Who was Sir Henry Morgan?

Henry Morgan was many things throughout his lifetime,
but most of all, he is infamous for being one of the

most dangerous pirates who worked in the Spanish Main during the 1700's. Born sometime in 1635 in Llanrhymny, the Welsh county of Monmouthshire. He grew up as a farm boy but stories of his childhood are unclear of whether he willingly ran away or was kidnapped.

Lets begin with how Morgan's career of piracy
began. Sometime in 1655 young Henry Morgan befriended Captain Christopher Myngs who began taking Morgan along on expeditions. Throughout this
time is when Henry Morgan acquired the knowledge and
passion for sailing.

In 1662 Henry Morgan put his practice to the test and became the captain of a small vessel. During his years as a respected Captain, Morgan became close with the Governor of Jamaica. This friendship is noteworthy because Sir Thomas Modyford granted Morgan his first letter of Marque in 1664, which gave him permission to sail as a Privateer.

This is what monumentally set off the history

surrounding Sir Henry Morgan. During his Privateership, in 1663 Morgan led a raid on Villahermosa and plundered Gran Granada in Nicaragua. After a few victories he returned to Jamaica in 1665 as an established, formidable military leader. And with the passing of Edward Mansfield, Morgan became his successor as Admiral of the Brethren of the Coast. The Brethren of the Coast came to be historically known as the Buccaneers.

Following Morgan's newfound leadership of the Buccaneers, he began to plot on the city of Portobello. What is now known as Panama, Portobello was the main route of trade on the Spanish Main. Which meant that there was many riches in store for Morgan and his men if they were able to capture the city.

After detailed planning, he attacked and conquered the city of Puerto Principe and Porto Bello in 1668. This victory came after the defeat of 3000 Spaniard soldiers. And it earned him hundreds of thousands in money and a great worth of valuables. The conquer of Portobello was one of Henry Morgan's most successful operations.

Henry Morgan had many victories throughout his career, but he also sustained many losses as well. After his servitude and successions as an Admiral of the Buccaneers, Morgan was hailed as a hero. Henry Morgan returned to Jamaica later on and was appointed to serve as the country's Lieutenant Governor. Until August 25th 1688 when he died of liver failure and other health-related complications.



Sources: (Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly), (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Morgan-Welsh-buccaneer)

Treasure Ports & Spanish Currency

The Spanish Main was the empire of the Spaniards New World. They greatly valued this area of land that ran between the mouth of the Ornico River and the Isthmus of Panama. The Spanish created a trade route system and the Spanish Main eventually became the #1 destination for Spanish captains during their voyages in the Caribbean Sea.

Gold, silver, spices and other material of value were transported in and out of this area. This cargo was sent to Spain on huge ships called Galleons. Before heading to the motherland of Spain, these ships would make pit-stops in Spanish owned cities along the way.

One of the most well known ports that were used in the Spanish Main during the 1570's was Nombre De Dios. This city was the first European settlement on the Isthmus of Panama. The name of this city translates into "Name of God", and the reason behind this might be because of all the riches that flowed in and out of this port at the time. The Spanish would use this port for shipping gold, silver, fabrics, spices and all other types of items that had value.

The currency used around this time was Spanish Reales. Otherwise known as Pieces of Eight, which was equivalent to one Spanish dollar. These "Pieces of Eight" or Pesos were made of Silver and were commonly divided into eight pieces. Not to be confused with a Doubloon, which was a Spanish solid-gold coin called an Escudo.

 

American Hero or Indigenous Assassin?

Many people have heard of the Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus. How he led conquests and how he came upon many new lands for the Spanish people. Oh and how could you forget- he even discovered the Americas!

These distorted stories make Columbus look like the angelic Godfather of America.

 In American culture we celebrate this man for his "discovery" of the Americas in 1492. Columbus Day has been celebrated yearly by thousands of Americans for several hundred years. Stories of Columbus are told to children as early as elementary school. 

Growing up I thought Christopher Columbus was a hero! I believed that his bravery and discovery of America deserved our almighty praise. 


Later on in my adulthood it was a shock to discover how evil and villainous this man truly was. I still found it quite hard to believe that the explorer who I was taught to admire was evil to the core.
If you're wondering how I have formed this opinion about Christopher Columbus, let me share with you the story about the Lucayan peoples encounter with Columbus.

When Columbus rose to the shores of the Lucayan people's home in 1492, they were welcomed with open arms. The Lucayans' greeted Columbus and his men warmly as if they were heaven sent. Offering them food and water after their long voyage to what is now known as Puerto Rico. 

Unfortunately for the Lucayan people, they were fooled into believing Columbus' intentions were genuine. After kidnapping several Lucayans', the Spanish men and their leader were sailing away to invade other nearby indigenous islands. 

Shortly after this encounter their next act of treachery involved the Lucayans' cousins, the Taino.  And much like their Lucayan cousins, they also welcomed the strangers peacefully. Little did they know the amount of suffering they were about to endure. 

When Columbus failed to find gold on the island of Taino, he took 500 of Taino people to Spain to sell as slaves. After this, Columbus then made a second attempt to search for gold, but instead of doing it himself; he demanded the Taino to search for the gold instead. If the Taino were unable to find gold, Columbus (if not one of his men) would chop the Tainos' hands off as punishment.

As the abuse carried on,  the Taino rebelled and refused to grow crops for the Spaniards. Meanwhile Columbus' men sexually abused Taino girls and women, and mercilessly slaughtered indigenous children and babies. But soon after Columbus's death in 1506, the Spainish explorers continued the same vicious cycle that was similarly perpetrated under the command of Columbus.

It is undoubtedly evident that the Spanish were responsible for the deaths of 12 to 15 million indigenous people. By 1650 the Taino civilization was extinct and most of that horrendous accomplishment was done by the hands of Christopher Columbus. 

Myth Busted Ay

One of the biggest unknown facts about pirates were that the majority of them were actually authorized to do the raids and pillaging that occurred during this era. Truth is that more than half of the "pirates" from the 1600-1800's were actually known as Privateers. For those who don't know, a privateer was a private person authorized by their country's government to  attack foreign shipping and trade.

Now, this doesn't mean that all pirates were legal thieves. About 40% of the pirates who sailed the Caribbean between 1600-1800 were malicious criminals. These pirates were ruthless, undisciplined attackers. They would not only rob their victims blind but they would brutally kill them as well. Quite the opposite of your lovely, romantic Johnny Depp.

So, now that you know of the two true types of pirates who roamed the seas, let me give you two real-life examples.

Pictured on the left is Sir Francis Drake. Drake was a privateer licensed by the English government in the 1570's to attack Spanish shipping. He was also the first English captain to circumnavigate the globe. Drake was honorably knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for his brave and victorious raids. He is especially known for his raid of the Spanish ship the Cacafuego, which was loaded with gold, silver and jewels.

To the right is a picture of one of history's most brutal pirates, Francis L'Olonnais. L'Olonnais was a French pirate from the 1660's. Just one of many outlaw buccaneers, but what set L'Olonnais apart was his viciously evil acts. Stories of his cannibalistic tendencies still circulate around today. L'olonnai would squeeze his victimes eyeballs out and has reportedly cut a Spanish mans heart out and gnaw at it like a mad man. His demise was ironically much similar to his vicious assaults, L'Olonnais was ripped to pieces and eaten by a tribe of cannibals.

The history of pirates is savage and greedy but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Just a shred of light casted onto the savagely wonderful truth behind the actual real-life pirates who once roamed this Earth.