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To: Holly_P
Even so, as historian Bennett H. Wall records, "It was not the privateering and occasional piracy ... that particularly annoyed Claiborne and the government of the United States. ... Rather, it was the fact that Lafitte and his men openly flaunted customs laws by selling their booty at much lower prices than legitimate merchants of New Orleans.

Jean Lafitte's smuggling operation included the importation of slaves (I believe into Galveston) when there was a prohibition on bringing more slaves to America. He was a pirate and he worked outside the law. He provided some assistance but in the end, he was still a criminal. I think that Lafitte put a price on Claiborne's head after territorial Governor Claiborne put a bounty on Jean Lafitte.

5 posted on 12/14/2003 12:08:33 AM PST by weegee
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To: weegee
"Exasperated, Claiborne posted a $500 reward for anyone who would capture Lafitte. New Orleans snickered the next day when posters appeared saying Lafitte offered $1,500 for Claiborne's capture.".

"I think that Lafitte put a price on Claiborne's head after territorial Governor Claiborne put a bounty on Jean Lafitte."

You were right.

7 posted on 12/14/2003 12:24:10 AM PST by dixiechick2000 (President Bush is a mensch in cowboy boots.)
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