Pirate articles, or articles of agreement were a code of conduct for governing ships of , notably between the 17th and 18th centuries, during the so-called "Golden Age of Piracy". The typical pirate crew was an unorthodox mixture of former , Convict, disillusioned men, and possibly escapee or former Slavery, among others, looking for wealth at any cost; once aboard a seafaring vessel, the group would draw-up their own ship- and crew-specific code (or articles), which listed and described the crew's policies surrounding pirate behavior (such as drunkenness, fighting, and interaction with females) and the associated disciplinary action, should a code be violated. Failing to honor the Articles could get a pirate marooning, whipped, beaten, or even executed (such as one article described, for merely allowing a female aboard their ship). Primarily, these articles were designed to keep order aboard the ship, avoid dissension or Mutiny, and ensure the crews' loyalty, all of which was crucial to the group's mutual survival.
History
While legend has it that the first set of the pirate codes were written by the Portuguese buccaneer Bartolomeu Português sometime in the early 1660s,
the first formal recorded set belonged to
George Cusack who was active from 1668 to 1675.
These early buccaneer articles were based on earlier
maritime law and privateer codes such as the 12th century Rolls of Oléron.
They were later used by buccaneers and pirates such as John Phillips,
Edward Low and Bartholomew Roberts.
operated under a ship's articles that, among other things, governed conduct of the crew. These "articles of agreement" became authority independent of any nation, and were variously called the
Chasse-Partie,
Charterparty, Custom of the sea, or Jamaica Discipline. These retroactively became known (in the modern era) as the Pirate's Code as well. Pirate articles varied from one captain to another, and sometimes even from one voyage to another, but they were generally alike in including provisions for
discipline, specifications for each crewmate's share of treasure, and compensation for the injured.
Each crew member was asked to sign or make his mark on the articles, then swear an oath of allegiance or honour. The oath was sometimes taken on a Bible, but John Phillips' men, lacking a Bible, swore on an axe.[Johnson, Charles (1724), A General History of the Pyrates, p. 398 .] Legend suggests that other pirates swore on crossed , , on a human skull, or astride a cannon. This act formally inducted the signer into the pirate crew, generally entitling him to vote for officers and on other "affairs of moment", to bear arms, and to his share of the plunder. The articles having been signed, they were then posted in a prominent place, often the door to the captain's cabin.[Little, Benerson (2005), The Sea Rover's Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques, Potomac Books, Inc., , p. 34.]
After a piratical cruise began, new recruits from captured ships would sometimes sign the articles, in some cases voluntarily, in other cases under threat of torture or death. Valuable sea , such as and navigation, were especially likely to be forced to sign articles under duress, and would rarely be released regardless of their decision to sign or not. In some cases, even willing recruits would ask the pirates to pretend to force them to sign, so that they could plead they were forced should they ever be captured by the law.[ Sometimes seamen who volunteered to join the pirates asked the quartermaster to go through the motions of forcing them in the presence of their officers. The quartermaster was happy to oblige and do a blustery piratical turn for them, with much waving of cutlasses and mouthing of oaths. Botting, Douglas The Pirates, Time-Life Books Inc., p. 51.] Generally, men who had not signed the articles had a much better chance of acquittal at trial if captured by the law.
Pirate articles are closely related to, and were derived from, ship's articles of the time, especially those of privateering, which similarly provided for discipline and regulated distribution of Looting (though usually far less equally than with pirate articles).[See the Articles of the privateer ship Mars, at http://pirates.hegewisch.net/articles_new.html#privateer] Merchant articles and privateering articles can be traced back to Europe in the Middle Ages when there was a system of "joint hands" agreements between merchants, owners, and seamen to share profits.[Hayes, Peter (2008), "Pirates, Privateers and the Contract Theories of Hobbes and Locke", History of Political Thought 24, 3: 461-84.]
Examples
Several 17th and 18th century pirates such as Bartholomew Roberts, John Philips, Edward Low and George Lowther were known to have written articles for piratical rules onboard ships. Lowe’s articles were published in
The Boston News-Letter on August 1, 1723, and also
The Tryals of Thirty-Six Persons for Piracy, Twenty-Eight of them upon Full Evidence were Found Guilty and the Rest Acquitted, which was also printed in 1723.
Nine complete or nearly complete sets of piratical articles have survived, chiefly from Charles Johnson's
A General History of the Pyrates, first published in 1724, and from records kept by
Admiralty Court proceedings at the trials of pirates.
A partial code from
Henry Morgan is preserved in Alexandre Exquemelin's 1678 book
The Buccaneers of America. Many other pirates are known to have had articles; the late-17th century Articles of
George Cusack and
Nicholas Clough have also survived intact. Part of the reason that few pirate articles have survived is that pirates on the verge of capture or surrender often burned their articles or threw them overboard to prevent the papers being used against them at trial.
Articles of Bartholomew Roberts
Bartholomew Roberts' Articles were similar (but not identical) to those of his former Captain,
Howell Davis. In turn, Roberts' Articles influenced those of pirates such as Thomas Anstis who served under him and later went their own way.
Articles of John Phillips
Captain John Phillips, captain of the
Revenge, also set a code for his men in 1724:
Articles of Edward Low and George Lowther
The articles listed below are attributed by the
Boston News-Letter to Captain
Edward Low. The first eight of these articles are essentially identical to those attributed to pirate captain George Lowther by Charles Johnson. Since Lowther and Low are known to have sailed together from about New Year's to May 28, 1722, it is probable that both reports are correct and that Low and Lowther shared the same articles, with Low's two extra articles being an
ordinance, or amendment, adopted after the two crews separated.
Articles of John Gow
A set of articles written in
John Gow's own hand was found aboard his ship, the
Revenge (née
George), in 1729.
[ The Newgate Calendar - JOHN GOW Accessed 16 December 2009.] Article IV's reference to no going ashore "till the ship is off the ground" suggests that the
Revenge was already grounded when the articles were written, only days before Gow and his men were captured. The code states as follows:
Articles of Henry Morgan and other buccaneers
Exquemelin writes in general terms about the articles of late 17th century
Caribbean buccaneers. Although he does not attribute these articles to any specific buccaneer captain, Exquemelin almost certainly sailed with
Henry Morgan as a physician, and thus his account likely reflects Morgan's articles more accurately than any other privateer or buccaneer of the time.
Exquemelin writes that the buccaneers "agree on certain articles, which are put in writing, by way of bond or obligation, which every one is bound to observe, and all of them, or the chief, set their hands to it." Although Exquemelin does not number the articles, the following approximately reflects his description of the buccaneers' laws:
Establishment of pirate codes
The pirate articles were not codes of chivalry, they were established to keep things running smoothly and peacefully onboard the ship. The first and most important step after a pirate crew formed was to draft the code under which it would sail. The codes were considered to be legally binding, and there were swift and severe consequences for those that broke them. There was, however, no official hierarchy, and every vote carried equal weight in establishing these codes. The captain’s authority was not absolute, though the articles might have been influenced by his leadership style and the crew’s goals and experiences. The captain’s primary duties included navigation and deciding when to engage in naval warfare, but the quartermaster was responsible for overseeing daily operations, including interpreting the Articles.
Pirates established articles of conduct which were more democratic than those of naval or merchant marines, though the punishments for violating them were brutal. A common form of punishment was being marooned. Execution by hanging was another common practice. Pirate Articles also stated that goods taken from another ship during a raid were to be fairly distributed among the crew. Some Pirate articles dictated that no women were permitted aboard ships, and violating this code could be punishable by death.
Richard Braithwaite and hydrarchy
Scholars Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker examine and discuss hydrarchy, which was a term devised by writer Richard Braithwaite to describe two significant changes which were the formalization of maritime law or “maritime state from above,”
and the establishment of mariners’ codes or “self-organization of sailors from below”
during the 17th century. Braithwaite noted that these sailors did not possess “much civility; the sea hath taught him other rhetoric…”
referring to them as tough, crude and stupid but acknowledging their significance and contributions within the hydrarchy. Life was always complex onboard ship and during this time, the emergence of resistance and revolution at sea challenged the rise of capitalism and imperialism.
Notes
See also
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Ching Shih
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Distribution of justice
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Governance in 18th-century piracy
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Parley, part of the code according to the Pirates of the Caribbean (film series).
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Piracy in the Caribbean
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Pirates in popular culture
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Richard Taylor, another Golden Age pirate whose Articles were recorded by witnesses
External links
