Making Your Mark

Articles of Agreement evolved from Charte-Partie, a legal document used by buccaneers in the late seventeenth century. These charters, which Jamaican courts used to settle disagreements, served three functions: to explain terms of service, to provide fixed compensation in case of death or injury, and to divide plundered goods amongst the crew. Eventually the legality of these documents lessened to the point where they became merely secret charters under which pirate crews sailed. One of the first descriptions of such a code appeared in 1678 in The Buccaneers of America,an account written by Alexandre Oliver Exquemelin of his years as a pirate surgeon. Few of these documents survive today. Perhaps the Articles of Agreement most cited and most comprehensive are those under which Bartholomew Roberts and his crew sailed. These prohibited gambling, forbade the presence of women, set forth punishments, explained procedures for the settlement of quarrels, provided for those injured in battle, delineated the division of booty, and assured musicians that they had at least one day of rest. According to those under which George Lowther's crew sailed, the first pirate who sighted a ship to plunder received the best pistol seized in the raid.

Violence and treachery were bywords of piracy. Yet those same pirates plied their trade under Articles of Agreement that were revolutionary social charters of their day. These men believed in equality, and if no prey was sighted, then no pay was earned. They took care of their own by making restitution when injuries were suffered. While they sailed under one captain, they did not allow that man to be a tyrannical dictator. Command power was shared between the captain and the quartermaster, and these officers could be demoted if the crew no longer wished to follow their chosen leaders. These rights were forerunners of the principles on which democracies are founded.

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