The Black pirates of the Caribbean

The Black pirates of the Caribbean

1. American pop culture is full of pirates, both real and fictional, seeking freedom and treasure on the Caribbean seas: Jack Sparrow, Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and more. But what so many of these stories leave out is that some historians believe about a third of all Caribbean pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy were Black. What are the stories of these Black pirates? How did they become pirates? Who was the most famous Black pirate of all? Read on to learn more!

The Golden Age of Piracy

2. To understand the rise of Black pirates in the Caribbean, it’s important to understand the Golden Age of Piracy, which lasted from the mid-1600s to the early 1700s. During that time, thousands of pirates sailed the Caribbean, searching for ships carrying sugar, rum, or slaves. Slave ships were particularly enticing prizes—not because of the humans aboard, but because of the ships themselves, which tended to be large and fast. When offered the chance to join the capturing crew, the people being transported on these ships were often happy to accept, rather than face brutal lives in slavery.
3. However, it wasn’t only those facing enslavement who signed on as pirates. Indeed,

   freemen

   , captured sailors, and slaves escaping from plantations all embraced the pirates’ life. Some sought freedom, while others looked for riches or adventure.

The role of Black pirates in the Caribbean

4. Black pirates played an important role in the history of the Caribbean. For example, some historians believe that Blackbeard, one of history’s most famous pirates, had a crew that was 60% Black. There were also ships captained and crewed entirely by Black pirates, although the names of these captains have been lost.
5. On many ships, Black pirates were still treated with violence and discrimination. However, on other ships, Black and White pirates were treated equally. On these ships, Black pirates carried weapons, voted, and shared equally in captured treasure.

The life and legends of Black Caesar

6. Perhaps the most famous Black pirate of all was Black Caesar (sometimes called just “Caesar”), whose life remains shrouded in mystery and legend. Stories claim that Caesar was a large and clever African chief who outwitted many slave traders, until one lured him aboard his ship with a golden watch and the promise of more treasures.
7. Stories also say that Caesar befriended one of the sailors on the slave ship. When a hurricane appeared off the coast of the Florida Keys, the sailor snuck belowdecks and freed his friend. The two took a lifeboat to shore and ended up being the only survivors of the storm.
8. For years, Caesar and the sailor used the lifeboat to steal from ships. They would row towards passing vessels, pretending to be shipwrecked sailors. Once close enough to a ship, they would pull out guns and demand ammunition and other supplies. In this way, they collected a significant amount of treasure.
9. After a fight with the sailor, Caesar began his own pirate operation, taking on more crew and raiding ships on the open sea. He was said to have extensive knowledge of the Florida Keys and used that knowledge to escape pursuing ships. It’s also believed that he hid about six million dollars' worth of treasure on Marco Island, Sanibel Island, Pine Island and Elliot Key.
10. What is known for certain about Caesar is that he eventually joined Blackbeard’s crew as a lieutenant and was still with him when Blackbeard’s ship was captured in 1718. Records show he was found innocent of the charge of piracy, but the record is less clear after that. Some scholars suggest that he was hanged anyway, others that he was sold into slavery, and others that he became a

    primarily

    .

The end of the Golden Age of Piracy

11. The Golden Age of Piracy ended in the early 1700s, when the English passed stricter piracy laws and sent more warships to the Caribbean to capture pirates. The decline of the sugar trade also played a role in the end of piracy’s golden age.