Author James Kaserman presents various lectures on the history and truth about pirates. Currently, one of his speeches is getting national attention, Perception vs. Truth. Below is the text of the historically correct facts about pirates: PERCEPTION VERSUS TRUTH, BLACK PIRATES HAD EQUALITY AND HELPED END THE SLAVE TRADE
By James F. Kaserman, Author and Lecturer
One of the real problems we all face in trying to determine and teach history is the fact that we have perceptions that are not necessarily the facts and stereotypes that are not always true. It is not all our fault, the fact is, old, literate men who were on the winning side; and, who in the United States, were often white have often written history.
Also, the movies and the media have given us the mistaken romantic stereotype of pirates that are not factual. Erroll Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks most pirates were not. The enduring romantic creation is far removed from the historic realities. Authors, including yours truly to some extent, have romanticized the sweet trade and have helped hide the grim reality.
Piracy has its' roots in ancient history when the Phoenicians combined piracy with legitimate business. The Vikings of the 9th through 11th century terrorized European coasts. Muslim rovers or "Corsairs" were the scourges of the Mediterranean Sea, often abducting Christian seaman and turning them into slaves in "bagnios".
As I will note later, Pirates were often the only true democracies known to mankind and; for the time in which they were established, were quite revolutionary. Buccaneers elected their captains, shared in their prizes equally, the pirates actually were the inventors or creators of workman's compensation and life insurance.
But, it was a harsh life, average age of pirates being either in their mid-twenties when they died or retired from the "sweet trade."
The invention of the steam engine and the growth of national navies, primarily British and American, ended most traditional piracy in the early 19th century.
I will describe the typical Caribbean Pirate Confederation organization and urge you to compare them to your perceptions of the historical pirates, and draw your own conclusions:
1. Pirates were PERFORMANCE-BASED and ACCOUNTABLE. Their motto was "No Prey, No Pay!"
2. Pirate Organizations were FLAT and DEMOCRATIC. The pirates were the only true democracy known to mankind. They not only voted for their leadership; but they each had an equal vote on every workplace issue that might affect them. Pirates took great pride in their freedom and independence, even at work! Pirates were of all races, all creeds, and all nationalities. For example, it is reported that the crew of one of the most famous pirates of all time, Bartholomew Roberts in 1721 was made up of 187 white men and 75 black men.
3. Pirates practiced TEAMWORK and ADHERED TO A STRICT CODE OF CONDUCT (at least within there own membership--i.e. 'Honor among thieves.') Every member contributed to the organization and if a problem the pirates had a written policy statement to cover all issues.
4. Pirates were the originators of WORKMAN'S COMPENSATION. They established a dollar figure for each type of injury they might incur, such as loss of finger, hand, arm, leg, eye, etc. And; not only did they pay that amount but they GUARNTEED the member a LIFETIME job and income at another job they found for them.
All of the above encouraged those freedom-loving persons to at least consider piracy while they were forced to live under oppressive monarchies, prevalent at the time.
For the slave, the choice was even easier. For, it is true, there is a bit o' pirate in all of us!
Pirates were always recruiting new members to replace those who were killed, injured, or made enough money to retire.
The easiest source of new brothers and sisters and most likely target was the lightly-armed, slave ships, who had a minimum sized crews that pirates could inventory by simply counting the 'dog houses' of the crews on the decks. After stopping these terrible ships, the pirates offered the slaves the choice of freedom by joining their brotherhood or a life of slavery on land. This Hobson's choice, or no choice at all, is a free pirate or a law-abiding slave, resulted in a large percentage, estimated at between 30 and 50% at any given time, of pirates who were black.
You might have heard the term doghouse? Well, the term "in the doghouse" is attributed to the slave ship. The stench and smell of the poor unfortunates chained in the wooden holds of these terrible ships forced the crews to construct little shelters, or doghouses, on the decks of these slavers. If you asked where a crewman was, the answer would be "oh, he is over there in the doghouse."
It is a fact that pirates did more than any religion to cause the end of slavery. I go into great detail in my novels pointing this out.
James F. Kaserman is the author of the 2001 Florida Publisher's Association President's "Best Florida Book," GASPARILLA PIRATE GENIUS, ISBN 0-9674081-0-5, and Co-Author of, THE LEGEND OF GASPARILLA, A TALE FOR ALL AGES, 0-9674081-1-3 with his wife Sarah Jane Kaserman. The Kaserman's appear in Pirate Costume with Sarah Jane playing pirate and maritime tunes on her fiddle prior to James lecturing on "The Truth About Pirates" generally geared to the area they are appearing.
