Nassau: a Pirate’s Safe Haven
Pirates have always had a fascination across society throughout their various incarnations, whether this be through literature, film, criminal biography or material culture. Whilst pirates have existed for centuries and still continue to exist, the period most linked with them is the early eighteenth century. This was the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ because many European navies were reduced after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 and the wrecking of the Spanish treasure fleet in 1715 attracted a ‘gold rush’ to the Caribbean. Both of these factors meant that with many skilled seamen unemployed and the chance of gold made many turn pirate to make a living.
There is some accuracy in the portrayal that has been passed down to us today. In the Pirates of the Caribbean films Tortuga is shown as a pirate parallel world. Part of this image is true. Whilst it was not in Tortuga, in reality was actually Nassau in the Bahamas, pirates did make a place where they believed themselves free from the authorities. A pirate’s identity was based on renouncing any form of traditional forms of power and authority, in a way which put them in charge of their own fate. As described by Bowling, a pirate was a man “who could do anything as long as he remained at liberty”. It meant that pirates appeared untouchable until they were either killed or caught by the authorities. This rather personal identity was also translated in their pirate haven at Nassau.
Nassau was chosen as the perfect place for this separate pirate world because it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Governors of the Bahamas. No authority or defences has been put into place in the land around Nassau, so it was the perfect place to set up a pirate colony. It became a town full of brothels and taverns which was governed by loose code adopted to create unity. This code was upheld by an informal pirate council led by a former privateer turned pirate Captain Henry Jennings.
Nevertheless, Nassau was about creating a place where pirates could do whatever they wished without being hounded by authorities, there was also a more practical aspect to pirates creating a safe haven on land. As pirates had in essence created a war against the rest of the world, they needed an independent place where they could safely repair ships and take on supplies without scrutiny of how legitimate the crew on board were. This single colony meant that they were separate from any other nation. In effect, Nassau had become its own nation and so, wasn’t a priority of the American/British government until waterfront hangings took place, which marked the end of piratical control and the beginning of increased law enforcement.
Despite its eventual downfall with the dwindling number of pirates in the Caribbean, Nassau had proved that pirates were culturally alien to their British/American counterparts, partly by geographical distance but also because they were an armed response to merchant shipping. Pirates successfully created a parallel culture than would have been the traditional society in the early eighteenth century. Nassau allowed bigamy, prostitution, drunkenness and violence to rule. Whilst in other societies this would have been unacceptable behaviour, it was deemed acceptable in this isolated pirate community. However, this lack of accountability finally changed with the development of official naval legality in Nassau, more warships had gained better weapon technology and there were increasing numbers of coordinated campaigns against pirates. With this came the end of the Golden Age of Piracy that had reigned by terror in the Caribbean and after the turn of the nineteenth century, a nostalgic sentiment became linked to it.
Cordingly, D., Spanish Gold: Captain Woodes Rogers & the True Story of the Pirates of the Caribbean (London: Bloomsbury, 2011), p. 2.
Bowling, T., Pirates and Privateers (Harpenden: Pocket Essentials, 2008), p. 108.
Cordingly, D., Spanish Gold, pp. 134-135.
Parry, D., Blackbeard: the Real Pirate of the Caribbean (London: National Maritime Museum Publishing, 2006), p. 51.
Parry, D., Blackbeard, p. 51.
Charles Johnson, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, cited in Cordingly, D., Spanish Gold, pp. 130-131; Rediker, M., Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age (London: Verso, 2004), p. 8.
Cordingly, D., Spanish Gold, p. 166.
Mackie, E., Rakes, Highwaymen, and Pirates, p. 141.
Cordingly, D., Spanish Gold, p. 161; Parry, D., Blackbeard, p. 161 and 164.
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