Editing Piracy (section)

==Culture and social structure==

===Rewards===
{{see also|No purchase, no pay}}
Pirates had a system of hierarchy on board their ships determining how captured money was distributed. However, pirates were more [[egalitarian]] than any other area of employment at the time. In fact, pirate [[quartermaster]]s were a counterbalance to the captain and had the power to veto his orders. The majority of plunder was in the form of cargo and ship's equipment, with medicines the most highly prized. A vessel's doctor's chest would be worth anywhere from £300 to £400, or around $470,000 in today's values. Jewels were common plunder but not popular, as they were hard to sell, and pirates, unlike the public of today, had little concept of their value. There is one case recorded where a pirate was given a large diamond worth a great deal more than the value of the handful of small diamonds given to his crewmates as a share. He felt cheated and had it broken up to match what they received.<ref name="Vallar">{{cite web|url=http://www.cindyvallar.com/treasure.html|title=Treasure|access-date=April 21, 2009|archive-date=December 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221213656/http://www.cindyvallar.com/treasure.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Morgan,Henry.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Henry Morgan]] who sacked and burned the city of [[Panama City|Panama]] in 1671 – the second most important city in the Spanish New World at the time; engraving from 1681 Spanish edition of [[Alexandre Exquemelin]]'s ''The Buccaneers of America'']]

[[Spanish dollar|Spanish pieces of eight]] minted in Mexico or Seville were the standard trade currency in the American colonies. However, every colony still used the monetary units of pounds, shillings, and pence for bookkeeping while Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese money were all standard mediums of exchange as British law prohibited the export of British silver coinage. Until the exchange rates were standardised in the late 18th century each colony legislated its own different exchange rates. In England, 1 piece of eight was worth 4s 3d while it was worth 8s in New York, 7s 6d in [[Pennsylvania]] and 6s 8d in [[Virginia]]. One 18th-century English shilling was worth around $58 in modern currency, so a piece of eight could be worth anywhere from $246 to $465. As such, the value of pirate plunder could vary considerably, depending on who recorded it and where.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hudsonrivervalley.net/AMERICANBOOK/18.html|title=The Hudson River Valley Institute|access-date=April 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302075626/http://www.hudsonrivervalley.net/AMERICANBOOK/18.html|archive-date=March 2, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyIntros/IntroValue.html|title=University of Notre Dame|access-date=October 23, 2014|archive-date=May 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523063918/https://coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyIntros/IntroValue.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ordinary seamen received a part of the plunder at the captain's discretion but usually a single share. On average, a pirate could expect the equivalent of a year's wages as his share from each ship captured while the crew of the most successful pirates would often each receive a share valued at around £1,000 ($1.17&nbsp;million) at least once in their career.<ref name="Vallar"/> One of the larger amounts taken from a single ship was that by captain [[Thomas Tew]] from an Indian merchantman in 1692. Each ordinary seaman on his ship received a share worth £3,000 ($3.5&nbsp;million), with officers receiving proportionally larger amounts as per the agreed shares, with Tew himself receiving 2½ shares. It is known there were actions with multiple ships captured where a single share was worth almost double this.<ref name="Vallar"/><ref name="Gosse">{{Cite book |last= Gosse|first= Philip |title= The Pirates' Who's Who|publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC|year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4346-3302-6}} p. 251.</ref>

By contrast, an ordinary seamen in the Royal Navy received 19s per month to be paid in a lump sum at the end of a tour of duty, which was around half the rate paid in the [[Merchant Navy]]. However, corrupt officers would often "tax" their crews' wage to supplement their own, and the Royal Navy of the day was infamous for its reluctance to pay. From this wage, 6d per month was deducted for the maintenance of [[Greenwich Hospital (London)|Greenwich Hospital]], with similar amounts deducted for the [[Chatham Chest]], the chaplain and surgeon. Six months' pay was withheld to discourage desertion. That this was insufficient incentive is revealed in a report on proposed changes to the RN [[Admiral Nelson]] wrote in 1803; he noted that since 1793 more than 42,000 sailors had deserted. Roughly half of all RN crews were [[Impressment|pressganged]] and these not only received lower wages than volunteers but were shackled while the vessel was docked and were never permitted to go ashore until released from service.<ref name="Hill">{{Cite book |last= Hill|first= J. R. |title= The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002 |isbn=0-19-860527-7}} p. 157.</ref>

Although the Royal Navy suffered from many morale issues, it answered the question of prize money via the [[Cruizers and Convoys Act 1708]] which handed over the share previously gained by the Crown to the captors of the ship. Technically it was still possible for the Crown to get the money or a portion of it but this rarely happened. The process of condemnation of a captured vessel and its cargo and men was given to the High Court of the Admiralty and this was the process which remained in force with minor changes throughout the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary]] and [[Napoleonic War]]s.

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; margin:0 0 1em 1em; vertical-align: top;"
|+ Ship prize shares
|-
! scope="col" | Rank !! scope="col" | Pre 1808 !! scope="col" | Post 1808
|-
| [[Captain (naval)|Captain]]||3/8||2/8
|-
| [[Admiral]] of fleet||1/8||1/8
|-
| [[Sailing Master]]<br />& Lieutenants<br />& [[Captain (OF-2)|Captain]] of [[Royal Marines|Marine]]s||1/8||1/8
|-
| [[Warrant Officers]]||1/8||1/8
|-
| Wardroom Warrant officers<br />& Petty Officers||1/8||1/8
|-
| [[Sailor|Gunner]]s, Sailors||1/8||2/8
|}
[[File:BartRobCrew.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Bartholomew Roberts]]' crew carousing at the [[Calabar River]]; illustration from ''The Pirates Own Book'' (1837). Roberts is estimated to have captured over 470 vessels.]]
Even the flag officer's share was not quite straightforward; he would only get the full one-eighth if he had no junior flag officer beneath him. If this was the case then he would get a third share. If he had more than one then he would take one-half while the rest was shared out equally.

There was a great deal of money to be made in this way. The record breaker was the capture of the [[Spanish frigate Hermione|Spanish frigate ''Hermione'']], which was carrying treasure in 1762. The value of this was so great that each individual seaman netted £485 ($1.4&nbsp;million in 2008 dollars).<ref>[http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ Current value] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218073541/https://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/ |date=December 18, 2017 }} is based on the average annual income for the respective years.</ref> The two captains responsible, Evans and Pownall, received £65,000 each ($188.4&nbsp;million). In January 1807 the frigate ''Caroline'' took the Spanish ''San Rafael'', which brought in £52,000 for her captain, Peter Rainier (who had been only a midshipman some thirteen months before). All through the wars there are examples of this kind of luck falling on captains. Another famous 'capture' was that of the Spanish frigates ''Thetis'' and ''Santa Brigada'', which were loaded with gold [[Coin|specie]]. They were taken by four British frigates who shared the money, each captain receiving £40,730. Each lieutenant got £5,091, the Warrant Officer group, £2,468, the midshipmen £791 and the individual seamen £182.

It should also be noted that it was usually only the frigates which took prizes; the ships of the line were far too ponderous to be able to chase and capture the smaller ships which generally carried treasure. Nelson always bemoaned that he had done badly out of prize money and even as a flag officer received little. This was not that he had a bad command of captains but rather that British mastery of the seas was so complete that few enemy ships dared to sail.<ref>[http://www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavyprize.htm Nelson and His Navy – Prize Money] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621024038/http://www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavyprize.htm |date=June 21, 2008 }} Historical Maritime Society.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="vertical-align: top;"
|+ Comparison chart using the share distribution known for three pirates against the shares for a Privateer and wages as paid by the Royal Navy.
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Bartholomew Roberts
! scope="col" | [[George Lowther (pirate)|George Lowther]]
! scope="col" | William Phillips
! scope="col" | Privateer<br />([[William Monson (Royal Navy officer)|Sir William Monson]])
! scope="col" | Royal Navy<br />(per month)
|-
| [[Captain (naval)|Captain]]
| 2 shares
| 2 shares
| 1.5 shares
| 10 shares
| £8, 8s
|-
| [[Master-at-arms|Master]]
| 1.5 shares
| 1.5 shares
| 1.25 shares
| 7 or 8 shares
| £4
|-
| [[Boatswain]]
| 1.5 shares
| 1.25 shares
| 1.25 shares
| 5 shares
| £2
|-
| [[Sailor|Gunner]]
| 1.5 shares
| 1.25 shares
| 1.25 shares
| 5 shares
| £2
|-
| [[Quartermaster]]
| 2 shares
|
|
| 4 shares
| £1, 6s
|-
| Carpenter
|
|
| 1.25 shares
| 5 shares
| £2
|-
| [[Sub-Lieutenant|Mate]]
|
| 1.25 shares
|
| 5 shares
| £2, 2s
|-
| Doctor
|
| 1.25 shares
|
| 5 shares
| £5 +2d per man aboard
|-
| "Other Officers"
| 1.25 shares
|
|
| various rates
| various rates
|-
| [[Able Seamen]] (2 yrs experience)<br />[[Ordinary seaman|Ordinary Seamen]] (some exp)<br />[[Landman (rank)|Landsmen]] ([[Impressment|pressganged]])
|<br />1 share
|<br />1 share
|<br />1 share
|
| 22s<br />19s<br />11s
|}

===Loot===
[[File:Whydah-gold.jpg|thumb|right|Pirate treasure looted by [[Samuel Bellamy]] and recovered from the wreck of the ''Whydah''; exhibit at the [[Houston Museum of Natural Science]], 2010]]
Even though pirates raided many ships, few, if any, buried their treasure. Often, the "treasure" that was stolen was food, water, alcohol, weapons, or clothing. Other things they stole were household items like bits of soap and gear like rope and anchors, or sometimes they would keep the ship they captured (either to sell off or keep because it was better than their ship). Such items were likely to be needed immediately, rather than saved for future trade. For this reason, there was no need for the pirates to bury these goods. Pirates tended to kill few people aboard the ships they captured; usually they would kill no one if the ship surrendered, because if it became known that pirates took no prisoners, their victims would fight to the last breath and make victory both very difficult and costly in lives.  In contrast, ships would quickly surrender if they knew they would be spared. In one well-documented case 300 heavily armed soldiers on a ship attacked by Thomas Tew surrendered after a brief battle with none of Tew's 40-man crew being injured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://piratesofamerica.com/Pirates_of_America/Thomas_Tew.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927040642/http://piratesofamerica.com/Pirates_of_America/Thomas_Tew.html|url-status=dead|title=Piratesofamerica.com|archive-date=September 27, 2013}}</ref>

===Punishment===
[[File:Henszlein.jpg|thumb|A contemporary flyer depicting the [[public execution]] of 16th-century pirate [[Klein Henszlein]] and his crew in 1573]]
During the 17th and 18th centuries, once pirates were caught, justice was meted out in a summary fashion, and many ended their lives by "dancing the hempen jig", a euphemism for [[hanging]]. Public execution was a form of entertainment at the time, and people came out to watch them as they would to a sporting event today. Newspapers reported details such as condemned men's last words, the prayers said by the priests, and descriptions of their final moments in the gallows. In England most of these executions took place at [[Execution Dock]] on the [[River Thames]] in London.

In the cases of more famous prisoners, usually captains, their punishments extended beyond death. Their bodies were enclosed in [[gibbeting|iron cages (gibbet)]] (for which they were measured before their execution) and left to swing in the air until the flesh rotted off them- a process that could take as long as two years. The bodies of captains such as William "Captain" Kidd, Charles Vane, [[William Fly]], and [[Jack Rackham|Jack Rackham ("Calico Jack")]] were all treated this manner.<ref name="Pirates by John Matthews">Pirates by John Matthews</ref>

===Role of women===
{{Main|Women in piracy}}
[[File:Bonney, Anne (1697-1720).jpg|thumb|Pirate [[Anne Bonny]] (disappeared after 28 November 1720). Engraving from [[Captain Charles Johnson]]'s ''General History of the Pyrates'' (1st Dutch Edition, 1725)]]
While piracy was predominantly a male occupation throughout history, a minority of pirates were female.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pantherbay.com/bio_womenpirates.php|title=Were there really women pirates?|website=www.pantherbay.com|access-date=November 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428233752/http://www.pantherbay.com/bio_womenpirates.php|archive-date=April 28, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pirates did not allow women onto their ships very often. Additionally, women were often regarded as bad luck among pirates. It was feared that the male members of the crew would argue and fight over the women. On many ships, women (as well as young boys) were prohibited by the [[Pirate code|ship's contract]], which all crew members were required to sign.<ref name="Pennell">Pennell, C. R. 2001. Bandits at sea : A pirates reader. New York: New York University Press.</ref> {{rp|303}}

Very few female pirates are noted during the Golden Age of Piracy. They were [[Anne Bonny]] and [[Mary Read]], two female pirates who served under [[ John Rackham (pirate)]] in 1720, [[Mary Critchett]] an escaped prisoner in 1729, and [[Martha Farley]] the wife of a minor pirate in 1727.

===Democracy among Caribbean pirates===
{{See also|Pirate code|distribution of justice}}
Unlike traditional Western societies of the time, many Caribbean pirate crews of European descent operated as limited [[democracies]]. Pirate communities were some of the first to instate a system of checks and balances similar to the one used by the present-day democracies. The first record of such a government aboard a pirate sloop dates to the 17th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leeson |first1=Peter T. |title=An- arrgh -chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization |journal=Journal of Political Economy |date=December 2007 |volume=115 |issue=6 |pages=1049–1094 |doi=10.1086/526403 |s2cid=16692227 }}</ref>

===Pirate Code===
As recorded by Captain Charles Johnson regarding the articles of Bartholomew Roberts.
{{blockquote|1=<nowiki />
#Every man shall have an equal vote in affairs of moment. He shall have an equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and shall use them at pleasure unless a scarcity may make it necessary for the common good that a retrenchment may be voted.
#Every man shall be called fairly in turn by the list on board of prizes, because over and above their proper share, they are allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defraud the company to the value of even one dollar in plate, jewels or money, they shall be [[marooning|marooned]]. If any man rob another he shall have his nose and ears slit, and be put ashore where he shall be sure to encounter hardships.
#None shall game for money either with dice or cards.
#The lights and candles should be put out at eight at night, and if any of the crew desire to drink after that hour they shall sit upon the open deck without lights.
#Each man shall keep his piece, cutlass and pistols at all times clean and ready for action.
#No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man shall be found seducing any of the latter sex and carrying her to sea in disguise he shall suffer death.
#He that shall desert the ship or his quarters in time of battle shall be punished by death or marooning.
#None shall strike another on board the ship, but every man's quarrel shall be ended on shore by sword or pistol in this manner. At the word of command from the quartermaster, each man being previously placed back to back, shall turn and fire immediately. If any man do not, the quartermaster shall knock the piece out of his hand. If both miss their aim they shall take to their cutlasses, and he that draw the first blood shall be declared the victor.
#No man shall talk of breaking up their way of living till each has a share of 1,000. Every man who shall become a cripple or lose a limb in the service shall have 800 pieces of eight from the common stock and for lesser hurts proportionately.
#The captain and the quartermaster shall each receive two shares of a prize, the master gunner and [[boatswain]], one and one half shares, all other officers one and one quarter, and private gentlemen of fortune one share each.
#The musicians shall have rest on the Sabbath Day only by right. On all other days by favor only.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Fox|editor-first=E.T.|title=In the show 'Black Sails', the pirates have laws they quote every now and then when there are disputes|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4ahr7r/in_the_show_black_sails_the_pirates_have_laws/|website=redditt|date=March 15, 2016|access-date=March 18, 2016|archive-date=May 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513092422/https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4ahr7r/in_the_show_black_sails_the_pirates_have_laws/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}