Pirate Government

[allodial]

It might be a surprise to some but pirates were quite well known for their democratic and multi-branch systems of government with checks and balances.

Pirates practiced the same egalitarian principles as the Founding Fathers and displayed pioneering spirit in exploring new territory and meeting the native peoples, said Jason Acosta, who did the research for his thesis in history at the University of Florida.



“Hollywood really has given pirates a bum rap with its image of bloodthirsty, one-eyed, peg-legged men who bury treasure and force people to walk the plank,” he said. “We owe them a little more respect.”

Acosta, a descendant of a pirate who fought for the United States in the Battle of New Orleans, studied travel narratives, court hearings, sermons delivered at pirate hangings and firsthand accounts of passengers held captive by pirates. Comparing pirate charters with the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, he said he was amazed by the similarities.

Imagine a society that is really "trading society" posing as a de jure civil society.



There are those who suggest that the UK's flag and the Jolly Roger are based upon the Pirate's Skull & Bones which is the name of a secret society based at Yale University and whose members may have included multiple U.S. presidents.

Like the American revolutionaries, pirates developed three branches of government with checks and balances. The ship captain was elected, just as the U.S. president; the pirate assembly was comparable to Congress; and the quartermaster resembled a judge in settling shipmate disputes and preventing the captain from overstepping his authority, he said.

Related: Piracy's Influence In the Atlantic World; Code of the Brethren; History of the Pyrates (1724); The History of the Buccaneers of America (otig. 1678);