Why Was There So Much Piracy In The Caribbean?

The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1560's. This was because there were a number of British seaports in what is now known as the West Indies. The most famous of these seaports was Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua. Piracy in the Caribbean islands ended in the 1720's, but it was mainly between the 1640's and the 1680's that the pirates were at their peak. In fact the last six decades, namely the years between the 1660's and the 1720's, are referred to as the "Golden Age of Caribbean piracy". The activities of pirates began to flourish in the Caribbean because settlers from various European countries, including the United Kingdom and Spain, began to set sail between the mid-16th and the early 18th centuries and brought with them vast amounts of valuables. Piracy in the Caribbean ended because there was a decline in the number of mercenaries and the number of national armies began to rise in Europe.