# 19 AARGH! WHEN PIRATES RULED THE WAVES Wednesday – 1 p.m. Winter Term 2012 (14 Weeks) Course Description My interest in pirates started early. I have always enjoyed the story of Treasure Island and the Black Spot with Long John Silver. Robert Newton (Long John Silver) was still my favorite pirate working with Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll). Even Charlton Heston’s rendition of the famous Stevenson novel did not spoil the interest in learning about pirates. In the 1999 Treasure Island film, Jack Palance, the famous actor of Shane, portrayed Captain Silver as well. Circle ahead to the UCLA Book Fair a few years ago when I had the opportunity to meet the author, Diana Preston, who wrote about the famous navigator and pirate, Dampier. His memoirs of the Caribbean crossings became so famous that they inspired Defoe and Melville. Pirates seemed to have been with us from time immemorial. We may call them corsairs or buccaneers. Also, I have discovered in developing this S/DG that filibuster originally meant French pirate. Look at the popularity of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in all the Pirates of the Caribbean films (latest: On Stranger Tides) and the special ride at Disneyland and Disney World. Additionally, a dearth of boardgames has occurred from Pirate’s Cove (Days of Wonder Games) to Buccaneer and Port Royal (Queen Games for both) to Winds of Plunder (GMT Games) as well as all the Pirates of the Caribbean tie-ins, including Monopoly. From that interest I think we should have an S/DG on the history of pirates, the contributions foibles, and lunancies of pirates, modern-day pirates, and how piracy has contributed to major regional and national wars. Pirates are the finest entrepreneurs in the world. We don’t have to just look back at Errol Flynn and the film, The Sea Hawk, to see how pirate thinking has influenced not only movie makers but also the romance of the public for pirates. A new fourth motion picture about Pirates of the Caribbean (On Stranger Tides) was even shown in theaters now with the search for the Fountain of Youth. The exploits of Drake and Raleigh should not be overlooked as piracy in the eyes of Spain and other nations. Privateers (a politically correct name for pirates and state sponsored)
When Pirates Ruled the Waves helped immensely in the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolution. Pirates aided in exploration of the world. The golden age of piracy only lasted about 75 years, but, to this day, we still remember the famous pirate names of Blackbeard, Black Bart Roberts, Anne Bonney, and Henry Morgan. I rely on a recent book by Tinniswood about what makes a superb pirate captain: (1) excellent seamanship, (2) good leadership skills, (3) streak of brutality, and (4) disregard for conventional morality. Today we cannot escape headlines in newspapers and other media about modern-day pirates harassing and causing major concern to shipping lanes in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Pirates don’t seem to leave us with individuals constantly thinking of ways to acquire ill-gotten goods, hostages, and ships. The study of pirates and piracy means we can once again explore a little known, yet fascinating, piece of Americana and world history for its implications. Pirates and piracy are history. Representative Quotes “And there were some who went on the sea jihad and found fame.—Ahmad Bin Mohammad Al-Maqqari (1621) Topics Session 1. How Pirates Developed—Evolution of Pirates. Tracing the Roots of Piracy to the Cradle of Civilization: Mare Internum. Lukkun Pirates (the first ancient pirates). Samians, Aetolian League, Illyrians, and Dalmatians. Piracy in Greco-Roman Era. Romans Achieving Mare Nostrum. Pompey, Caesar, and Cilician Pirates. Dangers of Coastal Living. Viking sea raiders. Pirates of Medieval Britain: Eustace the Monk. Smugglers and Pirates during Tudor Times. French Corsairs. Session 2. Rise of Barbary Corsairs. Corsairs of the Mediterranean. Sea in the Middle of the Earth. English, French, Spanish, Italian and Turkish Pirates in the Employ of The Barbary. Sea-jihad. Khair al-Din’s Legacy. Three Barbary States. Captain Ward: Corsair King. The Barbarossa Brothers. The Last of the Barbary Pirates: Uluj Ali. Barbary Pirates and Jefferson’s Response. Session 3. Pirates and Privateers. Attacking Danish and Hanseatic League Ships. Golden Age of Elizabeth. Drake and Hawkins: The Sea Dogs. Raleigh. Privateering: Big Business. Issuing Letters of Marque and Reprisal. American Revolution: America’s Rebel Privateers. Privateer John Paul Jones Patriot Pirates. Piracy Act in 1777. The Civil War. The Confederate Privateers and Commerce Raiders. Session 4. The Era of Jean LaFitte and War of 1812. The Coming of the Dutch. The Buccaneers of Hispaniola. Brothers in Business: Pierre and Jean, 1809-11. Aury and Jannet. Privateers of 1812. Kingdom of Barataria. Galveston Island. Legend of LaFittes. David Porter: Pirate Hunter. Session 5. Pirates in the Caribbean. Port Royal: Richest and Wickedest City on Earth. Tortuga and the Breathen of the Coast. François L’Olonnais. French Filibusters. Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1725). Jewish Pirates in the Caribbean. Blackbeard. Captain Kidd. Henry Morgan. “Black Bart” Roberts. Pirate hunters. New Providence (Bahamas). Raids of Pirate Charles Vane. Sam Bellamy and the Whydah. A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (1724): Noted Writing for the Times. William Fly. Session 6. Female Pirates and Their Role: Especially Anne Bonny, Mary Read. Grace O’Malley (Granuiale): Most Famous Irish Pirate. Bonny’s and Read’s Association with “Calico” Jack Rackham. Jacquotte Delahaye: Filibuster. Anne Dieu-le-veut. Princess Bartholomew Roberts: A Woman? Nancy Kington and Minera Sharpe. Madame Cheng: the Pirate Widow. Cheng Sao. Alwida: Danish Pirate. Defining Roles in Predominantly Male World. Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Session 7. Dampier: the Circumnavigator and Pirate of Exquisite Mind. Other Buccaneer Explorers. Inspiration for Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe. Darwin Carrying Dampier’s Writings. Journeying Three Times around the World. Powers of observation. New Kind of Travel Writing. Buccaneering Overshadowing His Attainments. Humane Man. Reasoned, Restless, Receptive Curiosity. Journey from Manila to Acapulco. A New Voyage (1697). Session 8. Chinese and Japanese Pirates. Kuo Hsing Yeh Running Pirate Empire. Koxinga: Chinese Pirate King, 1624-62. War with the Dutch. Creating Large Pirate Confederation: Cheng Yih. Shap-‘ng-Tsai: Opium Pirates. Cheng Pao. Session 9. Pirates’ Tactics and Techniques. Libertalia and the Sailor’s Lot. Design of Pirate Ships. Myth of Walking the Plank. Allotment of Booty. Pirate Flags. The Perfect Pirate Ship. The Pirate Code. Health insurance. Chinese Pirate Junk. Session 10. Red Sea Pirates and Indian Ocean Routes. The Appeal of the Indian Ocean. Captain John Avery and Defoe’s Presentation. Angrian Pirate Dynasty. First Red Sea Pirate: Thomas Tew. Henry Every: Richest Haul in Pirate History. Edward England and John Taylor’s Voyages. Madagascar: Safe Refuge. Robert Surcouf: King of the Corsairs. Session 11. The Eastern Seas: Galangs, Ibans, Ilanuns, Sulus. Indonesian Pirates. Piracy Plaguing Until 19th Century. Malaysian Pirates. Raffles of Singapore and Anti-piracy Patrols. Sir James Brooke: White Rajah of Sarawak. Sunning Incident (1926): Miniature Pirate Crime Wave. Session 12. Pirates in Novels of Different Periods. Robinson Crusoe. J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Washington Irving: Pirates of the Desert. Treasure Island. Kidnapped. Master of the Ballantrae. The Gold Bug. Dampier writings. Sir WalterScott. Drawings of Howard Pyle. “The Pirate” Poem (Byron). Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. Sinbad the Sailor. The Dealings of Captain Sharkey and the Other Tales of Pirates (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). The Island (Peter Benchley). Session 13. Pirates in Films , Music, Sports, Advertising. The Sea Hawk to Pirates of the Caribbean. Swashbuckler Roles. The Buccaneer: Yul Brynner. Many versions of Treasure Island. Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. The Black Swan (Tyrone Power). Crimson Pirate (Burt Lancaster). The Pirate (Gene Kelly and Judy Garland). Cutthroat Island--1995http://christensencritic.blogspot.com/2011/08/30-minutes-or-less.html (Geena Davis). Sports Teams: Baseball, American football, Collegiate, and so forth. Misused, Misapplied, and Misunderstood Term of “Pirate”: Advertising: (e.g. food, drink, hotel resorts, and home insurance). Session 14. Piracy: Can It Ever Be Eradicated? Somali Pirates and Modern Piracy. Pirates of Puntland: “Ocean Robbers” or “Saviours of the Sea”? Modern Pirates in Nigeria and Indonesia. Response of Nations. Kidnappings. Ship Seizures. Killings. Sophisticated Weapons. Antipiracy Measures. Piracy on the Rise in the Red Sea. Hotspot: Latin America. Bibliography Earle, Peter. The Pirate Wars. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Griffin (highly recommended), 2003. Others: **Bahadur, Jay. The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World. New York: Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, 2011. Burnett, John S. Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas. New York: a Plume Book, the Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2002, 2003. Cordingly, David. Pirate Hunter of the Caribbean: The Adventurous Life of Captain Woodes Rogers. New York: Random House, 2011. _________. Seafaring Women: Adventures of Pirate Queens, Female Stowaways, and Sailors’ Wives. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2002. Konstam, Angus. Blackbeard: America’s Most Notorious Pirate. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2006. *_________. The World Atlas of Pirates: Treasures and Treachery on the Seven Seas—in Maps, Tall Tales and Pictures. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2009. Klausmann, Ulrike, Marion Merinzerin, and Gabriel Kuhn. Women Pirates and the Politics of the Jolly Roger. Montreal and New York: Black Rose Books Ltd., 1997. Kritzler, Edward. Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom—and Revenge. New York: Anchor Books, a Division of Random House, Inc., 2008. Lambert, Frank. The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the Atlantic World. New York: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. **Little, Benerson. How History’s Greatest Pirates Pillaged, Plundered, and Got Away with It. Beverly, Massachusetts: Fair Winds Press, a member of Quayside Publishing Group, 2011. **__________. Pirate Hunting: The Fight Against Pirates, Privateers, and Sea Raiders from Antiquity to the Present. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2010. Ormerod, Henry A. Piracy in the Ancient World. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1924, 1997. *Preston, Diana and Michael. A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: Explorer,Naturalist, and Buccaneer: The Life of William Dampier. New York: Walker & Company, 2004. Tinniswood, Adrian. Pirates of Barbary: Corsairs, Conquests and Captivity in the 17th Century Mediterranean. New York: Riverhead Books, the Penguin Group, 2010. Woodard, Colin. The Republic of Pirates. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc., 2007 *Well worth the time **Exceptional Pre-Meeting: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 1 p.m.
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