The Life Aquatic with a Female Pirate

Stepping out of my time machine and into what's often called The Golden Age of Piracy I was most excited to meet infamous pirates like Blackbeard and Henry Morgan. If it was Henry Morgan I'd have a bottle of Captain Morgan spiced rum to give him while saying how legendary you are in the far future. The sun was beating on me and off in the distance I saw a ship approaching and was hoping it wasn't a naval ship. The very last thing I was hoping to see.
Much to my very surprise once the ship came ashore out came a pirate. Not Morgan or Blackbeard but a female pirate! After reading titles like "Under the Black Flag" and "Buccaneers and Pirates" I was under the assumption that my chances of running into a female pirate would be slim to none. A part of me was expecting to be hacked into bits and my Captain Morgan rum stolen but surprisingly she welcomed me aboard the ship with open arms. Once on the ship and seeing the rest of the crew I was even more surprised to see it was a mixture of male and female pirates. Everyone was pulling their weight and working very diligently. Comparing what I saw to what I read was like day and night. Women, with the exception of a few were often wives, maids, or mistresses. Here though was a female pirate who had her ship running to max effect.
She told me her name was Angelica Cruz and was born in South America. She lived alone and would do various odd jobs on her native island to survive. At a young age she was taken from her parents and longed to be reunited one day with them. Angelica was very optimistic when I asked about them saying, "They'll be back. I know they will". It wasn't until very recently when she was taught about the life of piracy by someone she named Han. She told me Han would say how much a natural she was at Piracy but yet she also had a huge heart and didn't believe in killing.  In a way, Angelica was the most non-pirate pirate you'd every meet in your life. Her ship was inherited after Han was murdered in a encounter with the British army. Physically compared to other pirates in that era she was rather attractive and very headstrong.
I do wish I had gotten more of a chance to interview her but my time had ran out on my time watch and in the far distance we saw a Naval ship approaching fast. Now that I think about it, I might have changed history rather drastically as I left the rum behind on Angelica's ship. Here's to hoping that illiteracy was very widespread!

Blog Post 2

As the age of exploration continue to grow so did

piracy. Three countries set out to capture as

much of the new world as they could. Them

being Spain, France, and Britain. Through

reading the next two chapters it was Spain who

tended to set the bar for exploration for all

others. They had conquered most of what is now

South America as they believed it all belonged to

them. Spain would often launch conquest through the jungles and either enslaving or slaughtering the

native Aztecs and Incas. It would seem as one huge power struggle with everyone wanting a piece of

Spain's efforts as the English and French would often hire pirates to disrupt the Spanish settlements.

Both books chapters detail how pirates such as the Frenchman Peter the Great would often be

undermanned compared to the Spanish ships but had the element of surprise on their side.

"Buccaneers and Pirates" said, "As soon as it became dark enough they slowly and quietly paddled

toward the great ship.. the people on the deck of the Bessel saw and heard nothing on the dark waters

around them" (Stockton). The funny thing about some of these pirates were how they were more or

less mercenaries. Hired to do one or two campaigns against the Spanish and they would then retire to

live long and peaceful lives with their riches. Even a pirate as well known as Captain Henry Morgan

of the alcoholic drink Captain Morgan's Rum was knighted by King Charles II? David Cordingly

described Morgan as, "Connected and influential" (Cordingly) and his laidback lifestyle describing,

"He had purchased seveal thousand acres on the island and set up his own sugar plantations. He was

happily married for more than twenty years" (Cordingly). Compare that to what we're used to about

piracy where all they knew was being a pirate and would continue their activities up until their

eventual deaths.  After reading chapters 3&4 the new world was essentially Spain's to lose and the

English and French were quickly gaining ground on them. The Spanish placed a big target on their

backs and greed and ruthlessness was quickly setting in throughout all of Europe.


Cordingly, David (1/31/2017). Under the Black Flag (p. ). Kindle Edition
Stockton, Franklin Richard (1/31/2017). Buccaneers and Pirates (p. 17). Kindle Edition

Blog Post 1

Pirates: Separating fact from fiction

Everyone knows and loves pirates. They're a staple of historical

figures besides cowboys although their reign was rather short lived.

They've been featured in everything from classic novels, a football

team, iconic film characters and Halloween costumes. As I've read

between our two assigned books "Under the Black Flag" and "Buccaneers and Pirates" everything

I've ever known about them is more fiction than fact. Although there are similarities between the two

books "Under" is more of an historic piece with well researched information on well-known pirates

like Henry Morgan. "Buccaneers" on the other hand is told more from the authors point of view

detailing all the glamorous things, like everyone growing up, you associate with pirates from plank

walking to treasure chest full of dabloons. "I had a great desire to become what might be called a

marine Robin Hood. I would take from the rich and give to the poor" (Stockton). It was what

everyone who saw Captain Jack Sparrow pictured a pirate's life would be, on the contrary it was more

of the opposite. While the typical pirate clothing was true, the lifestyle tended to be more of the

opposite. One can trace the classic pirate dream back to Long John Silver in Robert Louis Stevenson's

"Treasure Island". After reading simply the intro of "Under the Black Pearl" I learned that pirates

were similar to Captain Leandro Barbosa than Captain Jack Sparrow. Cordingly wrote, "Piracy, like

rape, depended on the use of force or the threat or force, and pirate attacks were frequently

accompanied by extreme violence, torture and death" (Cordingly). After reading the intro, its almost

as if your childhood dream is shattered and a pirates life is more in tune of being a disgusting villain

than a swashbuckling hero.


Cordingly, David (1/30/2017). Under the Black Flag (p. 4). Kindle Edition

Stockton, Franklin Richard (1/30/2017). Buccaneers and Pirates (p. 5). Kindle Edition