Caribbean Piracy Research Paper

The world has been subject to acts of piracy since trading at sea was formed. Take Julius Caesar for example: this Roman emperor was once kidnapped by pirates, whom he paid off in order to be set free. Eventually, Caesar found the pirates and had them all killed. Whether it be two-thousand years ago or even in modern times, piracy has always been active. However, there was a point in history in which piracy had reached its prime. Often referred to as, "the golden age of piracy" this time period roughly occurred between 1680 until 1730. Primarily situated in the Caribbean, this era has since attracted massive fascination, as there are dozens of books and stories based around piracy during this time. Although most people are quite familiar with this event in history, one may be …show more content…
Additionally, one may also forget the effort put into ending said piracy. There have been numerous answers explaining such questions, but majority can easily be summarized into three basic reasons: location, society, and government. Due to these three reasons, early eighteenth century Caribbean became an excellent target for pirates as well as a difficult task for European nations to control and eventually exterminate. For starters, the geographical location of the Caribbean is important to consider as it provided wealth and shelter. As one may know, the number one goal for a pirate was money, "There can be little doubt that pirates attacked and plundered shipping for mercenary motives." 52. Therefore, the Caribbean proved to be a worthy region to operate in. This is partly due to the Spanish traveling with valuables from its colonies in the Americas back to the homeland, which of course attracted pirates. The Spanish already been