Pirate Economics Lecture Notes

Pirate Economics

Keywords

  • The Treaty of Madrid

    • A 1670 agreement in which Spain recognized English ownership of settled territories in the West Indies and England agreed to halt privateering raids.

  • Pieter Janszoon

    • A pirate known for his attack on a Spanish ship in December 1671, which led to his execution for piracy and murder.

  • The Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates

    • A law passed in Jamaica in 1681 that made it a felony for any inhabitant to serve a foreign power without governor’s license and outlined severe punishments for piracy-related offenses.

Treaty of Madrid (1670)

  • Spain recognized English ownership of settled territories in the West Indies.

  • England agreed to halt privateering raids.

  • English ships could not trade in Spanish ports, and vice versa, except for repairs or shelter during storms.

  • The peace lasted until 1702.

Captain Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688)

Henry Morgan and the Treaty of Madrid

  • June 12, 1670: English secretary of state ordered privateers to stand down while the Treaty of Madrid was being negotiated.

  • July 8, 1670: The Treaty of Madrid was signed.

  • July 22, 1670: Jamaica's governor, Sir Thomas Modyford, gave Morgan new letters of marque before news of the treaty arrived.

  • August 13, 1670: Modyford received the letter from England. Morgan had already left Port Royal, but Modyford sent a boat to inform him, without canceling the letters of marque.

Henry Morgan and the Treaty of Madrid (Continued)

  • Morgan informed Modyford he was already en route to the Spanish coast, citing the necessity to land for wood, water, and provisions.

  • January 1671: Morgan attacked Panama City with 2,000 men, yielding £30,000 in plunder (approximately $30 million today). Each of the 1,500 surviving privateers received about £16.

Henry Morgan’s Two Major Expeditions

  • Portobello, July 1668: £75,000 in plunder divided among 460 men (approximately £120 each).

  • Panama City, January 1671: £30,000 in plunder divided among 1,500 surviving men (approximately £16 each).

Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction at Disneyland

  • Opened in 1967.

  • Designer Marc Davis initially considered using historical pirates like Captain Morgan, Anne Bonny, Captain Kidd, and Blackbeard, but opted for fictionalized pirates.

  • The ride's scenes of pirates pillaging “Puerto Dorado" are loosely based on Morgan’s raids on Portobello and Puerto del Principe.

Henry Morgan and Piracy After 1670

  • July 1671: Thomas Lynch became the new governor of Jamaica and was tasked with arresting Morgan.

  • April 1672: Morgan was sent to London under guard and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

  • 1674: Morgan was released without charges.

  • 1674: Knighted by King Charles II of England.

  • 1674: Appointed lieutenant-governor of Jamaica (salary of £600 a year) and ordered to return.

  • Morgan continued to fund pirate expeditions, but no longer led them.

The Truce of Ratisbon, 1684

  • A temporary peace between Spain and France in Europe and the New World.

  • King Louis XIV of France agreed to stop issuing letters of marque to privateers.

  • The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) later recognized France’s dominion over Tortuga and western Hispaniola.

Henry Morgan’s Increasing Wealth After 1670

  • Over the next two decades, before his death in 1688, Morgan purchased:

    • 3 sugar plantations on Jamaica

    • 122 enslaved Africans

    • 7 enslaved Indigenous people

    • 123 books, including sermons and plays

    • 27 handguns

  • In 1665, he married the daughter of a former deputy governor of Jamaica; they had no children.

Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688), lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, 1674–1682.

John Style, Letter to Sir William Morrice, 1669

  • Jamaica's trade relied heavily on privateers who sold plunder cheaply to merchants.

  • Around 8,000 men were privateering, motivated by “gold and gain.”

  • The settlement of Jamaica required Christian planters from England.

The Sowerby Law of Colonial Development

  • The richer a colony became, the less it welcomed pirates.

Estimated Cost of Setting Up a 100-Acre Sugar Plantation in Jamaica in 1690

  • 50 enslaved Africans, at an average cost of £16.6 = £830

  • 7 indentured servants, at an average cost of £12 for 4 years’ service = £84

  • 5 horses, at an average cost of £5 = £25

  • 8 bullocks, at an average cost of £2.2 = £17.6

  • Sugar mills, stills, and tools = £1,000

  • Total: £1,956.60

  • Capital invested in sugar plantations in Jamaica in the late seventeenth century produced about a 10.3% annual return.

Demography of Jamaica (Not Including Privateers)

Year

White

Black (Mostly Enslaved)

Black % of Overall Population

1662

3,360

514

13.2

1670

4,200

2,500

37.3

1673

7,768

9,504

55.0

1680

approximately 5,600

21,500

79.3

1689

approximately 4,600

25,000

84.4

Efforts to Stamp Out Piracy/Privateering in Jamaica

  • July 1671: Governor Thomas Lynch arrived, arrested Henry Morgan, and offered pardons and 35 acres of uncleared land to pirates/privateers who surrendered.

  • December 1671 or January 1672: Pieter Janszoon attacked a Spanish ship, killing the captain and crew.

  • September 1672: Lynch had Janszoon tried and executed in Port Royal for piracy and murder.

The Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates

  • Passed by the Assembly of Jamaica on July 2, 1681.

  • Made it a felony (punishable by death) for any inhabitant of Jamaica to serve a foreign power without the governor’s license.

  • Harboring a pirate was grounds for prosecution as an accessory.

  • Pirates resisting arrest by force could be killed on the spot.

  • Officers failing to prosecute pirates could be fined £50 per offense.

The Truce of Ratisbon, 1684 ( повторение )

  • The truce brought a temporary peace between Spain and France in both Europe and the New World.

  • King Louis XIV of France agreed to stop giving letters of marque to privateers authorizing them to operate against Spanish shipping.

  • Later, in the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), Spain recognized France’s dominion over Tortuga and the westernmost part of Hispaniola.

The Unsettled Period of Atlantic Piracy, 1684–1713

  • The “Age of the Buccaneers” ended in the early 1680s.

  • The Act for Restraining and Punishing Privateers and Pirates effectively ended large-scale piracy from Jamaica in 1681.

  • The Truce of Ratisbon effectively ended large-scale privateering from Tortuga in 1684.

  • Some pirates moved north, finding new pirate ports in places like the Bahamas, the Carolinas, New York, and New England.

  • Some pirates moved east to the Indian Ocean in the 1690s.

Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688), lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, 1674–1682 ( повторение )

Alexander Exquemelin, Bucaniers of America (1684)

  • The original Dutch edition had appeared in 1678.

Alexander Exquemelin and Henry Morgan

  • Exquemelin was from Harfleur, near Le Havre, France.

  • He arrived on Tortuga in 1666 and worked as an indentured servant until 1668 before joining the buccaneers.

  • He participated in Morgan’s attacks on Portobello (July 1668) and Panama City (January 1671).

  • He returned to Europe in 1674.

  • In 1679, he was living in Amsterdam and qualified as a member of the Dutch Surgeons’ Guild.

Alexander Exquemelin and Henry Morgan (Continued)

  • Exquemelin published "Buccaneers of America" in Dutch in 1678.

  • It was later published in German (1679), Spanish (1681), English (1684), and French (1686).

  • The book states that Exquemelin himself witnessed these acts of plunder out of necessity.

From the Guild Book of the Surgeons of Amsterdam

  • Mr. Alexander Olivier Exquemelin from Honfleur passed his last exam on October 26, 1679, and paid his dues to the guild.

Henry Morgan’s Libel Suit Against William Crooke, 1685

  • William Crooke was Exquemelin’s English publisher.

  • The lawsuit was filed in the Court of King’s Bench at Westminster.

  • The Morgan family claimed to abhor piracy and that Henry Morgan had always hated buccaneers.

Henry Morgan’s Libel Suit Against William Crooke, 1685 (Continued)

  • Morgan sought £10,000 in damages (approximately $10 million today).

  • The jury ruled in Morgan’s favor, awarding £200 damages (approximately $200,000 today).

  • Crooke printed an apology and retraction, particularly regarding passages about Morgan’s torture and abuse of Spanish prisoners.

Sir Henry Morgan (c. 1635-1688), lieutenant-governor of Jamaica, 1674–1682

Report of Dr. Hans Sloane on the Health of Sir Henry Morgan

  • Morgan had a “dropsy” (possibly congestive heart failure).

  • He was “much given to drinking and sitting up late.”

  • He spent much time in a hammock with his legs up and used little exercise.

Sir Henry Morgan and his Estate

  • Valued at £5,263.

  • He owned 3 sugar plantations, 122 enslaved Africans, and 7 enslaved Indigenous people.

  • His estate mainly went to his wife.

Ship’s Log of the HMS Assistance, 26 Aug. 1688

  • Morgan was brought from Passage Fort to the King's House at Port Royal and then buried at the Palisadoes.

  • All ships fired an equal number of guns, with HMS Assistance firing 22.

John Taylor’s “Present State of Jamaica,” 1687

  • Port Royal was described as rude and debauched, worse than Sodom, despite legal restraints due to privateers and wild blades.

  • It was filled with prostitutes, making it almost impossible to civilize.

Jamaica Earthquake of 7 June 1692

  • The earthquake was approximately 7.0-7.5 in magnitude.

Rev. Emmanuel Heath, A Full Account of the Earthquake at Port Royal in Jamaica (1692)

  • Described the earth opening and swallowing people, and the sea surging over the fortifications.

  • The harbor was covered with dead bodies.

  • Streets and inhabitants were swallowed, with some buried up to their necks and then crushed to death.

Casualties of the Earthquake of 7 June 1692

  • Killed between 1,500 and 2,000 people in Port Royal (about 23–31% of the population).

Rev. Emmanuel Heath on the Earthquake's Impact

  • Expressed hope that the disaster would lead to reform, as Port Royal was considered ungodly.

Spanish Treasure

  • Spanish mines in the Americas produced approximately 4 billion pesos of gold and silver in the 16th-18th centuries (worth £300 million).

  • Henry Morgan’s 1668 raid on Portobello yielded approximately £75,000.

  • Piet Heyn’s 1628 attack on the Spanish treasure fleet yielded 4.8 million silver pesos (worth about £360,000).

John Style, Letter to Sir William Morrice, 1669

What difference did pirates make?

  • Were pirates a purely destructive force, or were they sometimes constructive?

  • Were pirates a purely anti-imperial force, or did they sometimes strengthen empires?

Potential sources of investment capital for colonial development in the early modern Caribbean

  • European Monarchs/Governments

  • Private capital from Europe

  • Gold and silver in the Americas

  • Human Capital

Number of slaves imported from Africa per 25-year period

Potential sources of investment capital for colonial development in the early modern Caribbean

  • European Monarchs/Governments

  • Private capital from Europe

  • Gold and silver in the Americas

  • Human Capital

The pirates/privateers of Tortuga and Port Royal and colonial development

  • An informal Navy

  • A source of revenue

Relative importance of sugar and privateering to Jamaica’s economy

  • A privateering raid on Venezuela by Christopher Myngs in 1659 yielded £40,000 in plunder.

  • Henry Morgan’s raid on Portobello in July 1668 yielded £75,000 in plunder.

  • Henry Morgan’s attack on Panama City in January 1671 yielded £30,000.

  • The annual value of the sugar exports from Jamaica in 1671 was around £10,000.

  • The annual value of the sugar exports from Jamaica in 1689 was around £88,000.

Henry Morgan

  • Privateers on the Portobello raid got about £120 each

Spanish Treasure

  • Spanish mines in the Americas produced approximately 4 billion pesos of gold and silver in the 16th-18th centuries (worth £300 million).

  • Henry Morgan’s 1668 raid on Portobello yielded approximately £75,000.

  • Piet Heyn’s 1628 attack on the Spanish treasure fleet yielded 4.8 million silver pesos (worth about £360,000).

Spanish pirates?

Piracy as a weapon of the weak

With piracy/privateering, weaker empires stole from stronger ones