Sunset Piracy: The Ends of Atlantic Piratical Careers in the Age of Sail

This thesis concerns the careers of pirates in the latest stage of that career, as pirates prepared to end their roving of the seas in order to “settle down.” Though pirates are idolized in modern fiction, their ends are often overshadowed by the highlights of their careers. Here, the goal is to find what motivated pirates to engage in a life as outlaws and then at some point choose to cast that life aside. Conclusions on this are drawn from both primary and secondary sources where pirates gave information pertaining to their view of the world and retirement in it, often without realizing it. The thesis explores the interactions pirates had with the governments acting within the Atlantic world and the natives who inhabited it. Lastly, the thesis concludes that sea rovers gained a great deal through piracy, yet to retire they surrendered at least some of what they gained. Of interest, then, is what was lost through what methods of retirement, and what was retained through others