There Was Equality Between Black and White Pirates
Pirate crews were diverse, and the men that joined were from many different places. They had different religions and ethnicities, united in their shared desire for a free, comfortable life of plunder. These crews were so ethnically diverse that it contributed to the creation of the term “motley crew,” a term still used today. Captain Morgan was famous for his “motley crew” of pirates, including former slaves and military men, French Huguenots who were escaping persecution, and mulattos.
For the most part, pirate captains ran their crews diplomatically: the ship was a democracy, where every member of the crew voted on any matter. In the seventeenth century, about three hundred years before the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the United States, black men could vote, but only if they were pirates. They elected their captain, and they voted on a strict code of crime and punishment as well as how they treated each other. Some ships even established reimbursement for pirates who were killed or injured in their roles, the seventeenth and eighteenth-century version of workmen’s compensation.
When plundered treasure was divided up, it was divvied up and allotted according to the person’s role on the ship, not race. This equal treatment of white and black pirates probably wasn’t because of a moral aversion to racism and pirates were not proponents of social justice. They were criminals and treating black pirates equally just made sense. Captains needed loyal, fierce fighters as well as men who were competent in their jobs, no matter their color.
The role of blacks on pirate ships as equals is doubted, yet there are examples of equality on board pirate ships. The exact status of black pirates is not clear. Many historians believe that black pirates often served in lower roles than their white counterparts, but on the ships where they were treated fairly, black sailors could carry weapons, could vote, and were entitled to an equal share of the loot. If the captain allowed it, black crewmen could treat whites however they wanted. During the trials of Captain Stede Bonnet, Jonathan Clark testified that when he refused to join the pirate crew, one of the black pirates cursed him out and tried to press him into slavery aboard the ship.