Hierarchy, Governance and Democracy on a Pirate Ship

When we think "pirate crew" we don't often imagine an organization more complex than a few drunk guys on a ship. If this was the truth, pirates wouldn't have been as succesful as they were. To carry out an effective enterprise they needed a practical system of governance and a strict hierarchy.
Magonzales' channel: / mage2104
/ discord
/ goldandgunpowder
www.paypal.com/paypalme/Wille...
Bibliography:
‘Piratical Schemes and Contracts’: Pirate Articles and their Society, 1660-1730 by E.T Fox
The Buccaneer's Realm by Benison Little
A New Account of Guinea and the Slave Trade by William Snelgrave
0:00 Introduction
0:51 Organization Types
1:46 Membership Status
3:23 Hierarchy
6:32 Conclusion
7:45 Comments and Stuff
8:27 Le Funny Outro(i think its funny at least)
#pirates #history #goldandgunpowder

[@GoldandGunpowder]

I hope you enjoyed this week's episode, don't forget to ask any questions if there was something unclear in the hierarchy or something extra you wonder about

[@radraider8852]

What about the Master Gunner and Boatswain, what is their place in the hierarchy?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

@@radraider8852 officer-artisans

[@radraider8852]

So now I want to create the structure for my crew of the Argonaut. This is a little example based of the characters that I created: The Captain - He is very knowledgeable in navigation so he’s also the Navigator. The Quartermaster - A childhood friend of the Captain and the Second in Command, making sure that the Captain’s orders to the crew are carried out. The First Mate - The Captain’s son and Third in Command but he’s more of an apprentice and assistant to the Captain rather than barking others. Second and Third Mates - I guess, equivalent to the lieutenants you mentioned in the video. Master Gunner, Sailing Master & Deck Master (Boatswain) These three have the same level of authority but each one in charge of their own department. Master Gunner is responsible for the ship’s armament. Sailing Master is in charge of the rigging, in which she communicates back and forward with the Captain in regards with navigation. Deck Master is responsible for the the condition of the hull and deck, and cargo arrangements. The crew is divided into Gunners, Sailors and Deck Hands, managed by the previously mentioned leads. Other positions include the Carpenters, Galley Chief and Ship’s Medic. So what do you think, I’m open to suggestions on how to arrange my crew.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

@@radraider8852 Sounds good but some thins look odd. - If the first mate is an apprentice he wouldn't have the duty of First Mate but would more likely be a Midshipman(a young officer in training on navy ships). - Deck Master I've never heard of, and Boatswains were in charge of the Rigging. If you want a guy in charge of the Cargo Arrangements, that would be the Quartermaster - Ship's Medic would be called Ship's Surgeon, I've never heard Medic used in this context. - "Gunners, Sailors and Deck Hands" is an odd assortment. Gunner is unnessecary since all the sailors had gunnery training("Gunner" is the officer-artisan also called "Master Gunner"). The role hierarchy amongst regular sailors should be Able-Bodied Seaman(regular/average sailor), Landman(inexperienced sailors) and Deckhand/Cabin Boy/Younker(underaged sailors).

[@radraider8852]

Again dude, you helped me out and cleared some of the misconceptions I had. Thanks much and in return I’ll try to help you out with info for your channel 👍🏻🏴‍☠️

[@nowgoawayanddosomethinggoo8978]

It's funny how fiction depicts pirates as a bunch of disorganized drunks when in reality they're all like ex-marines once conscripted to join a professional navy.

[@theashenhunter8361]

Such an underrated channel for people with even a slight interest in the golden age of piracy.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

pirate history doesnt get enough attention

[@j.s.connolly8579]

@@GoldandGunpowder NO it doesn't OR the "RIGHT ATTENTION"! SO MUCH of what people THINK they know comes from sadly from Hollywood and Fiction! :(

[@jjs8426]

@@j.s.connolly8579 bruh pirates were Masonic

[@spirospagiatis4731]

Next video idea : Famous pirate shipwrecks like Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge , Captain Kidd's Quedah Merchant , Captain Morgan's Satisfaction , Black Sam's Whydah Galley and Joseph Bannister's Golden Fleece.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

Will cover QAR in a few weeks

[@jasondohrman7098]

I believe that black beards queen Anne's revenge has been found

[@j.s.connolly8579]

THIS is WHY I LOVE HISTORY! I'm 56 and been studying history for most of my life... and I learn something new EVERY DAY! :D

[@GoldandGunpowder]

glad to hear

[@NotaNameMadperson]

Oh nice, I did not know about voting vs non-voting crew members!

[@GoldandGunpowder]

You can also call it "Cool kids" vs "Un-cool kids"

[@nikolajjorn1892]

In Scandinavia on merchant ships the carpenter and botswain always had the same salary. Actually the carpenter that were and are to this day at the same rank as the botswain/ bosun got payed better. I looked this up in several ship Manning books from the 1700-1800 hundreds. I myself work as a carpenter on a ship, and I'm a able seaman to. And me and the bosun onboard have the same salary and are on the same rank. But of cause have different responses.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

cool which country are u from?

[@SwashbucklingToday]

I bet you're soft

[@marcotarantino433]

Fantastic video mate. Nice to see the term Larboard used instead of port. I feel that's perhaps the most common maritime anachronism I've seen in movies

[@GoldandGunpowder]

I think larboard sounds better too

[@grizzlyblackpowder1960]

I love your videos on pirate society. Absolutely fascinated by the working of a "typical" pirate crew or even a company. I also really enjoy your videos on ship designs as I feel it's not as easy to categorize as ships in later periods and people often incorrectly identify pirate vessels. I just throw on some of your videos and build and paint models or work around the house, it's great.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

i'd recommend my recent video on roberts crew if you like videos on pirate society

[@grizzlyblackpowder1960]

@@GoldandGunpowder awesome, I think it was in my "watch next" videos already.

[@sirclifforddrakemalcolmjac5870]

DUBAN!! 😂😂 OMG!! I freakin LOVE sid meiers pirates!! I used to play it on genesis then the remake on 360!! Thank you for that smile buddy!!😁😁

[@khublaklonk4480]

Your latest cannon video popped into my feed, and now I'm feasting my mind on your excellent channel. You've made my brain very happy today. Well done!

[@kalavi-knightlygaming]

Now that's interesting I never knew on what exact basis the crew operated, more knowledge to remember

[@GoldandGunpowder]

I'm glad you learned something my lad

[@jasondohrman7098]

I am a carpenter by trade. Glad that if i signed on with a ship I would be respected. These days carpenters are looked down on.

[@minhducnguyen9276]

In my country, carpentry and masonry are still relatively successful careers. Because wood and stone retain their value, people build old style wooden houses and stuff them with wooden furniture whenever they can afford it. Also because it's a status symbol since wood is an expensive building material, a successful businessman can show his guests how successful he is by inviting them to his countryside house built out of solid wood and bricks.

[@SwashbucklingToday]

Go lay down some flooring, wood boy

[@henrywilliams8545]

Wonderful video. Love your channel and work, thank you.

[@michaelpage4199]

This was great. Thanks for sharing

[@mossyrainboots]

This video was awesome and really informational thanks!

[@Steven-dt5nu]

Im learning a lot and a great presentation.

[@TheMike871993]

Hi, really enjoying your videos. Could you please do one on where the ships came from or the lineage of well known ships? They were built somewhere and eventually ended up in pirates possession but I've never seen anything on the subject. Cheers

[@GoldandGunpowder]

I'm going to cover famous pirate ships, including where they were built and what happened to them. First one is coming out in 5-6 weeks

[@undead9999]

This channel is gold. True gold.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

and gunpowder

[@undead9999]

@@GoldandGunpowder yeah, that too! Ahahah. Seriously though. I've never seen such well researched material since I've read David Cordingly. Very well put together.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

thank you, I put a lot of emphasis on the research

[@undead9999]

@@GoldandGunpowder it shows, it really shows

[@SeaDog337]

Awww, you should've made the starboard watch bandanas green :P

[@VexingWeeb]

bruh the "yar" gets me every time

[@manuelkong10]

I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT WATCHES.... since a pyrate crew was quite a bit larger than a merchant crew sailing the same kind of vessel, I would think that a watch of 50 guys would not be needed to sail a sloop....(in your sloop vid you spoke of a pyrate sloop crew being from 50-100) So did they run things differently? or did most of them have little or nothing to do on their watch? What was the crew of a normal merchant sloop? 25? with 12 working at any given time? .....hmmmm, thinking

[@GoldandGunpowder]

logically you'd divide the crew as labor demanded

[@brookingsbeachcomber]

lots of cool info in this episode

[@GoldandGunpowder]

I hope you learned something new Steve

[@gracenblackwelder7727]

Is the sailing master the same/similar to a bosun or are they different?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

sailing master is responsible for the navigation and steering of the ship. during the middle ages he was virtually the captain, during the pirate period he was a very powerful officer bosuns are minor officers similar to a corporal or sergeant that are responsible for the day to day maintenance of the ship's rigging

[@adamwilson9232]

Do you think you will be doing ned low anytime soon?

[@mageillus]

Gold and Gunpowder > Lost Pirate Kingdom

[@GoldandGunpowder]

if only I could get my own netflix show

[@erikthepirate8068]

Poor Actor. He was a Good Pirate with a Parrot. At least I love it.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

RIP

[@erikthepirate8068]

@@GoldandGunpowder Tell me about it.

[@adamlemons7909]

Permission to board Captain? New subscriber ready to roll-and-go! :-)

[@GoldandGunpowder]

welcome aboard...now scrub the deck

[@H3_Nozzlenose]

hey just a heads up, but the link to magonzalez’s channel leads to a 404. love your videos though, keep it up!

[@GoldandGunpowder]

oh thats embarassing, it should work now

[@gamma7290]

hey, I was wondering how accurate the article on the pirate code was on wikipedia was. If you could check it out and maybe give your opinion, I'd appreciate it.

[@GoldandGunpowder]

nah not gonna waste my time on wikipedia

[@gamma7290]

@@GoldandGunpowder where do I go for accurate information on pirates?

[@joeybowyer7222]

Are these sound effects from Sid Meier's Pirates? 😂

[@GoldandGunpowder]

yeah

[@manuelkong10]

perhaps another term for "artisans" might be Specialists?

[@benmayne6159]

I like your channel, some times you over simplifier it, but it is understandable as most people would not know or understand unless you went into detail. Office-Artisan is a term i haven’t heard in a long time like masters craftsman. It’s completely understandable you called the shipwright a carpenter as modem people don’t understand this terminology. I have a Question,, What did they call the person who measured out the power charges?? The boys who run the power to the guns were called power monkeys, even in these days will still use this term. But what on earth did they call the person who measured/weighted out the charges?? power-right?? power-weight?? pyrotechnic? lol

[@GoldandGunpowder]

its KZbin and meant for a wider audience, if you want the full details you need to go and pick up a book, this is the reason I put my sources in the video description...

[@emmaj188]

Could a captain leading a company get deposited by his crew?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

if you mean deposed, yes, any commander could get deposed at any time, the system is ultimately anarchic and in the hands of the crewmen

[@emmaj188]

@@GoldandGunpowder interesting, would that be by the decision of only the crew of his flag ship or the whole company he's leading? And thanks for the answer!

[@GoldandGunpowder]

these anarchic systems are never set in stone and dynamic so anything you might plausibly imagine can happen

[@bioemiliano]

Basically pirate companies were cooperatives

[@paulsteele8614]

Just helping out with the algorithm

[@novustalks7525]

what would the lieutenants do that the quartermaster wouldn't?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

quartermaster was a sort of financier, administrator and human relations manager, whereas lieutenants and such equivelants were moreso deputies to the captain, fulfilling his commanding roles where or when he'd be unable to

[@novustalks7525]

@@GoldandGunpowder thanks

[@stoicprepper]

Deze is voor het algoritme

[@GoldandGunpowder]

viel dank

[@richardbabley7952]

What about first mates?

[@GoldandGunpowder]

a lieutenant

[@richardbabley7952]

@@GoldandGunpowder So are first mates above quartermaster?

[@manuelkong10]

you say "next we have the officers who were not elected but were appointed by the crew"....and then list the Quarter Master who was clearly, as stated in your video, elected by the crew Unlike other officers.... I don't think he was much like other officers, they seem to have had something else in mind

[@swayback7375]

Well my comment this week is that I wish I found you sooner so I could have watched your deleted videos 😥

[@friedgreenaliernwomerns2600]

can we get an English speaking person to do these videos.

[@entomopathogenicfungus904]

If you can read you could try using the automatically generated subtitles if you're struggling to understand. Atleast he's not American 🤣