Social Studies: Piracy: Part 1

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Jolly Roder of Edward England.

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Plutarch, a Greek historian, was the first to define pirates. He defined them as people who attacked ships and maritime cities illegally in about AD 100. Some of the first available documents on piracy were from 1350BC, they were carvings on clay tablets about pirates robbing ships in North Africa.

Some turned to piracy because there ships were captured by pirates. Others just did it for the money. Privateers were pirates hired by the government of a country to rob the ships of apposing nations.

The Jolly Roger symbol is a black flag with a skull and cross bones used to scare victims. The name may come from the French "jolie rouge" or "pretty red" because of the red flags used by early pirates. It may have also been acquired from the name Ali Raja, the name of a famous pirate in the Indian Ocean.

Sources:
Visual Factfinder: Oceans
Wikipedia