Piracy in South America and the Caribbean
Dublin Core
Title
Piracy in South America and the Caribbean
Description
This collection explores maps and stories of piracy in the Carribean and South America. Some items are also from the Golden Age of Piracy, a period of time from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century.
Collection Items
A Chart of the West Indies
This map of the West Indies includes notes identifying Columbus's landing site in the New World, routes of the Spanish treasure fleets, the convoys of armed galleons and merchant ships that transported European goods to the Spanish colonies in…
Portrait of Bartolomeu Português
A portrait of Bartolomeu, the Portuguese pirate that attacked plenty of Spanish ships for their money and cacao. He is also responsible for the earliest "pirate's code" which would later influence John Phillips and Edward Low. Bartolomeu sailed with…
Pirates Burning Havana
He was the leader of a band of Huguenot pirates and a lieutenant or former lieutenant of another French pirate, François le Clerc. first gained notoriety among the Spanish after his attack on Santa Cruz de la Palma on the Canary Islands in 1553. He…
Henry Morgan and the Sack of Panama
As a young man, Henry Morgan was sold into indentured servitude in the Caribbean. After regaining his freedom, he would go on to be recruited by a pirate crew and later would leave a legacy of unprecedented pirate rampage. His power and prestige were…
Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Mary was English and Anne was Irish, they were both born to working families, and had similar upbringings. Both were accustomed to dressing like boys so they had no problem breaking into the pirate scene. They were as good at fighting, drinking, and…
Maroon Leader
The mountains of Jamaica, the jungles of Suriname, and the swamps of Carolina were dangerous. These places terrified the escaped slaves as they would terrify anyone. However, they embraced the danger in desperation, preferring them to the dangers and…
Artifacts from Nuestra Señora de Atocha
During the age of Spanish exploration and colonization, treasure fleets regularly made trips to the Americas to deliver and collect treasures, including the many precious metals South America had to offer. In late summer these ships would join the…
Letter from the Spanish General to Henry Morgan
The buccaneers arrived at Lake Maracaibo, where they found everything as they had left it before. But they received news there were three Spanish "men-of-war" in the lake, lying in wait for him, and the fort had again been well equipped. The boat…
Morgan defeats the Spanish at Maracaibo
Morgan sent a messenger to the Spanish general with the following proposals: the buccaneers would leave Maracaibo without doing any harm to the city, and without claiming any ransom, they would give up half of the slaves, and set free all the…
The Island of Tortuga
In the mid-1600s, Spain would invade Tortuga four times in an attempt to end the buccaneer threat. However, every time their soldiers would leave, the buccaneers would return, and build up the fortifications they previously left behind. The rocky…