A General History or Fiction? Part II – Charles Johnson, Pyrate, Sailor, or Fraud?

Continuing the plundering of A General History of the Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson.

Disclaimer: I am not a historian; I am a wonderin’ and plunderin’ pyrate and simply sharing my somewhat organized thoughts and notes from my plunderin’ and wonderin’.

If you need to catch up or would like to refresh your memory of A General History or Fiction? Part I click here

Why is (or was) there a debate about who authored A General History of the Pyrates? Primarily because there are no surviving official records of a “Captain Charles Johnson”. So, no “Captain” Charles Johnson.

Interesting sidebar: There WAS a playwright named Charles Johnson who wrote a very popular play, “The Successful Pyrate”, which was based on the life of legendary pyrate, Henry Avery. The play first began performances in 1712. The play portrayed Avery as a romantic type of swashbuckler. Look it up. It may just make you go “hmmm”.

I’ve also noted that that the author, whoever he was, seems to include some subtle sympathy for pyrates. In the book’s introduction, the author writes:

“Privateers in Time of War are a nursery for Pyrates against Peace.”

The author follows this statement with an almost academic thesis on why men are driven to pyracy. Johnson’s argument could almost be read as a very clever criticism of both monarchies and the very lucrative (for those in charge) merchant trade. He then elaborates on how these wronged and misled men could be redeemed, if given the right setting and guidance. Notably, his redemption argument is less academic and more spiritual, (which is where some of the Dafoe believers come in).

What about the “embellished” or “false” history that Johnson has been accused of writing? Well, it’s not necessarily that his history has been DISproven. It’s moreso that some specific elements of his history haven’t been proVEN.

For instance, Johnson goes into a good bit of detail about a pyrate colony named Libertatia.

Sidebar: I frequently (incorrectly) call this colony Libertalia, (both in my head and in conversation), probably because I’ve seen it used synonymously for Johnson’s Libertatia in more than one place. If, like me, you played the video game Uncharted: A Thief’s End, the pyrate colony explored was called Libertalia. I mostly blame the game, (which I loved), for almost completely erasing Libertatia in my head and replacing it with Libertalia. Great game, though…anyway, back to the topic…

Libertatia, per Johnson, was a pyrate stronghold off of the coast of Madagascar that was founded by pyrate Captain James Mission. However, Libertatia is believed to be fiction. But…maybe…

Next time…Libertatia or Bust!