Pirates pursued democracy, helped American colonies survive

Physorg.com ^ | June 28, 2006 | Cathy Keen

[JmyBryan]

Blackbeard and Ben Franklin deserve equal billing for founding democracy in the United States and New World, a new University of Florida study finds.

Pirates practiced the same egalitarian principles as the Founding Fathers and displayed pioneering spirit in exploring new territory and meeting the native peoples, said Jason Acosta, who did the research for his thesis in history at the University of Florida.

“Hollywood really has given pirates a bum rap with its image of bloodthirsty, one-eyed, peg-legged men who bury treasure and force people to walk the plank,” he said. “We owe them a little more respect.”

Acosta, a descendant of a pirate who fought for the United States in the Battle of New Orleans, studied travel narratives, court hearings, sermons delivered at pirate hangings and firsthand accounts of passengers held captive by pirates. Comparing pirate charters with the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, he said he was amazed by the similarities.

[JmyBryan]

Aargh!

[inkling]

Thanks, Mateys! Arrrrr....

[Irishguy]

captain jack sparrow ping alert!

[LibWhacker]

Yeah, right. The founding fathers were no better than pirates. More from the moral equivalence crowd. My disgust with modern academia grows daily.

[Billthedrill]

Arrr! I'm thinkin' that Captain Acosta be stretchin' the point just a bit, matey. Time to keelhaul the buggerblaster for castin' aspersions on old Ben and the boys. They was all sorts of social organizations with charters and elected heads in them days, including a number of chorches. And they was all sorts of poirates, too, from privateers to rogue military ships to escaped prisoners commandeering vessels. Not all was nice like that Laffite feller.

I wuz allas suspicious of that Sammy Adams feller, though. Allas in and out at all hours of the night and he niver seemed to lack for rum. If'n I didn't know bitter I'd say he was a smuggler, arr, begar and arrr...

[SAJ]

You're lucky. Mine can't grow any further. The outhouse is full to brimming.

[GOP Poet]

Aarrgh ping :-)

[Defiant]

You know why pirate jokes are so funny, don't you????

They just arrrrrre.

[Billthedrill]

Will ye be seein' the new Jack Sparrow movie, then? I hear it's ARRRRRRR rated...

[Defiant]

YELOL.

(Ye olde LOL).

[Springman]

Ping.

[decal]

"And they was all sorts of poirates, too, from privateers to rogue military ships to escaped prisoners commandeering vessels."

One o' me ancestors, feller name o' Oliver, were a privateer in Revolutionary days.

[b3arsfan]

The pirates and the Founding Fathers do have a lot in common. Whether it is common knowledge or not, many of the Founders were Freemasons, and so were the pirates. The common symbol of pirates, the skull and crossbones flag was, and still is a Masonic symbol.

[NavyCanDo]

I agree with the story. Did Pirates have the moral equivalence of our founding fathers? No, absolutely not, and thats not what the story is saying, but they were rebels and outcast, and had a rugged individualistic personality, and most important a disdain of aristocracy. The same can be said for many of our early patriots, Militiamen, pioneers and frontiersmen. There is plenty of historic documentation that Pirates and their descendants played a role in the American Revolution. I happen to be a related to the lieutenant on the frigate Josiah which was captained by Pirate Bartholomew Sharpe. No less than 10 men in this family line are on the roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution. Not bad for the blood kin of a Pirate.

[nickcarraway]

I'm glad to know my ancestor John Paul [Jones] was doing the right thing. After all, he did add the "Jones" to avoid taxes. A noble goal.

[Moonman62]

No, absolutely not, and thats not what the story is saying, but they were rebels and outcast, and had a rugged individualistic personality, and most important a disdain of aristocracy. The same can be said for many of our early patriots, Militiamen, pioneers and frontiersmen.

And it could be said that their leaders, our Founding Fathers, were at the very least upper class, though not born into it.

[familyop]

...another ignorant, Euro-identity academic, in her wishful thinking, confusing privateers with pirates. Revisionism is disgusting.

[yayforlater]

"Yeah, right. The founding fathers were no better than pirates. More from the moral equivalence crowd. My disgust with modern academia grows daily."

I think you may have missed the point...

But, then again, it might be a Freudian slip? Have something you want to share with us?

[Jaysun]

The pirates and the Founding Fathers do have a lot in common. Whether it is common knowledge or not, many of the Founders were Freemasons, and so were the pirates. The common symbol of pirates, the skull and crossbones flag was, and still is a Masonic symbol.

That's a steaming pile.

[Caipirabob]

Good, so now we have a "cultural reason" to make librat traitors walk the plank? Shooting isn't good enough for these treasonous scabs.