Page 39 - NS-2 Textbook

32 MARITIME HISTORY

squadrons continued their presence in the Mediter-
ranean,. however, operating from a base in Port Mahon,
Minorca, to make sure that the deys and pashas did not
revert to their old ways.
When revolts against Spain began in South and Cen-
tral America in the early nineteenth century, piracy in-
creased in the West Indies. Some of the new South Amer-
ican countries issued letters of marque (official documents
commissioning vessels as privateers) to their ships.
However, many of these ships began piracy against all
shipping. This affected American shipping, for at this
time New Orleans was developing into the second-
largest port of the nation. This was a result of the west-
ward migration and agricultural expansion in the Mis-
sissippi Valley.
Jean Lafitte was the most notorious American pirate.
He established his base on an island at the mouth of the
Mississippi River. He and his men had been given par-
dons because of their assistance to General Jackson at
New Orleans in 1815, but they returned to piracy after
the war. The Navy was given the job of wiping out the pi- A whaleboat with a harpooner in the bow is rowed toward a whale,
rates. At the same time, it had to deal with the Latin with the whale ship standing by behind. The whaling industry was
American governments and colonies from which many profitable, but whaling was a dangerous job with severe living con-
of the pirates came. ditions.
Between 1815 and 1822, nearly 3,000 merchant ships
were attacked by pirates in the West Indies. Merchants,
ship owners, and insurance companies demanded an madore, LeV\Tis Warrington, had succeeded in driving
end to these attacks. In 1819, Congress authorized Presi- Lafitte and other pirates out of the Caribbean. For the
dent James Momoe to launch a campaign against the pi- first time in three centuries, the ships of all nations could
rates. He sent Oliver Hazard Perry to Venezuela to talk sail those waters without fear of being plundered.
with President Simon Bolivar about stopping the letters
of marque. Bolivar agreed, but the piracy did not stop. WHALING
The new governments had no power to stop the ma-
rauders already on the seas. Perry contracted yellow Colonial Americans had begtm whaling in the early
fever during his mission, and died the same year at the 1700s. Sailing out of New Bedford, Nantucket, and other
age of thirty-four. New England seaports, whalers flourished until the Civil
Piracy continued to flourish. By 1822 the damage to War. After the War of 1812, the whaling industry grew
American trade in the Caribbean became so great that rapidly. Between 1830 and 1860, many fortunes were
the United States decided to put an end to the pirates made by the owners of whaling vessels. By 1846 the
once and for all. A West Indies Naval Squadron, under Americans had over 700 whaling ships, about three-
the command of Commodore James Biddle, was sent to quarters of the total world's whaling fleet.
the area. Biddle captured or destroyed thirty pirate ves- Life aboard the whaling ships was primitive and
sels in less than a year, but his large ships could not pur- dirty. Many crewmen died from disease and injuries, but
sue the smaller pirate vessels into the coves close to shore the lure of profits from a share of a successful voyage
where many lurked. Spanish officials in Cuba and Puerto pushed men on. Many sea stories of the era have been
Rico refused Biddle permission to pursue pirates who passed down from writers of the day and have become a
beached their vessels and escaped ashore. Yellow fever part of American history and adventure. Probably the
and malaria caused many deaths in the American crews. most famous of these stories is Moby Dick, by Herman
In 1822 David Porter took command of the West In- Melville.
dies Squadron. Porter learned from Biddle's operations. TIle era of American whaling ended with a series of
He gathered a squadron of smaller vessels, gunboats, important developments. The principal products made
and the first steam-powered paddle wheeler to be used from whales were whale oil for lighting, whalebone,
in naval operations. He then followed the pirates into the spermaceti for candles, and ambergris for perfume. In
coves and inlets for the next two years. His larger ships 1859 oil ,\-vas discovered in Pennsylvania, giving momen-
escorted merchantmen at sea. By mid-1826 a new com- tum to the fledgling petrolemll industry. Petroleum