Changes

Once I got to know the Atlantic Canadian privateers, I decided to see how American privateering compared. I wondered why so little was written about US privateering and many years later, I can see why. Compared to the 45 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia privateers from the War of 1812 and their few hundred prizes, I have found over 600 American privateers who captured nearly 2,000 prizes, although not even half of them made it to port. The documents are sparse and spread over half a dozen national and state archives collections, numerous historical societies and state and university libraries. It has been a multi-year Easter Egg hunt and even after writing my book, I am still finding out new things. Just last week I found another privateer.

Privateering was a huge risk for the ship’s owners, the men who put up the several thousand dollar bond for the ship’s good behaviour and the crew who put their lives on the line to take the prizes. Because it was often the only alternative to leaving a ship at anchor for the duration of the war, owners and merchants weighed the possibility of no profit against that of a potential fortune and decided whether or not to request a commission. There were, in fact, two options. A ship owner could obtain a letter of marque but prepare his ship for a regular trading voyage. He might add a few more men and guns in case a prize came along, but the crew would be paid wages and the vessel’s main purpose was trade. On the other hand, he could decide to forego any pretense of trade, take on extra guns and men, and go out and cruise against enemy shipping as a privateer. In that case, the crew signed Articles of Agreement in which they agreed to work for shares of any prizes they might take. Once all the court costs, duties and other fees were paid, the profits were shared equally between the owners (who supplied the ship and guns and outfitted it for the cruise) and the officers and crew (who sailed and fought it).

<i>'''While you were working on this project, what surprised you the most?'''</i>

One of the biggest surprises was how dangerous privateering actually was and how little people seemed to take that into account. Probably because of the risk of any seafaring activity, people were willing to accept shipwreck, storms, disease, accidents, lightning strikes, etc. as simply part of the job at sea. When training accidents, combat, capture and imprisonment were added to the equation, young men were still ready to sign on to a privateer for three to six months at sea. Various ships logs describe men being put in irons for drunkenness, petty theft and other misdemeanours, but there do not seem to be any floggings or cruelty by the captains. In fact one is mentioned as getting into brawls with his own men and sorting them out.