A persistent phenomenon: private prize-taking in the British Atlantic world, c.1540-1856

Starkey, David J.; McCarthy, Matthew

Abstract

The British Atlantic world was ‘created by kaleidoscopic movements of people, goods and ideas’ that spiralled out of England, Scotland and Ireland (hereafter, Britain) from the sixteenth century onwards.1 A desire to gain at the expense of foreigners through the forced appropriation of their seaborne properties was one of the more aggressive motives underlying these movements across and around the Atlantic. Such prize-seeking activities were perpetrated by state agencies and by private individuals, some acting within and some without and beyond, the various legal regimes that evolved to govern activity at sea during the Early Modern era. In examining the private dimension of the quest for maritime prize, this chapter is designed to elucidate how and why such a phenomenon persisted in the British Atlantic world for over 300 years.

Citation

Starkey, D. J., & McCarthy, M. (2014). A persistent phenomenon: private prize-taking in the British Atlantic world, c.1540-1856. In S. Eklöf Amirell, & L. Müller (Eds.), Persistent Piracy (131-151). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137352866_7

• Publication Date: 2014
• Deposit Date: Jun 11, 2019
• Journal: Persistent Piracy
• Pages: 131-151
• Book Title: Persistent Piracy
• ISBN: 9781349469406
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137352866_7
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1970458
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057%2F9781137352866_7