PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS OF THE ATLANTIC AND THE CARIBBEAN

Reframes privateering in the 18th and 19th centuries as a global maritime phenomenon driven by finance, politics, and diverse crews across wars and seas. Examines ships which were privately financed and privately owned vessels designed, outfitted, and manned to locate, chase, capture, sink, or burn enemy ships under the auspices of a national or a local government. Also considers the officers and seamen aboard these ships, the investors who financed this legal trade, and the multi-racial makeup of some of their crews, as well as discussing the Europeans and women who played an indirect but nevertheless important role in privateering.