THE BUCCANEERSIN THE WEST INDIES IN THE XVII CENTURY
BY
C.H. HARING
CHAPTER I. Introductory I. THE SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM II. THE FREEBOOTERS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER II. The Beginnings of the Buccaneers CHAPTER III. The Conquest of Jamaica CHAPTER V. Porto Bello and Panama CHAPTER VI. The Government Suppresses the Buccaneers CHAPTER VII. The Buccaneers Turn
The principal facts about the exploits of the English and French
buccaneers of the seventeenth century in the West Indies are sufficiently well
known to modern readers. The French Jesuit historians of the Antilles have left
us many interesting details of their mode of life, and Exquemelin's history of
the freebooters has been reprinted numerous times both in France and in
England. Based upon these old, contemporary narratives, modern accounts are
issued from the press with astonishing regularity, some of them purporting to
be serious history, others appearing in the more popular and entertaining guise
of romances. All, however, are alike in confining themselves for their
information to what may almost be called the traditional sourcesExquemelin, the Jesuits, and perhaps a few narratives
like those of Dampier and Wafer. To write another history of these privateers
or pirates, for they have, unfortunately, more than once deserved that name,
may seem a rather fruitless undertaking. It is justified only by the fact that
there exist numerous other documents bearing upon the subject, documents which
till now have been entirely neglected. Exquemelin has been reprinted, the story
of the buccaneers has been re-told, yet no writer, whether editor or historian,
has attempted to estimate the trustworthiness of the old tales by comparing
them with these other sources, or to show the connection between the buccaneers
and the history of the English colonies in the West Indies. The object of this
volume, therefore, is not only to give a narrative, according to the most
authentic, available sources, of the more brilliant exploits of these
sea-rovers, but, what is of greater interest and importance, to trace the
policy pursued toward them by the English and French Governments.
The "Buccaneers in the West Indies" was presented as a thesis
to the Board of Modern History of Oxford University in May 1909 to fulfil the
requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Letters. It was written under the
supervision of C.H. Firth, Regius Professor of Modern History in Oxford, and to
him the writer owes a lasting debt of gratitude for his unfailing aid and
sympathy during the course of preparation.
C.H.H.
Oxford, 1910
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sharp, Bartholomew: The voyages and adventures of Captain B. Sharp ... The history of the buccaneers of America.
Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer. A Romance of the Spanish Main History of the buccaneers of America - Burney, James A chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Seas or Pacific Ocean Elizabethan sea-dogs; a chronicle of Drake and his companions THE WEST INDIES AND THE SPANISH MAIN History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the defeat of the Spanish armada. 12 vols. History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate,
1649-1660. 3 vols
Historia general de las Indias .
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