 Pirates and Privateers
The History of Maritime
Piracy
Cindy Vallar, Editor
& Reviewer
P.O. Box 425,
Keller, TX 76244-0425
 
Welcome aboard Pirates and
Privateers, a site devoted to the history
of maritime piracy, privateering, and the sea
before the Age of Steam.
Within these pages you will find articles
dealing with the history and culture of these
topics from ancient times to modern day. Click
one of the links above or below to explore the
treasures within this website.
Each month, I send out a newsletter
about the latest article and reviews posted
here. I also include information that doesn't
appear at Pirates and Privateers, but is
still of interest to adherents of piracy and
maritime history. By subscribing to the
newsletter, you'll never miss out on the latest
happenings here at Pirates and Privateers.
As
always, if you have a question about pirates,
please write
and ask. If there is a particular pirate
or subject, you'd like me to write about, let
me know.
One cautionary note for those
seeking genealogical information: Historical
records about pirates are rare. Much of what
is known comes from government records,
newspaper accounts, and the few contemporary
accounts written during a particular period.
This information rarely contains details
pertinent to what you need to know to identify
an ancestor. The simple fact is that the vast
majority of pirates' names remain unknown. I cannot answer
genealogical questions. Instead, I recommend
contacting genealogical depositories and
websites, historical societies, and
national archives --
places where the librarians and curators are
better trained to assist in this type of
query.
A special note to teachers
and students: If
you need help with a project or
report, please contact
me. Should you use any of my
articles or reviews, please let me
know and remember to include the
proper citation. The majority of
material contained with this
website is copyrighted.
Fair winds and
following seas,
Cindy
(site last updated 18 August 2025)
Pirate Quotes of the
Month
For I am
convinced from personal
observation, that from the
governor to the mere clerk
or officer, all derive some
degree of benefit from the
acts of those lawless
ruffians, and therefore it
is against their interest to
injure them.
Aaron
Smith (pirate victim),
The Atrocities of Pirates,
1824
Pirates and privateers may
become good men at last, and
the design of that Law is to
draw them from their evil
courses, and that they may
become good subjects &
inhabitants amongst us, to
help our government . . . I
hope it will meet with no
opposition.
Governor
Benjamin Fletcher addressing
the Pennsylvania Assembly,
17 May 1693
 August Article |
 August
Reviews |
Law & Order: Pirate
Edition
Back in 1990,
NBC premiered a new series where a
perpetrator broke the law, the police
investigated and arrested the suspected
criminal, and lawyers prosecuted or
defended this person in front of a judge
and jury. The last decided whether the
defendant was guilty or not guilty.
This
procedure, from start to finish, is known
as law and order. What goes hand in hand
with this concept are several steps that
allow authorities to carry out justice.
First, people decide what an illegal act
is and how those who commit the crime will
be punished. Second, someone or some
entity is given the power to enforce this
law to maintain order. Third, decisions
are made as to how the accused is proven
to be the lawbreaker in order that he/she
may be punished.
Sounds
simple, yes? Except there is always a
monkey wrench that disrupts this
simplicity. When it comes to piracy, that
monkey wrench can be boiled down into one
complicated question: What is a
pirate?
|
The
Determined
by Rachel Rueckert
Historical Fiction: Pirates &
Privateers
A
Pirate's Life No More
by Steven C. Hahn
Biography:
Pirates, Privateers, &
Pirate Hunters
|
|
|
Pirate & Maritime News
|
Events & Activities
|
Some pages remain in the
old style, while others are in the new
style. We apologize for this. After
twenty-four years, there are many
pages to overhaul and this takes time.
We appreciate your understanding and
patience.
|
Brick
Wrecks
Sunken Ships in LEGO Bricks
8 March - 31 August 2025
The Historic Dockyard Chatham
Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom
Pirates
29 March 2025 - 4 January 2026
National Maritime Museum
Greenwich, United Kingdom
Vikings
Before Vikings
11 April - 30 December 2025
Vrak -- Museum of Wrecks
Stockholm, Sweden
Boarded
A New Pirate
Adventure
11 October
2025
29 November
2025
27 December
2025
Maritime
Museum of San
Diego
San Diego,
California
The Royal Pyrate
23-24 August
2025
30-31 August
2025
Waterfront
Museum
Brooklyn, New
York
Pirate
Viking Summer
Festival
23-24 August
2025
Edgewood, New
Mexico
Eastport Pirate Festival
4-7 September
2025
Eastport,
Maine
Northglenn Pirate Festival
19-20
September 2025
Northglenn,
Colorado
Pirate Festival
20 September
2025
Marcus Hook,
Pennsylvania
Maritime
Heritage Conference
24-27 September 2025
Buffalo Convention Center
Buffalo, New York
Pirates of Emerson
Haunted Themed Park
26-27 September 2025
3-5 October 2025
10-12 October 2025
16-19 October 2025
23-26 October 2025
30 October - 2 November 2025
Pleasanton, California
Pirates Weekend
Royal Stagg Renaissance Festival
27-28 September 2025
Marshall, Michigan
Buccaneer Days
2-5 October 2025
Catalina Island, California
Tybee Island Pirate Fest
9-12 October 2025
Tybee Island, Georgia
Pirates of the High Seas
& Renaissance Fest
10-12 October 2025
Panama City Beach, Florida
Harwich International
Shanty Festival
10-12 October 2025
Harwich, United Kingdom
Sail 250th New York
4 July 2026
New York City, New York
|
The Rebel & the Spy
These
five people played roles in the War of 1812.
James Madison (far left) was president at
the time and, in my current
work-in-progress, he has a special
assignment for Lucas Burnett, one of the
protagonists in the novel. Jean Laffite
(beside Madison) operates a smuggling
operation, based on barrier islands
southwest of New Orleans. One of his
captains, is Dominique You, whose sister
Alexine has been raised in this nefarious
world of smugglers, pirates, privateers, and
cutthroats. Dolley Madison is the country's
presidentress (first lady) and plays a vital
role in preserving some of our national
treasures during the British invasion of
Washington City. General Andrew Jackson
(second from right) has no intention of
allowing the British to gain entry to the
United States through its back door (the
Mississippi). Governor William C. C.
Claiborne (far right) is Lucas's cousin and
a constant thorn in Laffite's side. They
come together within the pages of The
Rebel & the Spy, a historical
novel where it's not always easy to decide
who is the rebel and who is the spy.
The links below are to a gallery of places
depicted in my novel and a resource list for
those seeking information on the people
pictured above, pirates, ships in the age of
sail, the Battle of New Orleans, the
invasion and burning of Washington, the
bombardment of Fort McHenry, and much more.
(Please note that these pages are updated
from time to time, so check back to see
what's been added.) I hope you enjoy.
Pirates & Privateers
Newsletter
Each month I alert
readers to the posting of the
latest piracy article and book
reviews, new additions made to the
website, and interesting maritime
tidbits. If you would like to
receive the monthly Pirates
& Privateers Newsletter,
send
me an e-mail with SUBSCRIBE in
the subject line.
If you're not sure,
here's a sample
newsletter to read. I hope
you enjoy!
Note
to subscribers: If you fail
to receive your newsletter,
it's possible that your
e-mail provider returned it
to me for one of several
reasons: they deem it to be
junk mail; your mailbox is
over quota; access to your
account is denied; or you
changed your e-mail address
and forgot to notify me of
the change. Contact me and
we will try to resolve the
problem.
If your
newsletter bounces two months
in a row and you don't contact
me, I just delete you from the
subscriber list. You're
welcome to resubscribe if that
occurs.
Copyright ©2023 Cindy
Vallar
Click to contact me
Background image compliments
of Anke's Graphics |
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