Piracy around the world can be tracked back to 1400 BC, but its effects on the Spanish started in as early as 1490, when pirates entered the Caribbean. Piracy was a highly organized and popular activity in the Caribbean. The time of pirates, pirateers, and buccaneers caused the Spanish a time of hardships on top of their own already established problems. Piracy had many effects on the Spanish. Many innovations were developed to overcome the hardship. Ultimately, piracy affected the Spanish economy, military, and law by forcing newly developed strategies and policies to eliminate piracy and maintain their region.
Piracy became very popular during its time in the Caribbean. Pirates’ main activities were to steal valuable goods, take control of land or even commandeer ships. Since a poor mans job opportunities were not very exciting and forthcoming these activities seemed very enticing, and many poor men became pirates. Pirates had some good qualities that also attracted many people to piracy. They were known for liberating slaves when taking over slave ships (Piracy 1). Although this was a very noble act, it did not necessarily please everyone. Many Spaniards were angered by this act because they would have to wait for another slave ship or sometimes not even receive slaves at all. This was only a small problem that the Spanish faced due to piracy.
The most prominent effect piracy had on the Spaniards was its positive and negative effects on their military and war tactics. In 1550 Spanish treasure ships became a target for pirates in the Spanish Main (Piracy Timeline 1). The Spanish lost many ships to the pirates and were forced to develop a protection tactic. This is where the Spanish Armada came into place. The Armadas focal point was mainly protecting the transportation to the Spanish motherland. They did not focus on inter-island shipping, which was very important to colonization (Autengruber 9). Not only did the Spanish have to worry about their shipments, they also had to cope with the affects piracy had on their wars with and other countries. In 1577 Queen Elisabeth provided financial support for pirate raids against the Spanish (Piracy Timeline 1). Also The English and French governors were both leading figures in the pirate business. Not only did the enemy have members in the piracy against the Spaniards, they also forced treaties upon the Spaniards in order to help them eliminate piracy. In 1670, in the signing of the Treaty of Madrid, the British government agreed to help restrain the corsairs if the Spanish recognized the British sovereignty over the British and West Indian islands. This ended piracy among the British, but French buccaneers continued to smuggle and steal until Spain signed the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, were they recognized the French possession of St. Domingue (Keen 96-97). All of these treaties caused international peace and trade to flourish; therefore, after the piracy was controlled it had a positive affect on Spaniard war. Another positive affect piracy had on the military of Spain, was it forced the Spanish to adopt a convoy system. Every year a fleet would sail from Seville carrying passengers, troops and European goods to the colonies of the new world. The main purpose of this fleet was to transport a year’s supply of silver and valuables to Europe (Piracy 1). This tactic was used later as a common war tactic for the Spaniards.
Another great effect piracy had on the Spanish was the stability of their economy and law. Pirates were a threat to the Spanish economy because they were constantly stealing from cargo ships. They were also attacking the ships and aiding in the commandeering of Spanish ships by other countries. Piracy caused many nations including the Spanish to undergo policy shifts that threatened peace between them (Piracy 1). Between 1623 and 1638 pirates helped the Dutch capture 500 Portuguese ships in the Caribbean (Piracy Timeline 1). This caused Spaniards to create the Averia Tax on all ships reaching Spain in order to finance the protection fleet The Spanish Armada. This tax affected the economy because it frustrated the French. They now had to pay a tax when trading with the Spaniards when before they did not have to pay the Spanish crown taxes because the Spaniards feared them before they had to concern themselves with piracy (Autengruber 8-10). The French saw this as a problem and agreed to aid in the elimination of piracy, as mentioned earlier, in the Treaty of Ryswick (Keen 97). Since piracy forced peace among feuding nations international trade boomed causing the economy to take a positive turn. Piracy caused new regulations of international law, which was not present before piracy. Before international law guns and cannons were the means of international politics (Autengruber 5). This was profitable to the Spaniards and many other nations.
Piracy began to give way in the Caribbean around 1750 due to peace treaties and alliances. After the European governments had established profitable colonies in the Caribbean they no longer had to hire pirateers. Pirates were no longer supported by nations at war with the Spanish and military strategies had improved on account of their presence. Pirates were no longer unstoppable and the attractiveness of piracy seemed to subside (Dowling 1). In 1721 the Piracy act came into play that stated anyone who aided in the act of piracy was presumed guilty (Autengruber 21). This also contributed to the end of piracy. Although piracy fore the most part ended, there are still forms of piracy among the Caribbean seas. Most concerning illegal drug trafficking, but modern communication and technology, due to needed advances, have made the sea a safer place to trade and travel. These advances have in part come from some of the innovations developed during the Golden Age of Piracy. This period may have had some negative affects on the Spaniards, but in the end it caused them to advance their strategies and help the world develop. Work Cited
