how to raid prizes in pirates tides of fortune

According to the National Park Service, the Continental Congress issued approximately 1,700 letters of marque over the course of the war, and various American states issued hundreds more. “Thousands of schemes for privateering are afloat in American imaginations,” wrote John Adams. By May 1776, at least 100 New England privateers were plying the waters of the Caribbean. The measure proved instantly popular as merchants, whalers and fishermen converted their vessels into makeshift warships.

Patton, author of Patriot Pirates: The Privateer War for Freedom and Fortune in the American Revolution. “That seed of financial incentive mixed with patriotic obligations awakened the independent spirit of capitalism,” says Robert H. While Washington offered the crews of his makeshift navy a one-third share of any goods they captured and sold, the Continental Congress appealed to the financial self-interest of the citizen seafarers by decreeing that privateer crews could keep all of their plunder. READ MORE: 7 Things You May Not Know About the US Navy The Continental Congress went further in March 1776 by permitting private citizens “to fit out armed vessels to cruise on the Enemies of these United Colonies.” Privateers seeking commissions were required to post bonds of up to 5,000 pounds as collateral to ensure captives would not be mistreated and that they would not knowingly raid American or neutral ships. Facing the impossibility of constructing a fleet to rival the world’s most powerful navy, the Continental Congress decided to authorize privateers as guerrilla-style disrupters.ĭuring the siege of Boston at the onset of the American Revolution, George Washington had leased private ships and manned them with uniformed personnel.

“ have much more property to lose than we have,” quipped Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morris. Although the cash-strapped American colonies would never be able to challenge Britannia’s rule over the seas, they did have one advantage over their motherland.

How to raid prizes in pirates tides of fortune