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July 31, 2003

More "Pirates" on the horizon?

deppbloom.jpg

I see more "Pirates" research on my horizon...

After my exhaustive recent study into the Western history of gold dental prosthedontics (first developed in 1907, but described in the 1880's in a medical journal, thus not bloody likely for Captain Sparrow), I now feel ready to tackle some more historic research on the Golden Era of Pirates.
For instance, I've discovered that most pirate ships during the time portrayed in the movie were egalitarian, unlike most politics of the time. The captain was chosen by popular vote. (Sparrow does tell the two nerdy Naval officers early in the movie that he was originally made captain in this way.) If that was the case, why the need for a mutiny by Barbossa? If the crew were that much influenced by the evil Barbossa, they could have just un-elected Sparrow rather than marooning him.
The part in the movie about marooning Sparrow on a tiny island with a pistol that carries one shot is actually taken from historical accounts of how pirates dealt with their own rule-breakers. Some of the less-lucky Pirate rule-breakers were shot or hanged instead of marooned. Some Pirate no-no's included bringing a woman on board ship, making advances to an "honest" woman while on shore, or failing to keep one's Pirate arms (usually cutlass and pistol) in good working order.
Pirates actually had pirate disability insurance! If a pirate lost a limb or an eye in the pursuit of their plunder, they were granted a set amount from the general fund.
I may have to view the movie several more times, just to make sure I'm not missing out on any important information that I need to research...

Posted by Jessica at July 31, 2003 02:21 PM

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