![]() Facing the impossibility of constructing a fleet to rival the world’s most powerful navy, the Continental Congress decided to authorize privateers as guerrilla-style disrupters.ĭuring the siege of Boston at the onset of the American Revolution, George Washington had leased private ships and manned them with uniformed personnel. “ have much more property to lose than we have,” quipped Declaration of Independence signer Robert Morris. William Howe, commander in chief of the British forces in North America, orders the evacuation of his troops by sea.Īlthough the cash-strapped American colonies would never be able to challenge Britannia’s rule over the seas, they did have one advantage over their motherland. ![]() Colonial Privateers Were Driven by Both Patriotism and CapitalismĪ scene from the Siege of Boston, the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. While privateers differed from pirates in that they received legal authorization to operate through an official “letter of marque and reprisal,” the distinction meant little to those who encountered the marauders on the high seas. In a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, international law permitted countries at war to license private seamen to seize and plunder enemy vessels. An armada of more than 2,000 so-called privateers commissioned by both the Continental Congress and individual states preyed on enemy shipping on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, severely disrupting the British economy and turning British public opinion against the war. But while the Continental fleet had little impact on the outcome of the war, tens of thousands of citizen sailors seeking both freedom and fortune played a critical, yet underappreciated, role in the quest for independence. When it came to waging war at sea during the American Revolution, the mighty British Navy had a vast advantage over its small and inexperienced colonial counterpart.
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