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The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Privateers
In August 1812, the Hopewell, a 346-ton ship laden with sugar, molasses, cotton, coffee, and cocoa, set sail from the Dutch colony of Surinam. Her captain was pleased because he reckoned that in London the cargo would sell for £40,000—the equivalent of at least several million dollars in today’s economy. The Hopewell carried fourteen guns and a crew of twenty-five, and for protection she sailed in a squadron of five other vessels. It was difficult, however, to keep a squadron together in the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, and on August 13 the Hopewell became separated from her sisters.
Two days later her crew spotted another ship, armed and approaching rapidly...
That's the opening of my latest paper, The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Privateers.
Hat tip to Jesse Walker at Hit and Run and Instapundit both of whom spotted this before me!
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on April 16, 2007 at 07:18 AM in Economics, History | Permalink
Comments
Could you comment on the feasibility of Letters of Marque and Reprisal as an alternative to the U.S war on terror?
Posted by: guest at Apr 16, 2007 8:07:28 AM
Could extensive use by Congress of LoM&R possibly create a conflict with other important constitutional principles, to wit, the power of the executive to conduct foreign policy and command the armed forces? I can imagine an alternative mercenary army commissioned and richly funded by congress, A dizzying thought.
Just a question. Myself, in a moment with a Democratic Congress and a Repulic executive, I'd be happy to give Congress plenty of power. But then there are those other times. . .
Posted by: John Mark Rozendaal at Apr 16, 2007 8:27:16 AM
Letters of marque might attract people to profitable violent occupations, such as armed robbery, but for unprofitable violent occupations, only direct compensation can suffice. While busting terror cells might sometimes lead to large seizures of cash or commodities, my gut feeling is that this is rare enough to not be worth it.
Now, licensing privateers to fight the war on drugs would be another thing entirely. Violently suppressing a profitable commercial enterprise is almost guaranteed to generate loot.
Posted by: Cyrus at Apr 16, 2007 9:05:45 AM
I say more about current privatization of the military in the article. See also my work on bounty hunters
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2004/08/putting_a_bount.html
Alex
Posted by: Alex Tabarrok at Apr 16, 2007 12:25:12 PM
I enjoyed the article quite a bit but you left out a big problem with privateers which is that they are rather disappointed with peace. For instance, after Queen Anne's War many British privateers (most famously Blackbeard) refused to acknowledge obsolescence and became pirates.
Posted by: Gabriel Rossman at Apr 16, 2007 1:00:16 PM
Great article. Your last line is basically "modern private military companies, like privateers, represent not the end of traditional armies and navies, but merely the out sourcing of national defense services."
I agree. But what about organizations like Al Qaida? Don't they represent a true replacement for a state controlled military? I say this in the vein of Martin Van Creveld's thoughts about the declining role of the state.
Posted by: Brian Moore at Apr 16, 2007 4:42:26 PM
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