The end of the 17th century saw the greatest outburst of piracy in the history of seafaring. This “golden age of piracy” lasted for about 30 years and although the Caribbean was the most troubled area, piracy was also rife on the eastern seabord of America, in the Indian Ocean and off the West Coast of Africa.

The piracy boom was a result of the high rate of unemployment among sailors after the end of a long war between Britain and France and the lacking military presence of these two nations on the seas. Many privateers who had fought for their country during the war turned to piracy and often attacked their former employers or even other pirates.