Global Piracy & Colonialism – Lecture Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major people, places, laws, concepts, and events from the lecture on European, Atlantic, and Asian piracy and colonialism.

South Sea

European name for the Pacific Ocean, targeted for Spanish silver by English privateers (16th–19th c.).

VOC (Dutch East India Company)

Dutch trading corporation (1602) with quasi-state powers that built an Asian trade monopoly via privateering.

Manila

Spanish-Philippines capital (founded 1571); hub linking Asian goods to New-World silver through the galleon trade.

Santa Catarina

Rich Portuguese carrack seized by the VOC (1603); case inspired Hugo Grotius’s defense of free seas.

Strait of Magellan

Hazardous passage at South America’s tip; non-Spanish route into the Pacific for raiding Spanish shipping.

Hugo Grotius

Dutch jurist (1583–1645) whose “Free Sea” justified Dutch challenges to Iberian monopolies and labeled pirates hostis humani generis.

Treaty of London (1604)

Peace ending Anglo-Spanish War; banned English privateering against Spain, pushing many sailors toward piracy.

Terra Nullius

Legal term “nobody’s land”; used by Europeans to legitimize colonial seizures of supposedly unclaimed territory.

New Netherland

Dutch colony (1614-1664) in Hudson Valley; base for Dutch smuggling/privateering in the Americas.

Callao

Port of Lima, Peru; main silver outlet and prized yet fortified target for buccaneers.

GWC (Dutch West India Company)

Dutch company (1621) waging economic war on Spain/Portugal in Atlantic via colonies, slave trade, and privateering.

Grand Design (Dutch)

GWC plan (1620s) to cripple Iberian empires by seizing Brazil, West Africa, and the Spanish silver fleet.

Piet Heyn

Dutch admiral who captured entire Spanish treasure fleet at Matanzas Bay (1628), huge blow to Spain.

Dutch Brazil

GWC colony (1630-1654) in NE Brazil; centerpiece for seizing profitable sugar trade from Portugal.

Curaçao

Caribbean island taken by Dutch (1634); key naval base and smuggling/slave-trade center on Spanish Main.

Indentured Servants

European laborers bound for fixed terms in Americas; harsh conditions led many to join buccaneers.

Providence Island

English Puritan colony (1630-41) off Nicaragua, founded expressly to raid Spanish Empire.

Barbados

English sugar colony (1627; boom 1640s); wealth & brutal labor made it both target and source of pirates.

Tortuga

Island off Hispaniola (1630s-80s); first major buccaneer stronghold backed by French/English officials.

Brethren of the Coast

Multinational buccaneer coalition (17th c.) with its own code, based on Tortuga and later Port Royal.

Matelotage

17th-century same-sex partnership among buccaneers; shared property and inheritance rights.

Alexandre Exquemelin

Buccaneer-surgeon whose bestseller The Buccaneers of America (1678) shaped the pirate mythos.

The Buccaneers of America

Exquemelin’s 1678/1684 book; sensational account that popularized figures like Henry Morgan.

Cromwell’s Western Design

English campaign (1654-55) against Spain; failure at Hispaniola but capture of Jamaica created key privateer base.

Henry Morgan

Welsh buccaneer (1660s-70s) famed for raids on Portobello and Panama; later Lt. Governor of Jamaica.

Thomas Modyford

Governor of Jamaica (1664-71) who issued Morgan’s commissions, turning island into privateering hub.

Portobello

Spanish treasure-port in Panama; Morgan’s 1668 sack was a bold, lucrative buccaneer success.

Treaty of Madrid (1670)

England-Spain accord: Spain recognized English Caribbean holdings; England pledged to suppress privateers.

South Sea Buccaneers

English raiders in Pacific (1680s) like Sharp & Dampier who continued unofficial war on Spain.

Bartholomew Sharp

Leader of famed South Sea voyage (1679-82); acquitted in England using captured Spanish maps.

Batchelor’s Delight

Flagship of South Sea buccaneers (1680s) under Edward Davis; symbol of long pirate voyages.

Edward Davis

English buccaneer captain of Batchelor’s Delight; combined plunder with exploration.

William Dampier

Buccaneer-naturalist whose writings after South Sea voyages influenced science and literature.

A General History of the Pyrates

1724 London book (Captain Charles Johnson) that shaped legends of Blackbeard, Calico Jack, etc.

English Civil War

1642-51 conflicts that disrupted authority and produced anti-authoritarian sailors later drawn to piracy.

King William’s / Queen Anne’s War

American fronts of 1689-97 & 1702-13 European wars; ended privateering demand, creating pirate unemployment.

Navigation Act (1651)

English law restricting colonial trade to English ships, fueling smuggling markets attractive to pirates.

Act for Restraining & Punishing Privateers and Pirates (1683)

Jamaican statute marking colonial shift from supporting to suppressing piracy.

Act for the more Effectual Suppression of Piracy (1700)

British law creating colonial Vice-Admiralty courts, boosting local pirate convictions.

Piracy Law of 1721

British act criminalizing trade with pirates, targeting their colonial suppliers.

Red Sea Pirates

1690s wave attacking rich Mughal ships; Every’s haul spurred Golden Age piracy.

Madagascar

Indian Ocean island (1690s-1720s) serving as major pirate haven and mythic Libertalia site.

Henry Every

English pirate who captured Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai (1695), vanishing with record loot.

William Kidd

Scottish privateer executed 1701; trial blurred lines between privateering and piracy.

Bartholomew Roberts

“Black Bart” (1719-22) captured 400+ ships; death marked end of Golden Age.

Anne Bonny

Irish female pirate (c.1718-20) who, with Mary Read, defied gender norms.

Jack Rackham

“Calico Jack” (1718-20) Caribbean captain, famed for crew Bonny & Read and Jolly Roger design.

Benjamin Hornigold

Founder of Nassau’s pirate republic; later became royal pirate-hunter.

Edward Teach

“Blackbeard” (1716-18) famed for terrifying image and Charleston blockade.

Black Sam Bellamy

Wealthiest pirate (1716-17); captured Whydah Gally, wreck discovery illuminated pirate life.

Gov. Archibald Hamilton

Jamaican governor (1711-16) who secretly profited from pirates like Henry Jennings.

Henry Jennings

Privateer-turned-pirate; 1715 raid on Florida wrecks helped establish Nassau base.

Capt. Woodes Rogers

Ex-privateer appointed 1718 governor; suppressed Nassau’s “Republic of Pirates.”

Silversmiths

Colonial metalworkers who fenced pirate loot by melting plate into untraceable bullion.

New Providence Island

Bahamas island whose port Nassau became Golden Age pirate capital (c.1715-18).

Nassau

Main port of New Providence; center of the pirate “Flying Gang” republic.

Pieces of Eight

Spanish silver dollars, first global currency and prime pirate treasure.

Urca de Lima

1715 treasure-fleet galleon wreck; its salvage sites drew Jennings’s pivotal pirate raid.

Libertatia / Libertalia

Legendary anarchist pirate colony on Madagascar described in 1724 General History.

Land of Cockaygne

Medieval utopia of ease; foreshadowed sailor-pirate dreams like Libertalia.

Levellers / Diggers

Radical English Civil War movements advocating equality; influenced Atlantic maritime counter-culture.

Baymen

Democratic logwood cutters (17th-18th c.) in Bay of Campeche/Honduras, closely linked to buccaneers.

Hydrarchy

Maritime social order where sailors developed egalitarian, often rebellious structures against ship authority.

The Flying Gang

Core group of Nassau pirates (1716-18) including Blackbeard, Bellamy, Calico Jack.

“Going on the Account”

Sailor euphemism for becoming a pirate, framing it as alternative employment.

Common Council

Full-crew assembly governing pirate ships through one-person-one-vote democracy.

Pirate Democracy

Elected, removable officers and equal plunder shares creating egalitarian ship governance.

Quartermaster

Elected pirate officer balancing captain’s power, handling discipline and loot division.

Jolly Roger

Pirate flag (early 18th c.) with death symbols used to intimidate victims into surrender.

Hostis Humani Generis

Legal label “enemy of all mankind” placing pirates outside protection of any state.

Impressment

Forced naval service practice driving many sailors to desert and choose piracy.

Articles of Agreement

Pirate crew’s written code detailing rules, plunder shares, and injury compensation.

William and Mary College

Virginia college (1693) partly funded by confiscated pirate goods, linking education to suppression.

Crown Colonies

British colonies ruled by royal governors; tighter control aided anti-piracy efforts.

Proprietary Colonies

Colonies granted to proprietors (e.g., Maryland) who sometimes tolerated piracy for profit.

Charter Colonies

Self-governing colonies (e.g., Rhode Island) whose autonomy made them pirate havens.

Three Great Waves of Chinese Piracy

16th-, mid-17th-, and late 18th-/early 19th-century surges driven by trade bans and upheaval.

Wakō Pirates

Multinational raiders (13th-16th c.) attacking China/Korea; response to Ming maritime bans.

Jiajing Emperor

Ming ruler (1521-67) whose strict haijin policies fueled Wakō piracy.

Wang Zhi

Chinese merchant-pirate (d.1559) who led vast Wakō smuggling network opposing Ming bans.

Limahon

Chinese pirate warlord (1570s) who tried to seize Manila after Ming defeat.

Zheng Zhilong

Merchant-pirate turned Ming admiral (1620s-40s); built maritime empire then co-opted by state.

Koxinga

Zheng Zhilong’s son; Ming loyalist who expelled Dutch from Taiwan and fought Qing (1624-62).

Cai Qian

Late-18th-century pirate lord in Taiwan Strait; precursor to Guangdong confederation.

Zheng Yi

Pirate leader who united Cantonese fleets into the Red Flag confederation (d.1807).

Zheng Yi Sao

Widow who commanded 1,800 ships (1807-10); history’s most successful pirate, later retired peacefully.

Zhang Bao

Adopted son/consort of Zheng Yi Sao; surrendered and became Qing officer.

Japanese Reunification

End of Sengoku era; Tokugawa crackdown curtailed Japanese Wakō piracy (early 17th c.).

Single Whip Reform

Late-Ming tax shift to silver payments, spurring illicit trade and piracy.

Great Clearance Policy

Qing coastal evacuation (1661-83) to starve Koxinga; devastated littoral economy.

Tây Sơn Rebellion

Vietnamese uprising (1771-1802) that sponsored pirates as its navy, fostering large fleets.

Guangdong Pact (1805)

Agreement uniting Cantonese pirate fleets under Zheng Yi; created huge confederation.

Moro Wars

1565-1898 Spanish-Muslim conflicts in Philippines; framed slave raids as holy war.

Sulu Sultanate

Muslim maritime power (1405-1915) centered on slave-raiding economy opposing Spain.

Brunei Sultanate

Borneo power (15th-17th c. peak) whose decline opened space for new raiding states.

Johor Sultanate

Malay successor to Malacca (16th-19th c.); allied with Dutch, contested by raiders.

Jolo

Capital of Sulu Sultanate; notorious slave market and raiding fleet base.

Iranun Raiders

Moro seafaring warriors (18th-19th c.) who conducted long-range slave raids for Sulu.