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THE REAL PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Imagine yourself resting in the cockpit after a long day of snorkeling. As the sun begins to set towards the horizon, a small ship sails into the anchorage you thought you had all to yourself.
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An anchor splashes overboard, and before you know it, a group of noisy, unshaven pirates row across the water to your boat, swarm the deck, empty your wallet, steal all your treasure and food, and run off with all the ladies onboard.
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Although piracy is no longer a popular pastime in the Virgin Islands, it is really not that long since it was the cool thing to do throughout the Caribbean. In the early 1700s, a sympathetic governor in St. Thomas was still selling goods for pirates like Blackbeard.
Pirating was basically government approved. The King or Queen of England encouraged raids on ships of their enemies, especially the Spanish. Privately owned ships or ships sailed by sailors that were not in the navy, were given “letters of marques” which made them assistants to the Royal British Navy. Actually, these letters were like permission slips to be dirty rotten pirates. To get these permission slips, the pirates had to give the King or Queen 10% of any treasure they stole. The pirates attacked merchant ships of other countries, especially during war time.
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