Barbados: Indentured Servants to African Slavery
The first plantation-based society in the Caribbean, Barbados set the example for slave-based monoculture by moving from indentured servants to slave labor.
Plantation societies require...
Blackbeard: The Man, the Myth, the Beard
As one of the most notorious and well-remembered Caribbean pirates, Blackbeard succeeded in capturing over 40 ships in his relatively brief career.
Blackbeard the pirate...
The Slave Trade: Slave Ship Voyages to the West Indies
Before the Middle Passage to the West Indies, the typical slave ship spent up to a year off the coast of Africa collecting slaves.
A...
Captain Henry Morgan, Part 3 – Captain Henry Morgan’s Later Years
Morgan's pirating career winds down. A title and post as lieutenant governor is conferred upon him. Now wealthy, he is one of the few...
USS MAINE Explosion in Havana in 1898: The Other Theory
There are a few theories about why the USS MAINE exploded in the Havana Harbor in the late 19th century. Including one that no...
Captain Henry Morgan, Part 2 – Morgan Plunders the Spanish Main
Morgan made his name plundering the Spanish Caribbean colonies on behalf of the English crown, while pocketing more than one or two pieces of...
Captain Henry Morgan, Part 1 – Real Pirates of the Caribbean
Captain Morgan was a ruthless privateer and ingenious naval strategist who eventually settled down to a knighted life of ease and wealth as deputy...
Sir Francis Drake: The Privateering Pirate
Drake was all things to all people: a colorful, adventuring, pioneering, slave-trading cutthroat who left his mark on the Spanish sphere of influence in...
Devil’s Island: Devourer of Souls, Extinguisher of the Human Spirit
Thousands of prisoners served time on Devil's Island and thousands died there, whether by starvation, overwork, execution or disease.
This most notorious and infamous of...
A History of the Potosi Mines in Bolivia: Discovery, Wealth, Slavery and Death in...
Present day Potosi, said to be the highest city in the world, is not a wealthy city by any means. A handful of museums...