QUARANTINE BLOG # 572

October 23, 2021

The pirate population of Nassau increased almost daily. Ordinary settlers grew increasingly fearful, and many of them made plans to leave the outlaw state.

Yet there was a type of democracy, generally more liberal and more fair than in America or in Europe. Under Benjamin Hornigold, the pirates elected their captains and, if dissatisfied, voted to impeach them. Except for combat, decisions were made democratically in a general council of the crew. Pirate captains ate the same food as their men, and received only 50 percent more plunder than an ordinary sailor.

Disaffected people streamed into Nassau. In plantation economies like Jamaica, South Carolina, and Virginia, there was little room for small farmers, so New Providence became a sanctuary for runaway slaves and many joined the pirate crews.

In early July 1716, Hornigold, because of his reluctance to attack English and Dutch vessels, lost a vote of confidence by crew. He nevertheless continued overseeing the development of the republic. 

All it would take to do them in, was for Europe to send 3 or 4 men-of-war to Nassau. But if the town could be better fortified, authority might be kept at bay. He organized the transfer of cannon to the crumbling battlements of Fort Nassau to help repel any potential assault. He positioned a captured ship in the harbor, and armed her with 32 cannon – a floating gun platform capable of fending off unwanted visitors.

Pirates were taking half of the ships that sailed between Jamaica and Hispaniola. Even the captains of His Majesty’s warships feared for their safety. Something needed to be done about the pirates.

Woodes Rogers formed a partnership by which the government would outsource the management of the Bahamas. The Crown would contribute a squadron of frigates, and issue a pardon for those pirates who agreed to surrender to the new governor. Rogers and his fellow investors would recoup their investment from the colony’s profits. King George appointed Rogers governor and garrison commander of the Bahamas.

Any pirate who surrendered to a British governor within one year would be pardoned for all piracies committed before January 5,1718. Even jailed pirates would be freed.

Holdouts would be hunted down without mercy. King George provided a reward of £100 for every pirate captain captured, plus £50 for senior pirate “officers,” and £20-30 for other members of a pirate vessel’s crew.

Nassau’s pirates promptly broke into two contending factions. The pro-pardon crowd was eager for the chance to regain legitimacy, and be free to invest their plunder in commercial trade. They celebrated by climbing to the top of Fort Nassau, and raised the Union Jack.

The other camp was filled with diehard outlaws, men who saw themselves as rebels in a war against ship owners and merchants. They appreciated the freedoms offered by the existence of the Bahamian pirate republic. The news of the pardon threatened to put an end to the pirates nest. They rushed the fort, and pulled the Union Jack down. In its place they hoisted the Black Flag with the Death’s Head in it.

The pirates held a general council to resolve their differences but, nothing could be agreed on.

After that, everyone seemed pack up. The diehards fitted out their ships to go pirating. Other sailed to British colonies to take the pardon. Benjamin Hornigold was one of the first to ask for a pardon. 

Woodes Rogers sailed to the Bahamas with an impressive expedition. There were seven private vessels carrying 100 soldiers, 130 male colonists with their wives and children; food and supplies to feed and clothe all of these people for fourteen months; all of the necessary tools and materials to build a successful law-abiding society.

Three Royal Navy warships accompanied Rogers, manned by 550 soldiers and sailors, the most strongest naval force ever deployed against the Bahamian pirates. The Republic of Pirates was about to meet its end.

Next week, the rest of the story.

👉   Today’s close, “HOPE: Holding on with Patient Expectation,” is by Greg Laurie

A lot of people in our culture today are starting to lose hope. Experts say that one of the reasons suicide rates are so high is because people have lost hope.

From the inside of a very large fish, Jonah was beginning to lose hope. But then he prayed. Jonah said, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. . . . But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:7, 9).

Jonah didn’t have any promise that God would deliver him from the belly of that beast. But he gave thanks to the Lord while he was there.

Maybe you’re going through a hard time right now, and you’re thinking, “I don’t feel like giving thanks to God. I’ll give thanks when I get through this problem.”

Give thanks to God now. When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching the gospel, we read that “at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).

The Bible says, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! for His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34). It doesn’t say, “Give thanks to the Lord when you feel good” or “give thanks to the Lord when circumstances are good.”

If you’re losing hope today, don’t give up. I don’t know what kind of situation you’re in right now, but you’re going to get through it. Remember this acronym for hope: holding on with patient expectation.

Don’t lose hope. God is in control. God is sovereign. And if He got Jonah out of a fish, then God can get you through whatever you’re facing today.

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