Spices, Silks and Slaves: The Allure of Piracy, Part I

           

            Unlike most fictitious portrayals of the early buccaneer exploits, these robbers seldom found great quantities of gold coins or jewel encrusted crucifixes amid Spanish shipping.  Cargoes of full silver and gold did occasionally pass through the Windward Passage, but usually on well guarded galleons within large treasure fleets.  Smaller vessels without armed guards, however, were an easier target, and they typically carried commodities and raw materials.  Though these inventories weren't gold per se, in many cases, were just as good as gold and could be traded easily. 

            As far as is known, the Buccaneers were not pirates in the strictest sense, for they generally steered clear of attacking ships that were not Spanish.  Imperial Spain was regarded as the common oppressor of all other nations in the Caribbean, and most of the New World’s wealth and lands were owned by Spain, making them the most rational target for piracy at the time.

            The variety of these goods was very broad indeed, for Spain’s empire was worldwide.  Its trade routes spread around the Southern tip of Africa, along India and up through the orient, through the Philippines and across the Pacific, back to Central America and up the Caribbean, then finally back to Spain.  Along the way, all sorts of exotic goods were accumulated and, on the last leg of their journey through the Windward Passage, the Buccaneers lay in wait, seizing some of the inventories of this worldwide journey. 

            Cocoa beans were one of the most common and valued of prizes a Buccaneer might find.  Cocoa beans were grown by the Spanish in the lands of Central America, introduced by the Maya, where it had originated as a favorite drink.  Back in Europe, cocoa drink was all the rage, and a shipment of it was as good as gold to the Buccaneers. By the 1650’s after the Buccaneers became more prominent, refined sugar was also a huge prize to be had.

            Right at the top of desired items was also tobacco, which was unknown to Europeans until the Spanish discovered the native Americans burning it in a clay pot they called a ‘tobag’.  They sucked out the smoke through small holes with straws and, needless to say, the unhealthy habit of filling one’s lungs with smoke caught on.  The Spanish dispensed with the large pot and fashioned a smaller pot at the end of a clay straw to hold the dried weed and thus the pipe was born.  By 1600 this rather calming narcotic had become so popular that the English King James I declared that he did not trust any man who would not engage in ‘a smoke of good cheer with his fellows’.  With endorsements like these from Europe’s monarchs, one can imagine how valuable bales of dried tobacco leaves might be.

            But there was one good that might be seized by Buccaneers that was more valuable than any other, pound for pound.  That cargo was human slaves.  Though it is a ghastly part of history, by the early 1500’s the Spanish discovered that white men and native Americans died easily under the grueling conditions of their silver mines and began importing Africans, who were not as susceptible to malaria and other tropical diseases.  Black slaves would quickly become the preferred labor force of plantations throughout the Caribbean.  However, labor was not the only reason that slaves were valued.  Both black and Indian girls---young women---commanded a good price on the auction block, especially if considered attractive (referred to as ‘good bed flesh’).  It’s no accident that there are so many mixed race people that inhabit the Americas.  By no measure saintly, the Buccaneers had no reservations when it came to selling slaves as they would any other commodity.  Sometimes, they might even press captured slaves into service on their vessels, forcing them to fight under pain of death.

Coming up: Spices, Silks, and Slaves: The Allure of Piracy, Part II

For much more on the subject, you can also read my historical novel, The Brethren Prince, available as an e-book at the Amazon Kindle store, Apple iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and other major e-book retailers.