The Pirates' Pact : The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious Buccaneers and Colonial America

The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious Buccaneers and Colonial America Was classical piracy an earlier version of state-sponsored terrorism? Here's the story of how almost every well-known buccaneer of the “Golden Age of Piracy” enjoyed active sponsorship from England's governors in the American colonies- setting a pattern of official disobedience to the Crown that would ultimately contribute to the American push for independence. Relying on rare primary sources discovered in government archives in England, the Carolinas, Rhode Island, Jamaica, and elsewhere, Burgess combines true tales of derring-do with groundbreaking research in this fascinating history. "Nor was Thomas Tew the only pirate to enjoy the support of governors, leading citizens, and merchants. Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Henry Every - almost every infamous scoundrel of the "Golden Age of Piracy" (roughly 1660 to 1725) - did their plundering under the sponsorship and protection of England's colonial governors in the Americas. And virtually every governor was on the take. Pirates entertained merchants and their families aboard ships in New York Harbor and auctioned booty from the docks of Virginia's port towns." "Combining true tales of derring-do with revelations he unearthed from forgotten government archives in England, the Carolinas, Rhode Island, Jamaica, and elsewhere, Douglas Burgess demonstrates how this flaunting of England's prerogatives helped shape the American character and American notions of independence."--Résumé de l'éditeur "From previously undiscovered archives in England, the Carolinas, Rhode Island, Jamaica, and elsewhere, Douglas Burgess has synthesized a fascinating retelling of the "Golden Age of Piracy", from 1660 to 1725. Pirates needed patrons, the fragile American colonies needed maritime wealth and coastal protection, and everyone except the English crown benefited from untaxed and unregulated black-market profits. The mighty buccaneer Blackbeard was sheltered by the governor of North Carolina. Successive governors of New York consorted with Thomas Tew and William Kidd. And the resulting pattern of official disobedience to the Crown would ultimately contribute to the American push for Independence. The Pirates' Pact brilliantly combines groundbreaking research with true tales of derring-do on the coasts of colonial America."--Back cover Enemies of the human race Erring captains : state-sponsored piracy and its aftermath "His majesty's pleasure" : Henry Morgan and Jamaica Oddsfish! The pirate cabal King Baldridge and the Red Sea pirates Amity, liberty, and Thomas Tew Henry Every, "as yet an Englishman's friend" Trials and tribulations The most hated man in America Nemesis "Your loving friends" The despair of Lord Bellomont "That race of wicked men" Afterword : pirate patronage in the twenty-first century. Delves into the sponsorship of buccaneers by England's governors in the American colonies, the disobedience to the Crown and its effects on America's push for independence, issues of bribery and kickbacks, and the battles fought in the "Golden Age of Piracy," in a study that profiles such infamous figures as Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, and others.