“Walk the plank”? Not before all pirate personnel aboard the ship agree! Contrary to popular belief, the pirate captain of the ship doesn’t call all of the shots alone, and all members on the ship get a say in what happens aboard the ship. For example, every pirate gets to vote on where the ship is headed, and if a colonial ship was to be attacked. Once the ship was attacked, after the majority agrees? All pirates got equal share of the “booty,” or treasure. Of course, pirates have to keep some form of dignity: the captain gets double the pirate’s share, a portion is set aside for maintenance, and a select few other members get a higher percentage of treasure than the average pirate. After all treasure is doled out, the average sum for a pirate is more than four times what he would make as a naval man or a merchant, exemplifying the allure of the occupation.
Before becoming a pirate, each hopeful signs an agreement called “the articles” that outlines how much they would be paid, acceptable behavior, and punishments for breaking rules. Not so different from our laws in civilization, are they? But beware! If a pirate broke any of the aforementioned “rules,” any number of pirate swords would be used on him, and he would be left to perish on a deserted island.
Think the plundering of ships was just for treasure? Think again. Pirates would forage on ships for pieces of clothing, and some would wear odd pirate costumes because of this. All Pirates agreed, though; they would never be caught wearing “slops,” the striped shirt worn by British sailors.
It’s strange to consider pirates as being a civilized type of people, but when it comes to the formation of democracy, they were definitely ahead of us “civilized” people!
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