Pirates
A swashbuckling history of the Americas in the Age of Sail
An early modern story
Why Study the History of Pirates?
Introducing an immersive, one-of-a-kind online course on the history of pirates! At first glance, pirates may seem like no more than historical outlaws—swashbuckling, violent, perhaps even cartoonish. But study them seriously, and they open up a deeper understanding of empire, law, freedom, race, and resistance.
Here’s what a course on pirate history reveals:
Pirates hook history-ambivalent students. Pirate history draws in students who think they don’t like history—and helps them discover that they actually might.
Pirates are a shortcut into other history. Studying pirates is a way to study early American history—a way that’s more fun than a broad, general overview. Behind the adventures are real historical questions about power, legitimacy, and survival in the early modern world.
The story is global. This is not just a Caribbean tale. The pirates we’ll follow moved through the Atlantic world, from West Africa to the Indian Ocean. Following them reveals how interconnected the early modern world really was.
Piracy reveals the strengths—and weaknesses—of empire. Empires claimed dominion over vast oceans—but couldn’t fully control them. Pirates thrived in these gaps between power and anarchy.
The course is about war, law, religion, and the blurred lines between them. Were pirates criminals or wartime tools? Many pirates began as “privateers,” and they often claimed motives beyond simple material ones, including religious motives. Studying pirate history introduces students to the major religious developments and conflicts of the time—especially the Reformation and Catholic–Protestant divide. Watch as pirates vacillate between legally sanctioned mercenaries and outlaws made illegal overnight by the signing of a peace treaty.
“A Pirate Ship Approaching,” by Howard Pyle
“Tribute,” by Howard Pyle
Pirates challenge the idea of authority. On pirate ships, captains were elected. Crews voted. Plunder was divided by contract. In an age of monarchs and slavery, these floating micro-societies raise big questions.
It’s a window onto race, slavery, and class in early America. Some pirates helped enslave other people. Some people escaped slavery by joining pirate crews. Some allied with Native nations. The relationships were messy, and they matter. Further, since so many sailors and pirates came from the lower social strata, studying pirates allows students to grapple with class issues and the struggles and treatment of the poor, not to mention the choices of the poor.
The myth of the pirate tells its own story. Blackbeard, treasure, parrots, and peg legs—learn the reality behind the pirate legends, where they come from, and why they persist. How did pirates become children’s entertainment?
It’s more than adventure. It’s a mirror. Studying pirates is not about glamorizing crime. It’s about understanding the systems pirates rebelled against—and the ways they sometimes recreated them.
If you want to understand how law, violence, freedom, and power actually worked in the early modern world, start with the people who lived on the edge of it.
A Swashbuckling Introduction
From Fact to Fiction
Robert Louis Stevenson published Treasure Island in 1883, and almost single-handedly established the image of the modern pirate, from Captain Kidd and Blackbeard, to Long John Silver and Jack Sparrow. What else is there to the story? Learn it all with The Nomadic Professor.
Your deep dive into the pirates of the Caribbean and beyond is presented in six swashbuckling units:
The First Pirates
Redbeard, Hawkins, Drake, Newport, Oxenham, Raleigh, and many, many more—when did the age of piracy begin? Why were the first pirates from France and England?
The Dutch Moment
Sea beggars, privateers, the West India Company, and the Naval Revolution—what do these have to do with piracy, and was piracy linked to American slavery?
The Buccaneers
Tortuga, Jamaica, Henry Morgan, and a global turn against piracy—was the destruction of the pirates' nest of Port Royal some kind of divine retribution?
The Indian Ocean Pirates
Was piracy state sponsored? How did it impact the East India Company? Was it independent, spontaneous, rash, and violent?
The Golden Age of Piracy
The Spanish Treasure Fleet, the Bahamas, Anne Bonny, Mary Reade, and the real Blackbeard—why did piracy explode in the 18th century? What did pirate attacks look like?
After the Golden Age
The last surge of piracy and the rise of pop-culture pirates: The U.S. confronts piracy, and fictional pirates become heroes. How did Treasure Island and Walt Disney make the image of the modern pirate?
Ready to begin?
Join us for this one-of-a-kind voyage with The Nomadic Professor! It’s no ordinary history course—it’s an immersive, multimedia journey that invites students to examine the past from diverse perspectives and to make historical judgements for themselves.
Questions? Contact us anytime at [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
What credits does Pirates offer?
Pirates has been designed to fulfill the hours requirements of a one semester (16-week), ½-credit history elective course.
Can my student earn high school credit?
Pirates fulfills the hours and content requirements for the credits listed above. Students, instructors, supervisors, and/or parents should organize coursework into a portfolio that can be used to justify the credits and grades claimed on final high school transcripts. The Nomadic Professor does not provide the high school transcript. Each Nomadic Course comes with an Instructor’s Guide with further details about how to document hours and content for transcript credit.
What does Pirates cover?
• Unit 1: The First Pirates
◦ Content sessions: Spain and the Spanish Empire, French Privateers, English Sea Dogs, the Anglo-Spanish War
◦ Document lesson: Who was the “greatest” pirate of all time?
◦ Unit 2: The Dutch Moment
◦ Content sessions: Dutch Sea Beggars, Dutch Privateers, The West India Company, The Naval Revolution
◦ Document lesson: How do I find good sources on pirates?
◦ Unit 3: The Buccaneers
◦ Content sessions: Pirate Havens, The First Buccaneers, The Greatest Buccaneer, The Turn Against Piracy, South Sea Buccaneers
◦ Document lesson: How do I read and take notes?
• Unit 4: The Indian Ocean Pirates
◦ Content sessions: The Indian Ocean World of the 17th Century, The North America-East Indies Piracy Circuit, 1690s, Captain Henry Every’s Triumph, Captain William Kidd and the Politics of Piracy, 1689-1701, Attacking Piracy at Its Roots, 1690s
◦ Document lesson: How do I organize my thoughts in preparation for writing a paper?
• Unit 5: The Golden Age of Piracy
◦ Content sessions: The New Pirates of the Bahamas and Jamaica, 1713-1716, The Enemies of All Mankind, 1717-1722, The Short Lives of Infamous Pirate Captains, 1716-1722, End of the Golden Age, 1716-1726
◦ Document lesson: How do I write an effective introduction to my paper?
• Unit 6: Pirates After the Golden Age
◦ Content sessions: Pirates and Privateers of the New Americas, 1808–1826, The West Indian Pirates, 1820s, The Pirates of Fiction, 1600s–present
◦ Document lesson: How do I use evidence to support my arguments in the main body of a paper?
When should my student take Pirates?
The course is most appropriate for students in high school. Middle school students could also consider the course at teacher/parent discretion.
Who grades the student work?
There are consistent graded elements in each Nomadic Course. Daily quizzes are automatically graded and recorded in the student gradebook. Other graded assignments must be assessed by a qualified supervisor, parent, or instructor, who will manually enter scores into the gradebook.
To assist with grading student work, all graded assignments include (1) an answer key, and (2) an easy-to-use checklist rubric. In most cases student work can be graded in a few minutes a day, or in short sessions at the end of each week. The gradebook is pre-weighted, and will immediately reflect changes as new scores are entered.
In some cases students can be trained to assess their own work, perhaps overseen by a supervisor, but this should be decided case-by-case.
Further grading guidance is included within the course as part of the course Instructor’s Guide.
How much time will the course take?
Sessions are designed to be completed in 30-90 minutes, depending on the reader and what parts of the course they utilize.
Pirates has been designed to fulfill the hours requirements of a one semester, ½ credit elective course, when taken in full. The course will require approximately 65 hours of work to complete.
Further calendar and planning guidance is included within the course as part of the course Instructor’s Guide.
