The Lives and Struggles of the Early Buccaneers

            There is no official count, but by the 1620’s there was presumably between 7,000 and 20,000 Buccaneers.  Despite their abundance, many newcomers perished on the rugged coasts within their first years, succumbing to violent conflicts, tropical diseases like yellow fever, or quite simply an inability to adapt to the ruthless tropical conditions.  In effect, only the hardiest survived. 

            They lived in small groups and communities on the Northern coast of Hispaniola and Cuba, away from any sovereign law.  Isolated, their lifestyle was enabled by the French, Dutch, and English traders who were on their way to the Eastern islands of the Caribbean and needed supplies.  There was always a pressing demand for buccaneer goods: roasted meats and dried hides that were acquired by hunting, as well as fresh water from the spider web of pure streams and rivulets that drizzled down from the island mountains.  The merchants of various nationalities would skirt along the northern coast of Hispaniola and meet the Buccaneers in backwater coves to resupply their ships' stores after weary trips across the Atlantic.  This activity was clandestine, since it was conducted in Spanish territory beneath the nose of the Spanish Crown. 

            The Buccaneers got along relatively peacefully with what was left of the indigenous Indians and learned a good deal about the growing of native fruits of the coastal jungles (and there were many) as well as vegetables and the medicinal uses of certain plants.  The Buccaneers also learned how to make alcoholic beverages from such things as fermented bananas and even bread from grated cassava root.

            Eventually these villages, encampments and temporary residences bound together out of necessity into a patchwork civilization.  They kept in touch up and down the densely wooded, wild coasts via runners, horsemen, or small sailing vessels.  Since there was no governor or any kind of legal structure, there arose a kind of loose confederacy amongst them with no central authority, known informally as "The Brethren of the Coast."  It started with a written document between two men which was called simply “the Articles” which bound them together in a partnership.  Each man swore to protect the other with his life and they shared of all their possessions.  On the death of one, the other would inherit all his worldly goods.  The idea was extended and accepted throughout the north coasts of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, and Cuba. 

            The Spanish realized that much of the northern coastlines of their big islands had been taken over by what they considered the scum of Europe: to them, nothing more than a conglomeration of lawless heathens.  It was late in the game for the Spanish however, for the Brethren of the Coast had already become a makeshift nation.  While the Spanish claimed the lands on which the Buccaneers lived, the Buccaneers knew the coastlines better than the Spanish themselves.  They knew how to navigate the treacherous reefs in their agile small craft and knew where to hide among the honeycombs of small harbors, hidden by mangrove jungles and steep hillsides.  The Spanish governors sent soldiers and lancers to rid the coasts of these remote encampments.  Buccaneer encampments and plantations were burned and many cattle and pigs slaughtered, and perhaps because of it a sense of outrage and revenge arose among the Buccaneers.  The Spanish found them to be more formidable than they had anticipated.  Many Spanish soldiers were killed in the process.

            Somewhere along the way, the Buccaneers began raiding Spanish shipping and the name ‘Buccaneer’ became synonymous with piracy across the Caribbean.  These raids became lucrative indeed, so lucrative that Buccaneers even purchased indentured men and slaves and forced them into piracy against their will.  If these men refused or didn’t fight well enough, they faced the prospect of execution.  When larger Spanish vessels were taken, the Spanish crewmen that were still alive and not killed in the struggle were very often given a choice:  The open sea in a cock boat without a sail, (which meant certain death by starvation) or join the ranks of the Buccaneers and fight with them.  Many Spaniards became Buccaneers in this way.  Once they had joined this lawless bunch they could never go back.  In time, many more people across the Caribbean would join the ranks of the Buccaneers.
Next week: ‘Take What You Can’: Chase Parties and Their Plunder

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.