Female Pirate

When you think of pirates, you're likely picturing bearded buccaneers or peg-legged scalawags with names like Blackbeard, Barbarossa, and Calico Jack. While most pirates were men, there were women in these ranks of raiders who were just as merciless, notorious, and feared. Spanning the globe and centuries, we introduce you to the infamous she-pirates of the seven seas.

ANNE BONNY

Born in 1698, this Irish lass with luscious red locks and a dangerous temper became an icon of The Golden Age of Piracy (1650s-1730s) after marrying small-time pirate James Bonny. Anne's respectable father disowned her over the marriage, so she and her new husband moved to a portion of the Bahamas nicknamed the Pirates Republic, a sanctuary of sorts for scalawags. But the Bonnys were not happily married for long.

They divorced, and she took up with Calico Jack Rackham, first as his lover, then as his first mate of the ship Revenge. In October of 1720, she and the rest of Rackham's crew were captured despite Bonny and her bosom buddy Mary Read's valiant attempts to fight off the advancing English forces. Bonny blamed Rackham for their capture. Her last words to him in prison are recorded as, "Sorry to see you there, but if you'd fought like a man, you would not have been hang'd like a Dog."

He was hanged, but Bonny's pregnancy earned her a stay of execution. However, no historical record of her death sentence was found. Some speculate that her affluent father paid a handsome price to have her set free.

"9 Female Pirates You Should Know About." Mental Floss. N.p., 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Punishments and Torture

All the pirates who signed the articles of agreement knew all the rules before signing so one could not plead ignorance. Therefore, the punishments for violating the rules were often very strict and very harsh. Despite the common misconception there are almost no instances of pirates making anyone "walk a plank" but a pirate who disobeyed the pirate code could often find himself marooned on an island. Marooning was a simple and devilish punishment. The idea was to strand the offending pirate on a small island that lacked food, shelter, or fresh water. Preferably the island should be far away from the shipping lanes, such that the chance of rescue was unlikely. The marooned sailor was sometimes given a bottle of water or rum. But he was always given a pistol, and enough powder and shot to blow his own brains out. So, the marooned sailor had two choices: die quickly from a bullet to the head, or die slowly from starvation and dehydration while hoping that maybe a ship might come by and rescue him. You could also be thrown overboard, but that was done by two crew members holding your hands and feet. Other breaches of the code were met with being whipped. or even execution by firearm. Edward Low, a sadist whose cruelties became a byword in the Caribbean” (UBF p. 130)

Threatened a crew that if they concealed their money, he would sink the vessel and throw him overboard with a double shot to the neck Cut off a ship Masters lips and broiled them in front of him. Murdered entire crew (Portuguese ship). (32 people) punishment that was given where has follows the maximum lashes a Captain had was 12 to give a crewmember Court martialed: Deserter = 200, Mutineer = 300, Thief = 500, Sodomy = Death or 1,000 Unwillingness to Plea (guilty or not guilty) – stretched on the grounded and “pressed” by heavy rocks to Death or until a plea was made.

Cordingly, David. The romance and the reality of life among the pirates: the romance and the reality of life among the pirates. Place of publication not identified: Random House, 2006. Print.

Stockton, Frank R. Buccaneers and pirates. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2007. Print.

"Pirate codes of conduct from the Golden Age (1721-24)." Sillyhistory. N.p., 04 July 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. https://sillyhistory.com/2015/07/03/pirate-codes-of-conduct-from-the-golden-age-1721-24/

Modern Pirates

The topic that I have chosen to research this term is modern day pirates. I have always been very interested in pirates been born and raised in Jamaica. The headquarter of some of the most notorious pirates. Until recently, piracy has been relatively unheard of in contemporary news media. The practice, however, has garnered international prominence in recent years, especially the Somali piracy activities off the coast of Africa.   In April, when Somali pirates captured the MV Maersk Alabama and kidnapped the captain of the ship for four days, the news shocked many. While earlier reports of piracy may have made the news, they did not capture the public’s attention in the same way that this incident did. The fact is that piracy is not just a legend from days long past, but is a dangerous trend that is on the upswing and for the past few years. They aren’t like the pirates in the movies. “Colorful pirates don’t exist. They’re either well-organized gangs, making a lot of money out of it, or opportunistic thieves.

"Modern Day Pirate Attacks by Country." WorldAtlas. N.p., 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Kemp, Ted. NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 17 May 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Modern-Day Pirates

Modern-day pirates as well as pirates of the golden age arm themselves profoundly. Pirates use guns, knives and more recent modern pirates attack with bombs and rocket launchers. They threaten and attack crewmembers, take hostages and in some instance, abandon their victims. Pirates sometimes handover the ship's staff to the attack vessel and leave with the entire ship and its cargo. In some cases, crewmembers have died at the hands of these plundering modern-day pirates.  They also take benefit of current technology by monitoring communications among ships and ports to determine the greatest targets and plan of attack.