Pirates and Privateers

Tweet

Recently, we visited the Outer Banks along the Atlantic Coast, and went to a museum there that had all kinds of information about the pirates who plundered that area in the 17th century. Pirates sailed the Caribbean Sea and one of the most famous was Henry Morgan. He is said to have seized over $450,000 in goods in only three years. When he attacked Panama, he was captured and sent back to England to stand trial, but King Charles II, it was said, was so charmed with him, that he made him a knight! A few pirates, like Henry Morgan, were intelligent and daring and were good at leading other men, so he and others could probably have been high-ranking officers in the British Army or Navy. However, what I learned from the museum, was that he had a streak of cruelty and the outrages and tortures that he inflicted on others, would not have been tolerated by the Crown. So, he turned to a life of crime. Henry Morgan was born around 1635 in Wales and his family was very wealthy. He was a young gentleman with good manners and educated, but after becoming a pirate, he raided Spanish towns on the coast of South America. One episode I read there at the museum said that he and his ruffians attacked Porto Bello, that was defended by three forts. This was the part that I remembered so well because of what happened. According to the history of that town, the first fort surrendered but only after much bloodshed. At the second fort, nuns and monks were slaughtered in the crossfire, so when the pirates attacked the third fort, they surrendered immediately. Henry Morgan and his band seized all the treasure and returned to Jamaica to a hero's welcome. In "legend" pirates are often praised and honored but they were cruel and notorious in their actions, if truth be told. Have you ever read any of the history of the pirates of that day?