The worse the injury, the more money the pirate could expect. Pirates received workman's comp! Injured pirates received money for injuries received in the line of duty. That's how captains were overthrown - not bloody battles to the death.ĥ. The whole crew would take a vote - I told you, Democratic! - and the majority ruled. Pirates typically did not make members of the crew walk the plank after a disagreement, or leave them abandoned on a desert island like what happened to Captain Jack and Elizabeth Swann ('But why is the rum gone?'). The loot was worth more than 20,000 pounds sterling. But when the Whydah sank, it took booty from more than 50 looted ships down with it.

Which makes sense - it's not like they could invest it in their 401(k)s. Pirates split up the treasure amongst themselves (very fairly, most of the time) and each pirate spent it pretty quickly. But in reality, only one treasure trove has ever been found: The Whydah's. Pirate treasure is one of the most enduring myths and intriguing legends in history. Many pirates were first privateers, men employed by their governments to attack enemy merchant ships.ģ. Some of them started out on the seas pillaging other ships legally - at least, legally according to their countries. Lots of them were guys who had been merchant and navy sailors who couldn't make a living based on that salary, and the life of a pirate actually offered more freedom and democracy as well. We might think of pirates as grizzled old men, but in reality, most of them were probably in their '20s (with exceptions, of course). The flag to the left is attributed to Blackbeard.Ģ. A plain black flag represented the death of a crew member, an hourglass represented the swift passage of time, and a wounded heart indicated danger. There were many different versions and the symbols on them represented different things. Pirate flags weren't always just white skull and crossbones on a field of black. Now, I know that the movie version of pirates is not the real way pirates acted and operated, but I was pretty surprised by some of the things I learned nonetheless. It was really fascinating, and it's not just at the Field Museum '“ it's been traveling the country, so maybe you've seen it. There's an exhibit there right now about pirates '“ specifically, how the slave ship Whydah ('wih-duh' or 'wee-duh' but not 'Y-duh') became a pirate ship, how it ended up at the bottom of the ocean, and what happened to all of the men on board. But when we approached the museum and saw this, I was really excited: I was in Chicago for Lollapalooza two weekends ago '“ Armchair Fieldtrip coming soon '“ and, being the nerd that I am, would have been excited about making time to visit the Field Museum no matter what.

Pirate storm death of glory