Pirates are people who steal from ships. During the "Golden Age of Piracy", which lasted from the the 1680s to the 1720s, many pirates sailed across the seas in stolen ships. They attacked other ships, seized their cargo and killed their crews. The Spanish Main (the southern Caribbean Sea) was a popular hunting ground for pirates. From the Caribbean coast of South America, Spanish galleons transported gold, jewellery and coins (“pieces of eight”) back from the Americas to Spain. The treasure ships were a tempting target for pirates.

Pirates

Pirates were murderous outlaws who attacked ships for their own gain. Many pirates had once been ordinary sailors who became pirates to escape the brutal treatment they received on merchant ships or warships. They found that they could make much more money as pirates—but it was still a tough life.

Privateers and buccaneers

After Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492, Spain claimed much of Central and South America as its own. The Spanish began to ship vast amounts of silver and other treasures they found in the Americas back to Spain. Enemies of Spain, including Britain, France and the Netherlands, hired men to steal Spain’s treasure. These men were called privateers. In the mid-17th century they were helped by local raiders, called buccaneers, who lived on the islands of Tortuga, Hispaniola and Jamaica in the Caribbean. Many became pirates. Some sailed as far as the Indian Ocean in search of treasure ships to plunder.

Attack

Pirate ships would often take a galleon by surprise. They swapped a friendly flag for the Jolly Roger just moments before their attack. Their ship would draw alongside the galleon, using grappling irons to pull the ships together. The pirates then leapt aboard, brandishing cutlasses (razor-sharp, curved-edge swords), pistols, axes and daggers.

With his crew outnumbered by the pirate crew, the galleon's captain often surrendered his ship without a shot being fired. The pirates would then make off with their plunder: arms, supplies and treasure.