For this course of study we will be discussing piracy in the New World

The buccaneers were Caribbean pirates (see Introduction to Piracy PIR102 Buccaneers) who attacked Spanish shipping and cities in the West Indies and along the Spanish Main during the 17th and 18th centuries., Buccaneer crews were larger and more apt to attack coastal cities than later pirate crews.

Around 1630, French hunters were driven away from the island of Hispaniola to nearby Tortuga. They lived by hunting wild cattle and selling the hides to Dutch traders. The Spaniards tried to drive them out of Tortuga, but the buccaneers were joined by French, Dutch and English adventurers and finally became so strong that they attacked Spanish ships and even sailed to the continent of Spanish America and sacked cities.

The British government decided that Buccaneers were a way to wage war on their rival at the time, Spain. The government licensed buccaneers as "privateers", legalizing their operations in return for a share of their profits. The buccaneers were invited by Jamaica's Governor Modyford to base ships at Port Royal. Buccaneers were commissioned by the British to attack the French, Dutch and Spanish shipping and colonies from the homeport of Port Royal. The plunder returned from these attacks made Port Royal the most prosperous city in the West Indies and largest English city in the new world. There English navy officers were sent to lead the buccaneers. Their activities went on irrespective of whether England happened to be at war with Spain.

The most noted buccaneer leader was a Welshman named Henry Morgan, who sacked Maracaibo, Portobello, and Panama City, stealing a huge amount from the Spanish. Morgan became rich and went back to England, where he was knighted by Charles II.

Buccaneering began to diminish in the 1690s and government policies of wars against Spain changed.

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