biker gangs”.



On a modern day commercial fishing boat, like a tuna or swordfish long-liner, when the catch is sold the ship would get a percentage, usually half of the gross profit after the boats operating costs, fuel, ice, food and machine parts.



Of the adjusted gross profit the captain would usually receive 25% and the remainder split up amongst the crew, usually based on seniority and skills.

  Although the captain is responsible for everything that happens on his ship most often major decision's were put up for a vote, like when to return to port or how to handle a big storm.



This form of democracy was also used on pirate ships, but this was the only form of democracy used in the feudal times, what the land barons wanted from their tenants was law! Soon the new colonial congress in America would use this system of democracy as a blueprint for the constitution!



“Calico Jack” Rackham used a flag with crossed cutlasses below the skull. Calico Jack was a smart dresser and appeared like a distinguished gentleman rather than a pirate most of the time. He was educated and handsome and fearless in the face of his enemies. He was also a definite ladies man! Enter Ann Bonnie.



Ann Bonnie and Mary Read were probably the most famous of the lady pirates, and both served in the company of Calico Jack, Ann Bonnie was said to be the mother of his child.



Calico Jack centered his operations out of Honduras's Bay Island called Belize today. He eventually moved his area of operations to the mid Caribbean some believe Negril in Jamaica. 
  Some historians just say a island south of Cuba. Calico Jack had a wide area of operations, the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Cayman's and the Northwestern Caribbean, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize and the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

    He raided cargo vessels throughout the Caribbean but making his home in Jamaica was a mistake. He was arrested there by order of the Governor of Jamaica.

  Calico Jack and his crew were sentenced to death, Calico Jack was convicted in Spanish Town, Jamaica, executed by hanging in the “wickedest City” in the world, Port Royal Jamaica and then gibbeted on a small islet at the entrance of Port Royal Harbor, which today bears his name, Rackman Cay.

Both the ladies were given stays of execution their defense was they were pregnant! Mary indeed was and died while in labor and Ann Bonny disappeared from history, but not before being quoted as saying

“If he had fought like a man, he need not have died like a dog!”