People often ask me how someone went from being a law abiding sailor to becoming a pirate.
Were these men forced onboard these ships? How did the pirates select candidates for
new recruits? Was there anything special that a man had to do in order to become a pirate?
All of these questions have some interesting answers! Before we get started I’d
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During the golden age of piracy a career onboard a ship, civilian or military, was NOT an easy
thing. These men were often worked to their max, paid low wages, and treated very poorly
by their captains and officers. Beatings were normal as were punishments like sleep deprivation,
being hung by the wrists, and, in some cases, the sailor might even be killed. Food was
of a very poor quality and voyages could last months or even years.
It’s no wonder then that sailors distrusted their superiors and craved a life where they
were treated better, paid better, and weren’t worked so hard. In some cases a crew would
mutiny and this would result in the mutineers becoming pirates. This is what happened with
Henry Every and his crew in 1694.
Henry Every was likely a sailor from youth and he served in the Royal Navy aboard various
ships. After he was discharged Every was named first mate onboard a ship in an English expedition
that was bound for the West Indies. The expedition was being sent to trade, salvage wrecked treasure
galleons, and plunder French settlements in the Caribbean. In August 1693 the ships set
sail for Corunna, a city in Northern Spain where the expedition would collect legal documents
from Madrid authorizing them to salvage the treasure galleons.
The documents did not arrive for months leaving the ships anchored in Corunna. The sailors
were not being paid so they couldn’t send money home to provide for their families so
they were, in effect, prisoners onboard the ships. Some sailors even believed they had
been sold as slaves to the Spanish. On May 7th, 1694 around 9 PM the crews mutinied under
Every’s leadership. Every was reported to have addressed the loyal men that remained
onboard the ship and, according to one sailor, he told them: “if you have a mind
to make one of us, we will receive you; and if you turn sober, and attend to business,
perhaps in time I may make you up of my lieutenants; if not, here's a boat, and you shall be set
on shore.”
The captain of the ship and several other sailors did not want any part in the mutiny
and were brought to shore. However, one of the men, the ship’s surgeon, was deemed
too important and he was forced to remain with the crew. The men that remained onboard
unanimously elected Every captain and he proposed that they would become pirates in the Indian
Ocean. Each member would get one share of the treasure and the captain would receive
two. Once a pirate crew was formed the pirates would usually make an offer to the
crew of any ship they captured. The pirates would tell the sailors they could join of
their own accords or, in other cases, the pirates would have forced crew to come with
them. Skilled people; navigators, carpenters, doctors, etc., would usually be forced to
go with the pirates regardless of their decisions.
Upon joining a pirate crew the sailors were required to sign the ship’s articles of
agreement which was a document that governed the conduct of the crew. The crew member would
be required to sign or make a mark and swear an oath to the crew. This was sometimes taken
on a bible but legend suggests that in other instances the pirates swore over pistols,
swords, axes, bones, or cannons. This inducted the pirate into the crew and gave the a right
to vote, to bear arms, and to a share of the plunder.
Mostly a pirate crew’s articles were destroyed before capture or surrender to prevent the
document from becoming evidence. In some cases a sailing joining the crew may have asked
the pirates to pretend to force him to sign so witnesses would report it to the authorities.
That way if the pirate was captured he could claim that he signed under duress. We only
have a handful of surviving articles of agreement, several of which come from a General History
by Charles Johnson.
Since the story of how he was able to collect all of these documents was not told, typical
of the information he presents, I don’t feel comfortable presenting them as authentic.
There are, however, at least three that have survived can be verified: George Cusack’s,
Nicholas Clough’s, and Jean Charpin’s. In any case, the articles were displayed for
the crew to see after they were signed.
The pirates certainly seemed to have respected that anyone that wanted to become a pirate
was free to do so! Often a pirate crew, upon capturing a slave ship, would free the men
and women and allow them to join. Pirates routinely welcomed escaped slaves into their
ranks as well. On one occasion a nine year old named John King demanded to join the crew
of Black Sam Bellamy and, after threatening to jump off the ship and attacking his mother,
he was allowed to join the pirates. It’s fair to say that a lot of people craved the
adventure, thrill, and excitement of joining a pirate crew. Stede Bonnet, a well off man
from a rich family, went so fair as to spend his own money to have a pirate ship built
and then hired a crew. He certainly didn’t NEED the money, so something else motivated
him.
I hope you liked this episode. As I said earlier please consider signing up for patreon or
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