Pirate Myth: There was a Pirate Code (of Conduct) Status: TrueA documented Pirate Code onboard ins
Pirate Myth: There was a Pirate Code (of Conduct) Status: True A documented Pirate Code onboard instituted order and conduct over the pirate crew. This was particularly important when mutineers turned pirate. Smart leaders knew that a crew that mutinied against another captain could do it against them. So they devised ‘Articles’ for the mutineers to sign that rewarded discipline, loyalty and trustworthiness with food, and crucially, drink. Articles also set expectations for new crew members joining the ship. Pirate Articles differed among every ship. Some pirates’ Articles were remarkably progressive for their time. They included a social security system that allocated a portion of all plunder proceeds as compensation for wounded or maimed crewmembers. Articles in Caribbean piracy were known to pass through pirate groups. It is believed that the source of most pirates’ articles from 1716-26 was either Captain Benjamin Hornigold, or George Lowther and Edward Low. The movement of crewmembers from these Captains’ ships distributed their style of social organisation to other pirates of the Caribbean. Bartholomew Roberts is particularly well known for his Articles (extracted here). They covered now-familiar themes of democracy. Every man was guaranteed a ‘vote in affairs of the moment’, and ‘equal title’ to fresh provisions and, far more importantly, ‘strong liquors’. Roberts was one of two Caribbean pirates who expressly forbade the presence of women or boys onboard his ship. The other pirate captain, John Phillips, went even further: he outlawed ‘meddling’ with any woman without her consent in his Articles. Pirate Codes of Conduct were not limited to the Caribbean. They have appeared in various forms (either written or orally) during other outbreaks of piracy across the world. Most notably, Ching Shih of China was believed to have Articles covering conduct in her pirate organisation. A handful of original Articles survive today but unfortunately, pirates tended to burn or destroy them when facing capture. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc-lNdsL8Ow/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI= -- source link