Barbaric, unsanitary, selfish, always pushing beyond the liits is a sum up of the life of piracy. Pirates emerged in literature, children’s songs, and in the movies, but beyond the border of the surface, there is so much more history behind the men who walked the plank.
Pirates were indeed scoundrels and thieves but in their own surroundings had a code of conduct. It might sound strange but pirates had morals. They chose their own captain, distributed the loot equally between each other, and even had severe punishment if one crewmember stole from another.
Contradictory to some people’s beliefs pirates hardly buried their treasure, most of the time they spent it leaving no trace of evidence. A pirate’s life was far from glamorous. Conditions of the ship were unclean, diseases and sickness plagued the crew, the sleeping quarters were rat and bug infested, and food and water were scarce.
There are many famous male pirates but there were also female pirates. A woman as a pirate was a rare occurrence and very few existed. Despite the number of them they made an impact. Women were considered an inconvenience on a pirate ship. They were looked at in a sexual manner so many of them posed as men to seek their fortune without any hassle. Two famous female pirates were Mary Read and Anne Bonne. Working their way to the top they are truly legendary. Both avoided execution by claiming pregnancy, while all the men on the ship were executed (go figure.)
The life of piracy is not for the weak hearted because the strength it takes to overcome the obstacles is astronomical.
Jaclyn Cimarusti
1 comment:
Part of me is somewhat ashamed of knowing you guys, lolz.
That part of me is the RAD part.
:]
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