History of Piracy in the Caribbean Last update 5th April 2004
Broadly speaking the history of piracy in the Caribbean is broken into three eras based upon the political situation of the Eureopean nations.
Upto about the 1520's the Spanish in the Caribbean enjoyed peace from the hostility of other nations (except the indian inhabitants of course), though ships returning via the Azores/Canaries still had to contend with European based pirates from France, England and the Barbary Corsairs. The first significant pirate attack in the Caribbean occured in 1528, with the plundering of San German, Puerto Rico. From this time on progressively more pirate activity occured, mainly initially under the French flag, including attempts to storm Santiago (Cuba) and San German, plus the usual looting of ships.
The first English activity occured in 1540, though the ship's captain was a Frenchman. Most activity though was still French based, particularly as the French and Spanish were often at war during this period. Through the 1540's, despite the declarations of peace between France and Spain, French corsairs continued to plunder throughout the Caribbean, including the sack of Cartagena in 1544. At the same time the French were carrying on illicit trade with Spanish settlements, particularly along the northern coast of Hispaniola. This in turn increased with English and Portugese smugglers joining in over the following years.
In 1558, England's Queen Mary died and was replaced by Elizabeth, who had a whole other outlook on the world. Under her leadership, English privateers would descend on the Caribbean in search of wealth and glory, as part of a general increase in English naval power and merchant trading. The first significant English expedition was under John Hawkins in late 1562 in which he conducted illicit trade with Spanish colonies. Several English smuggling expeditions crossed to the Caribbean in the 1560's, though by the end of this time the Spanish were getting quite irritated by the illegal English trade and sacking of some of their towns and began making overtures to the English crown to stop the practice.
In 1568 relations between England and Spain collapsed, and started a more concerted effort by England's Queen Elizabeth to reduce the power of Spain. In 1572 Francis Drake began his first expedition to the Caribbean, claiming to have plundered several towns and bringing back significant booty from capturing part of a silver mule train.
Through the 1580's the English returned to the Caribbean in numbers, Drake returning for another major expedition in 1585-87 with 2500 soldiers and many ships including 2 royal galleons. Further English expeditions would occur until Elizabeth's death in 1604, when a new peace treaty was signed.
With peace assured for a time, and with smuggling running rampant, the Spanish authorities evacuated the northern coast of Hispaniola to prevent the trade. The relocation caused significant economic hardship and almost brought Hispaniola to a halt. This in turn allowed itinerant French and English to settle in their place.
In 1602, The Dutch East India Company was formed witht heidea of starting trade with the West Indies and creating Dutch towns. This began an era of expansion for the Dutch.
The English expeditions
The French incursions and Franco-Spanish Wars
The So Called 'Golden Era'
Beyond the Golden Era piracy was virtually exterminated as an occurence in the Carribean. With no national sponsor to support and nurture them, pirates had no refuge. Even the towns of America turned their back on them.