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Between 1706 and 1718, a group of pirates established a haven in the Bahamas. Using a system of rules that they developed themselves, the pirates created their own forms of self governance to maintain an order within a society that was otherwise lawless. This grew into a community of thousands of pirates before the British put an end to it. Learn more about the Republic of Pirates and how it's functioned on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Fiji Water. You've probably heard of Fiji Water and have seen it in stores. Well, Fiji Water really is from the islands of Fiji. Drop by drop, Fiji Water is filtered through volcanic rock 1600 miles away from the nearest continent and all its pollution protected and preserved naturally from external elements. 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From 1706 to 1718, the members of this republic were able to raid and plunder pretty much at will, creating what is today known as the golden age of piracy. But how did this happen? How did a bunch of pirates operating outside the law manage to create their own quasi society? To understand this, we need to go back in time to the 16th and 17th centuries. Throughout the 1500s, Spain had conquered and controlled most of the Americas. With this territory, they had become exceedingly wealthy, and they had almost single handedly doubled the amount of precious metals such as gold and silver circulating in Europe. Other nations, such as Britain and France, coveted this lucrative trade and began to encroach on the islands in the Caribbean. By the 1630s and 40s, both Britain and France had claimed some islands in the Caribbean, leading to wars between the European powers. During this time, these countries would hire privateers, who are persons or vessels granted permission by a government to raid enemy ships during wartime. The benefit of hiring privateers is that the navy could focus its attention on enemy ships, whereas the privateers could engage in attacking enemy commerce. This would allow the government to save money by not needing to pay for a larger navy and instead profiting from the loot of the privateers. Privateers would be contracted with specific rules in place, so if they looted ships they weren't supposed to, they could still be punished for piracy. The difference between a pirate and a privateer was pretty minimal at best, with only the real distinctions being the government commission. The problem was, when a privateer's contract expired, what exactly were they supposed to do? Keeping that in mind, we now turn to the British colony of New Providence. The island's capital city, Charlestown, which is today known as Nassau, was used as a port for hiring privateers to attack the Spanish. However, despite being a base for privateers, the island also had its own problems. And one of these main problems was its corrupt governor. The governor of the island, Nicholas Trott, was more than willing to take bribes. And one of these bribes was from a pirate named Henry Avery. In 1696, Avery sailed to Nassau to make a deal with Trot. The deal was basically that Avery would be allowed to unload any loot from his ship, called the Fancy, without any questions asked. This deal led to the formal introduction and establishment of piracy in the city. There were several reasons for Trott to make the deal, as Avery was a powerful deterrent against French attacks, and the crew of the Fancy effectively doubled the city's population. A combined Spanish and French fleet attacked Nassau in 1703 and again in 1706, causing the British to abandon the port. With the settlement abandoned, British privateers quickly took control. Nassau was perfect for the privateers. The port's harbor was shallow, making it impossible for larger warships to enter. This allowed them to operate without fear of consequence and with no fear of reprisal from the government. The privateers began to disregard their contracts. The privateers began to raid neutral ships, growing wealthier in the process. Breaking their contracts would mean committing piracy, thereby making Nassau essentially pirate ruled territory. This piracy would only worsen when the British withdrew from the War of the Spanish succession in 1713. By pulling out of the war, the privateers contracts were rendered completely null and void. The nullified contracts left hundreds of seamen out of work. And with no contract, these former privateers often reverted to piracy. One of the key pirates of the period was Benjamin Hornigold. After the War of Spanish Succession, Hornigold turned to piracy, raiding Spanish plantations and capturing both English and Spanish ships. He then took those ships and sailed into Nassau's harbor. When arriving in the harbor, he proclaimed that everyone in the city would be under his protection. He and an informal group of other pirates known as the Flying Gang established Nassau as their pirate haven and elected Horninggold as its co governor. And this was the creation of what became known as the Pirate republic. Hornigold, for his part, continued to be loyal to the British and would try to avoid attacking British vessels, which eventually led to his crew to mutiny against him. As pirates are notorious for their lawlessness, you might wonder how this society was able to function given the absence of a formal government. The pirates operated under a code known as the Pirate code, which helped maintain order in a lawless society. This was crucial as many of the people who joined the island were looking out for themselves and their own wealth. The majority of the pirate code was unique to the ship on which a pirate joined. The captain would create policies on matters such as fighting, drunkenness and other issues. These punishments typically involved getting whipped, marooned, beaten, or executed. The goals of the code were to maintain loyalty and to keep order amongst the ship's crew on the island. The pirate republic had its own specific rules. It stated that the governor of the city would be elected by the pirates, which allowed the elected governor to claim rule over the island. This greater code also promised that the pirates would govern their ships democratically. The implication of this was that ships needed to share their loot amongst the entire crew and that Captains would be elected by popular vote. One of the other key members of the pirate republic was Henry Jennings, the co founder of the Flying Gang. Jennings claim to fame was his raid on a Spanish fort that held treasure recovered from a treasure fleet that had wrecked off the coast of Florida in a hurricane. This gave him a feared reputation across the entire Atlantic. Jennings was the co governor of the pirate republic and was one of the key figures in instating the pirate codes and attracting more pirates to the area. Arguably the most famous pirate from the republic was Blackbeard, otherwise known as Edward Teach. Teach had joined Hornigold's crew and they quickly became a duo. As a duo, they were very successful in their raiding, looting and pirating. When Hornigold retired from piracy, he gave the title of Captain to Teach. One of the first actions as leader was to attack a French slave ship known as Le Concorde. After taking over the ship, he renamed it the Queen Anne's Revenge. He equipped the ship with 40 guns and took off with a crew of over 300 men. His nickname, Blackbeard, was a reference to his Blackbeard. As Captain, Teach changed his fashion. Wearing three pistols across his chest and to look more dramatic, he would light matches under his hat so that smoke would surround him and this would become part of his iconic fearsome look that would inspire our modern perception of pirates. Blackbeard was perceived as violent, but in reality he used his theatrical image and reputation so he could be successful. He was violent, but it served a practical purpose rather than simply being sadistic, which is the perception of him that is often portrayed. Blackbeard was popular within Nassau and was later elected to a magistrate of the pirate republic. With this position, he was entrusted to enforce law and order throughout pirate society. There were hundreds of other notorious pirates residing in Nassau, and this was becoming a major issue for the British. The Governor of the Bahamas had sent letters back to Britain expressing concern about his colony being outnumbered 10 to 1 by pirates. This problem was ignored until British ships started to be attacked. Once British ships started being attacked, action needed to be taken. Piracy was too important of an issue for the British government to continue to ignore it, even though they were largely responsible for it. With the creation of privateers, it had now gotten out of control. In 1718, the king appointed a new governor of the Bahamas named Woodes Rogers. Rogers was a smart selection by the Crown, as he himself was a former privateer, which meant that he had a reputation amongst the pirates and instilled fear in them. Rogers made it his mission to eliminate pirates from the Caribbean and work to restore the trade routes that the pirates were destroying. One of the main tools used to eliminate the pirates was issuing a full pardon to any pirate who would voluntarily surrender. By September of that year. Any pirate who opted to take the pardon would have immunity from their crimes committed before January 5, 1718. In exchange, they would swear an oath to stop their illegal activities. This was a tempting offer, as it would allow them to return to a normal life without having to return any of the loot that they had taken. Additional rewards would be offered to anyone who turned into a pirate hunter, effectively turning many of the pirates against each other. This tactic was successful in splitting up the Flying Gang, as many of the 400 pirates accepted the pardon. Furthermore, others took up the offer to become pirate hunters and pursued their former comrades who remained in the pirate life. Two of the most notable pirates to accept the pardon were Hornigold and Jennings. Hornigold took the offer and invested his loot in legal investments. He then became a pirate hunter and actively sought out his former comrades. Hornigold was incredibly effective as a pirate hunter and became a trusted ally to Woodes Rogers. Rogers would entrust Hornigold to protect and facilitate trade with the Spanish, a task he performed well until his death. Jennings also took the offer and opted to escape the pirate life, returning to being a privateer. He ended up retiring and living comfortably into his old age. Blackbeard also wanted to take the pardon, but realized there were specific caveats with the deal that would leave him vulnerable to punishment. Therefore, he sought out a pardon from the governor of North Carolina instead. He did receive this pardon and lived in normalcy for a short time before returning to the sea, and this would prove costly as he would lose his life in battle. The death of Blackbeard was one of the key moments in the collapse of the pirate republic, as he was one of the final figures to surrender or die. In addition to the pardon, the Nassau harbor was also blocked, making it difficult for any of the pirates who didn't take the deal to escape the island. Yes, the British warships couldn't enter the harbor, but they didn't need to if they could prevent the pirates from entering or leaving. The plan was incredibly effective, and British control was reinstated over the island. With the majority of the pirates pardoned, dead or captured, the last vestiges of the Republic of pirates collapsed by the end of 1721. These changes allowed Rogers to build forts and restore the order within Nassau. The creation of the Republic of Pirates was a result of unique geography, bad policy, historical circumstances, and unique characters. It was a brief and strange period in history when a group of lawless, ruthless individuals managed to create a relatively peaceful society based on a self imposed code. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. Research and writing for this episode was provided by Olivia Ashe. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible, and I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. This is where everything happens that's outside of the show. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast, Apple, or in the above community groups, you too can have it read in the show.