These holdings were connected by a vigorous foreign trade. Sailors and adventurers from around the world set out for the Americas in search of the treasures that this new land promised.
Bristol, the town from which Jim and the others aboard the Hispaniola sailed, is a seaport located in western England at the mouth of the Avon River. The town outfitted many "privateers" with ships and men during the 1700s. The term "privateer" referred to a ship privately owned and manned but permitted by the government to attack and capture enemy vessels in wartime. The sailors that manned such ships were also known as privateers.
Piracy in the 1700s. Although piracy reached its height during the 1600s, it remained a concern for sailing vessels at the dawn of the eighteenth century. As the century progressed, the British government legalized certain acts of piracy against the French and Spanish governments. Because the three European nations were competing for property in the Americas, they all took great and sometimes illegal pains to ensure their holdings. The sailors on vessels from these nations attacked foreign ports in the New World as well as foreign ships that sought to trade with the colonies.
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