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Real Pirates of the Caribbean

Presented by Jerise Fogel

This is a paid Adult School class. When registering, you will be taken to the Adult School website.

The True Story of how a multicultural and multiracial community built itself an egalitarian Utopia in the 17th century:
In particular, piracy was a kind of utopian alternative to pressgangs and impressment into the British and other European navies, which was brutal (2 out of 3 impressed/drafted sailors would die at sea within 2 years). Eventually they formed an international network, developing their own language for communication across different speech and cultures. 30% of pirates were African or African American and the laws passed against them were often phrased in terms of keeping the different races from collaborating with one another. Pirate codes (sometimes published! like those of Bartholomew Roberts ["Black Bart", "The Pirate Roberts"]) were intensely egalitarian, at a time when democracy was suspect and not approved of by many aristocrats - and actually illegal at times. They chose and did not privilege their own captains, and ran the ship by means of an all-crew council that voted on decisions. They also got in the way of the slave trade, since they would often take over vessels and free the slaves. Crew on other naval vessels were often happy to join them--they looked on themselves as Robin Hood-style folks.  Instructor: Jerise Fogel

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