Jean Lafitte – Privateer or Pirate (early 1800s)
One of the most notorious characters of the early French Quarter was Jean Lafitte. Historians haven’t conclusively decided how to label Lafitte, businessman or privateer, possibly a pirate. Lafitte classified himself a privateer, as he and his men had permission from the Colombian Cartagena government to capture Spanish ships full of goods and slaves. This permission, however, is complicated, as the United States government would not recognize the Cartagenian government. What’s more, the United States government thought Lafitte’s men were attacking any ships they saw, not specifically Spanish ships. This would make Lafitte a pirate, not a privateer. Although Lafitte wasn’t specifically charged with attacking non-Spanish ships, he claimed never to have captured a ship flying the American flag. But this wasn’t quite true, either; his men attacked American ships, they just didn’t kill the crew.