Children's Web Magazine

Pirates go back thousands of years when Spain was a dominant European country and ruled the seas. They had gone in search of treasure and would bring back the goods they had stolen.
But the Spanish became unpopular due to their behaviour. People began to turn against them with real hatred.
Pirates were around the Caribbean because this is where many ships would divide up their treasure. They would sell the stolen treasure to the early settlers.
Pirates were extremely brutal, torturing their captives and letting them die a slow painful death. This could have been why they didn’t make them walk the plank. Although they did throw men overboard these would probably have been the ones who were too injured to survive. They were quite literally thrown to the sharks. Not all pirate ships were successful some were caught. But those that weren’t could become very rich off the proceeds. Wrecking is when a ship has run a ground either on the shore or near to it. People will then take the valuables from the shipwreck. Some wrecks could be accidental others deliberate. It is thought that some ships were lured in by false light that would point to land.
Wrecking took place from anywhere from the Bahamas, Key West in Florida USA to Devon and Cornwall in England. Only a year ago a container ship ran into difficulty and its cargo was washed up onto a beach in Devon. Modern day wreckers broke open the sealed containers and made off with the contents. The law however states that wrecks should be reported to the police. The wreckers were asked to turn in the goods. But it seems they ignored this advice and sold them on.
Pirates and wreckers have of course been depicted in books and films such is the popular fascination that these hold. From Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Long John Silver to Pirates of the Caribbean. There is also the operetta The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. The writer Daphne Du Maurier who lived in Cornwall also wrote about the subject in her novel Jamaica Inn.
© Children's Web Magazine 2008