When one speaks about the Caribbean resorts, one normally thinks about the beautiful blue sea, clear blue sky and wonderfully white sandy beaches. One would not believe that this is a country rich with history, which has shaped its culture today. Some of its historical tales include colonisation, slavery and cultural diversity. This can often be seen by visitors and tourists, through specific monuments and island features.

The Caribbean is a place of exotic beauty, with many people visiting it for its attractive features and year round sunshine. Many people see this as the ideal spot of celebrating wedding ceremonies and honeymoons. All of which could not have been possible without its diverse history and the major influences it has had upon modern fictional entertainment.

Pirates were also prominent figures in the Caribbean resorts. This explains the title of the movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean‘, as they were very real and indeed did reside in the Caribbean. One of the areas in which pirates were renowned to have lived in Nassau, Bahamas, whereby visitors can view some of the historical come Disney influenced artefacts of the piracy period. This is described as the golden piracy era and is captured in a more exaggerated form than what they really were.

The pirates were viewed as rebels and terrorized much of the American continents, France, Britain and Spain. They were so called pirates for their reputation for robbery and causing crime across the continent, and travelling by sea. The word piracy is defined as robbery and other violent actions. It was towards the end of the seventeenth century that saw a large number of pirates take over the islands, with many of them using Tortuga as their main base.

The piracy colony was more troublesome in the Caribbean resorts and was a reaction to the end of the War of Spanish Succession. The piracy period lasted thirty years, it was a short period but one that had had a lasting effect onto Caribbean history. Although, many of the factual written records and fictional records are very much blurred, and some of the recorded information is still unknown as to whether they are true or false.

Due to the war there a lot of unemployed sailors, with a severe lack of employment in the legal sector, which raised the profiles of the pirates. As there was a lack of legal operations, the pirates were able to operate at a more public level and so grew in population. Infamous pirates such as Captain Bartholomew and Blackbeard were amongst the wanted criminals, however, unbelievably there is surprisingly very little evidence and recordings of their lives.

Both of which were known for their fierce nature and terrorism across the Caribbean, whilst many argue that they have played a strong part in influencing the stereotypical depictions of the modern day pirate characters in films and books.

One thing is for certain and that is pirates were grouped together as a way of undermining the Spanish rule and to break the rules on trading across the sea. Trading became highly regulated due to the pirate activities and so the Spanish found themselves unable to control the situation. This enabled the pirates to eventually establish their own colonies.

People visiting the Caribbean resorts today will be able to relive the glory days of piracy in a well-preserved Museum based in Nassau, which retells the stories of fact and fictional pirate characters. Much of the artefacts and relics include models, paintings, weapons and tour guides. Tourists are also able to experience a true pirates cuisine, which mainly consists of conch and other seafood delicacies.

anna stenning has enjoyed reading up the history of pirates in the caribbean resorts, having visited the caribbean recently.

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