Presentations

After viewing every classmate's presentation I really learned a lot of unique information about pirates that I never truly realized until taking this class. Many students had extremely interesting topics such as how pirates create and brand for themselves ranging to pirate medicine. Most importantly, I was able to examine various students' presentation styles and observe what worked and what could have been improved. First, many students followed the design guidelines laid out in class that helped create a visually engaging presentation and made it easy for the audience to quickly find the important information on the slides. However, the most common problem that I noticed many students have was they wrote full sentences on the slides and thus going against the stylistic guidelines creating a presentation that made the audience struggle to read the information and not really be able to pinpoint the important information. I also noticed some students read directly off of their slides while some did not. Those that did not had far more engaging presentations as they typically made better eye contact and were able to improvise and only use the slides as reference therefore making more information available to the audience and seeming more credible on the information they were presenting about because they genuinely knew what they were talking about. I believe that I incorporated all of the design guidelines and did my best to not directly read off my slides and only use the slides as a supplement to my argument. I wholeheartedly believe I conducted extensive research and kept it very related to my topic so I believe that my presentation was among the best in the class.

Comparing two ears of pirates

My topic for the research paper involves comparing and contrasting two forms of piracy: Pirates from the Golden Age and modern day pirates. I chose this topic because I wanted to discover the true differences between the differences between the pirates that we are all familiar with from the Golden Age versus a group of pirates that most people know little about, modern pirates. I found it incredibly interesting to learn how modern these pirates really are. They utilize AK47s and have access to GPS tracking devices onboard their speedboats. This contrasts starkly with the image of old-school pirates with flintlock pistols and parrots on their shoulder. I also found it very interesting how both groups of pirates presided in completely different regions of the world. The pirates from the Golden Age mainly wrecked havoc in the Caribbean and the west coast of Africa because of the thriving trade network called the Triangular Trade. However, modern day pirates are most prominent on the East coast of Africa in countries like Somalia but in recent years there has been a shift in piracy towards southeast Asia in particular Indonesia. If I could do this research over again I would maybe focus on a couple more historical pirate attacks and analyze them specifically to provide anecdotal accounts of the two groups of pirates. Overall, this research project was incredibly eye-opening as I never realized how different two groups of pirates separated by only a couple hundred years could be.

an example of modern day piracy from:http://drakalogia.wikispaces.com/file/view/ma123rauders.jpg/331781234/349x189/ma123rauders.jpg

What it would have been like to be on Blackbeard's ship

The notorious Blackbeard had a vivacious and daunting ship that he captured from French slavers and renamed Queen Anne's Revenge. This ship is incredibly famous and easily recognizable to many people who are interested in pirates. I wondered what Blackbeard's infamous ship was really like so I did some research and found out. The first thing you would have noticed onboard Blackbeard's ship was the daunting number of cannons. It is said that at one point 44 cannons lined the deck of Queen Anne's Revenge! Below I have attached an image of an actual cannon recovered from his ship. After you feasted your eyes on the many cannons and various armaments found onboard you would start to realize the enormity that surrounded you. Queen Anne's Revenge was a 200 ton vessel that was specifically designed to hold vast amounts of cargo. Queen Anne's Revenge was so big and fearsome that many of Blackbeard's enemies would surrender on sight and just hand over their cargo peacefully so they wouldn't have to face the massive frigate in battle! Blackbeard may be the most famous pirate in history but he certainly could not have achieved that feat without his beloved ship Queen Anne's Revenge!

Punishment and Torture

Unlike most people, I have very unusual opinion about the various forms of punishment and torture utilized by pirates. I believe that the heinous forms of punishment were certainly gruesome but necessary and important to solidify a pirates reputation and intimidation factor. A pirate's effectiveness is certainly in correlation with how feared and how widespread his or her reputation is and what better way to establish oneself as a force not to be reckoned with than cutting off an unruly crew member's nose or fingers. While I agree that many of their actual methods were excessively torturous I believe that in general these severe punishments served a greater purpose than to just please a sadistic captain. I believe that these methods instilled fear and a sort of twisted respect of the captain not only for his or her enemies but also within their personal crew themselves. This fear and respect would in turn lead to a tighter run ship because the crew would be exponentially more meticulous as to not mess up to not be on the wrong end of one of those notorious punishments such as marooning or keelhauling.

Encounter with a Female Pirate

Here I am, back in the golden age of piracy in one of the many port town that were scattered across the Caribbean. I walk into a rundown bar of sorts and see what looks to be a very intimidating and commanding captain. As I examine this "captain" I start to get chills down my spine as I notice the plethora of gold and diamonds and luxurious petticoats with two pistols holstered and one in hand, I come to the realization that this person is a pirate. Every fiber of my being tells me to get away from this person as quickly as I can because I know how dangerous and ruthless these men can be but as I turn to leave the pirate grabs my shoulder and drunkenly interrogates, " Why you leavin in such a hurry?". In the few moments I have before a response is expected I notice something off about this pirate. Underneath his captain's hat I notice a long brunette curl that had been carefully placed to not be seen, I also notice the voice of this daring pirate seemed quite feminine. In utter shock and in bad judgement I blurt out awkwardly, " Are you a woman?". The bar gets silent and the pirate rushes me out of the tavern quickly into a back alley. It has now become certain that this pirate is a woman and she looks worried that the wrong people may have realized it now as well. She explains to me that it is crucial for her true identity to not be revealed as women are considered bad luck by pirate crews and she fears she will be severely punished by her own crew if they find out. She then goes into excruciating detail about all the various forms of torture she has seen played out to her crew's enemies and explains that she certainly does not desire a similar fate. Suddenly a few members burst out of the tavern and she slips right back into character pretending to the man her crew thinks she is by jostling me around pretending we were long time friends from back home. The rest of her crew drunkenly stumble back to the ship not thinking anything of it and the pirate captain follows. Then she whips around gives me a wink and tips her hat allowing her brunette locks to flow out but only for a moment and then she was gone.

Fact vs. Fiction Henry Morgan

There is a lot of information about the famous pirate Henry Morgan that one can gather from various sources but what is truth and what is pure fiction can be hard to decipher at times. In "Buccaneers and Pirates" Frank Stockton proclaims that Morgan simply chose to be a pirate because that's what he wanted to do. This is a very different path towards piracy than most because most men who became pirates or buccaneers did so because of necessity. However according to documentation credited to a surgeon under Morgan named Richard Browne, Morgan originally got started " either as a "private gentleman" soon after the 1655 capture of Jamaica by the English, or he may have been abducted in Bristol and transported to Barbados, where he was sold as a servant." Here is a perfect example of conflicting information that in turn can lead to difficulties in learning about Henry Morgan. Initially, the information in "Buccaneers and Pirates" seems to verified by saying he started out as a "private gentleman" which can be interpreted as Morgan started the path towards piracy under his own will. However, it then says that he may have began this career path because he was abducted and sold as a servant which is certainly the opposite of free will. This is just one example of information presented in "Buccaneers and Pirates" that seems to be completely factual until an individual conducts further research on their own and certainly contributes to the difficulty of finding valid information about this legendary pirate. 

Sources Consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Morgan

Sir Henry Morgan's siege of Panama

Sir Henry Morgan was regarded as of the of the greatest buccaneers of all time and was a vital asset to the English in regards to capturing territory and acquiring  vast booty from raiding towns and ships on the high seas. Sir Henry Morgan set his sights on a promising venture of capturing the city of Panama and dreamed of all the riches he would soon have in his possession. However, this plan did not go as Morgan planned at all. Morgan's first challenge to raiding the city of Panama was the dense jungle that was in his way of arriving at Panama. Morgan found the Charges River which allowed him to travel a significant portion of the journey by water. Morgan and his men then continued on to panama to defeat the commander Don Juan Perez handedly but after the battle they soon realized that all the wealth had been removed and they could make out ships departing from the city which presumably held the wealth. Morgan then decided to rejoice in the capture of Panama rather than hunt down the escaping enemies with the rest of the city's treasure. Although the treasure they gained was less than they had originally thought it still required 175 mules to carry the loot back to San Lorenzo. Spain was outraged at this attack on Panama and demanded that Morgan be punished. Morgan returned to England and was "arrested" for only two years but he was really treated as a celebrity and did whatever he pleased. The sack of panama was a great historical feat and was Morgan's greatest raid against the Spanish.