Privateer, << `pry` vuh TIHR, >> is a privately owned armed vessel. Before the development of strong navies, many nations commissioned privately owned ships to assist them in time of war. Such commissions, first used in the 1400’s, were known as letters of marque and reprisal, and ships and crews acting under them were called privateers. The privateers attacked merchant ships of the enemy nation and sank or robbed them. Unlike pirates, privateers operated with their government’s permission.
Privateers helped the colonies against Britain in the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783). On March 18, 1776, the Second Continental Congress authorized privateers. This action was taken after the British Parliament had prohibited all trade with the colonies and authorized seizure of their ships. George Washington was part owner of at least one privateer. Colonial privateers captured about 600 British ships.
From 1798 to 1801, the United States authorized privateers to seize French vessels, because many American ships were being taken by warships of republican France. In the War of 1812, American privateers seized 1,345 British ships. Some became pirates after the war. In 1856, the United States refused to sign the Treaty of Paris outlawing privateering because it feared it might need privateers to support its weak navy.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Confederate government issued letters of marque, but after the first year of war a volunteer naval system was substituted for privateering. The federal government tried privateering in 1863, and Chile used it against Spain in 1865. These were the last known instances of privateering.
