Is he a pirate? Pirate has become the general term used by most people today to call someone who sails the seas and commits crimes. But other names were used to help identify particular pirates through the ages.

A privateer was legally commissioned by a body, typically a government, to help them harass or attack another government. A buccaneer would have been French or English around the 17th century, living on the island of Hispaniola, attacking the Spanish. A French buccaneer may also have been called a freebooter.

A stretch of land and water called the Barbary Coast was home to the privateers or Islamic pirates called Barbary corsairs. The French and other non-Islamic nations considered the corsairs pirates, instead of privateers. But they focused their efforts on Christian and non-Islamic prey.

In the rich waters of the Mediterranean area where vigorous sea trading was taking place, pirating came to develop and be very effective. The nations and kingdoms warring amongst themselves would set pirates against their foes. To collect taxes from the locals the city-states of Greece gave pirates the job as tax collector because the pirates were so feared.

Unrest and competition between Spain, France and England saw the use of pirates as a successful tool in the many wars these countries fought with each other. Pirate activity would become sanctioned by a government making the pirates theft and treachery legal, as long as the privateers performed their misdeeds against the enemy.

At times pirate activity would get so out of control that governments would forge alliances to clean up the waters of most pirates so that trade routes could be safe again.

Buccaneers would run to the sea and a life of piracy in an attempt to break away from their cruel handling from former countries. This led to pirates creating what is known to be the first true individual democracy where every person on the boat had a vote in all activities. To enforce their own code the pirates dealt out harsh penalties to those that would violate shipboard laws.

Pirates around this time in the early to mid 1600’s also established rules to take care of their own by compensation if they were injured or lost a body part. Typically a body part on the right side was worth more than on the left side.

While many boys and men were captured or pressed into serving on a pirate ship, most pirates joined up willingly. It provided a way to escape the navy of the day that was no better and often worse in pay and living conditions. A pirate ship provided you choices that the navy didn’t and men were often forced into the navy.

Navy pay was terrible while a pirate could receive large sums after a successful raid and the treasure had been divvied up. But as was often the case a pirate would spend or lose all his money in a few nights of celebration.