Piracy

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  • Created by: ASOFIARB
  • Created on: 27-02-20 07:51
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  • The impact of piracy.
    • The years 1715 to 1725 are called the golden age of piracy , because this was the time when pirate fleets roamed the Bahamas and the covers of the Carolinas
      • Their presence had three main effects
        • Trade goods were lost: over 2400 ships were captured or destroyed by pirates in this period.
        • The cost trading went up: insurance prices grew rapidly as a result of looses
        • They created fear:people were killed of force to join the pirates
    • The impact of 'Black Sam' Bellamy's activities
    • Blackbeard's impact
      • captured plunder (April 1717). He and Hornigold had captured   £110000 worth of treasure
      • Scared the royal navy
      • Attacked merchant shipping: this affected traders from the Carolinas to New York
      • Set up pirate bases; helped defend Nassau
      • Encouraged some governors to support piracy: he gained the protection of the governor in North Carolina through bribery
    • The suppression of Piracy in American waters
      • Method 1: King George Proclamation
        • On 5 September 1717, King George I issued a proclamation to try to end piracy.He offered:
          • A pardon to any pirate, which forgave them for all their crimes as a pirate until January 1718
          • A price up to £100 for anyone who caught a pirate
      • Method 2:The Piracy Act,1717
        • The Transportation Act of 1717 contained a section on piracy
          • It reinforced an earlier law from William III's reign which describes who could put a pirate on trial, how the trial was organised and the penalty for a convicted pirate. Under this Act, a pirate could be pit to dead.
          • The law encouraged action against pirates
    • The work of Governor Spotswood
      • Alexander     Spotswood     (Governor of Virginia). He took direct action to reduce the number of pirates
      • He asked for help: in 1714, he told the British Board of Trade that piracy had become common on the shores pf Virginia
      • He provided incentives to catch pirates:he offered a prize for Teach's capture
      • He took legal action:When one of Teach's officers was captured, Spotswood ensured his trial did not involve a jury.He was worried a jury might side with the pirates
    • In the attempt to capture pirates,more were killed than ended up on trial.As a result, the number of active pirates dropped rapidly
  • Sam Bellamy formed a partnership with Paulsgrave Williams,who gave him the money he needed to recruit a crew and buy two periguas. A few months later, he impressed another pirate captain, Benjamine Hornigold when he stole a prize ship from one of the Hormingold's enemies
    • Hornigold gave Bellamy his first pirate ship to captain:the Marianne
    • The impact of 'Black Sam' Bellamy's activities
    • Bellamy went from strenght to strenght,He built up a crew of 170 pirates and, by early 1717, had managed to capture a gallery ship.This ship called the wydah, had enough cannon and speed to attack a warship of the royal navy
    • Its first voyage,which began in March 1717, had a big impact
    • However Bellamy's terrifying voyage was cut short in May 1717, when a heavy storm destroyed the Whydah and killed Bellamy

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