Piracy off the Florida Coast and Elsewhere

An illustrated historical essay traces the widespread practice of piracy from the high seas to coastal waters, describing contemporary reactions, trials, and public executions, and citing newspaper reports and manuscript sources. It reproduces eyewitness material, including a supercargo's letter recounting the capture of a Hamburg ship off the Florida coast: small armed craft boarding and manning the prize, removal of crew, transportation to a sheltered islet, extensive plunder of linens and valuables, threats of hanging, a near-execution and the supercargo's temporary abandonment overboard. The piece situates these episodes within legal responses and popular attitudes toward piracy.