Captain Charles Johnson is a writer who has been known in history as the author behind numerous writings regarding piracy during the eighteenth century. Even though his name is Captain Charles Johnson, his identity remains anonymous through his writings regarding piracy as he has hidden his true identity behind a pseudonym. Charles Johnson has been known for using different pseudonyms for crediting his work and has made it hard for researchers to find his name through privateer documentations. Despite not knowing his name, Captain Charles Johnson would write about piracy during the eighteenth century, and he wrote about how he got his information through different first-hand accounts regarding rumors throughout major trading ports. Despite having firsthand knowledge of different accounts of piracy, it could be plausible that the rumors of some of the stories could be inaccurate, as the lack of connection to Johnson and a true identity is hard for researchers to trust. The book that Captain Charles published regarding the different stories and accounts to piracy was in Britain in 1724 titled A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates. Even though it might not seem important, the timing of the publishing of the documents is significant to the book’s popularity as it was published around the later times of the Golden Age of Piracy, where piracy played a significant role in the histories of the New World. Many people during the Golden Age were interested in the different ideas of piracy, as it was very common and a major point in history, causing direct political and economical impacts along the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. The documentation of piracy and stories within Johnson’s writings got people generally interested in his work, as people wanted to understand the current events in the New World. It was also during this time where Britain was becoming a major power, where they had established 26 colonies in the new world beforehand in the 1700s, and right before Britain had banned piracy altogether. Johnson’s book was most likely directed toward an audience who is interested in the livelihood of the lawless Atlantic Ocean. It also caters to the curiosity of the general public as the book consists of general descriptions, stories and illustrations of pirates who are considered well-known during the eighteenth century. Johnson’s credibility was additionally questionable regarding his pseudonyms and his accounts of piracy as his work has a major lack of credibility. Researchers observing his documents additionally collect a lot of critiques regarding his stories, as there is a limited historical record. Despite his lack of credibility, his work remains important to historians was his book acts as the most prominent account of piracy to appear in the eighteenth century. There are no other accounts of work during the eighteenth century that offer as many insights regarding piracy and their political and economical impacts, however the information covered in the book is currently studied worldwide.

          One of the pirates that Captain Charles Johnson has written about in his book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates was a pirate named Philip Roche. Roche was directly associated with Charles Johnson as Johnson has had direct contact with Roche. Roche was an Irish pirate known for having a major impact during the Golden Age of Piracy as he was known for his strategic attacks and raids on merchant vessels and in the Caribbean. He became a pirate in order to help himself service, as Roche and his father were financially unstable, being unable to buy themselves necessities. Over time as a pirate, he would accumulate wealth through working on various ships, however he insisted on growing his wealth fast and different. With his purpose in mind, Roche became notorious for insurance fraud, as he would wreck ships and claim to be the owner after his crew would throw the original captains overboard. When he would not make the payments on the ships that he pretended to be his, he would be brought to trails for numerous missed payments and proceed to continue after he was let go. After a few times of taking ships, Roche and three other pirates have taken the Gambia Castle from one of the major French ports by overthrowing the captain. Once the African Company caught him, he was convicted of Piracy and was found guilty, being sentenced to death in 1723. 

          The time in which Roche was active affected his actions as the rivalries between the European powers grew intensely. Roche’s actions also show how the age of piracy was considered the golden age, as piracy was very common and they had immense impacts on the nations around the world. The conflicts between the European powers caused a lot of wars, which opened opportunities for pirates, such as Roche, to take advantage of the weak defenses of other nations. Roche exploited the weak defenses of other powers, such as the French, as he would attack merchant ships and convince unsuspecting captains to give up their ship before capturing them for himself. Roche’s actions directly affected the economies of the European countries as they would lose lots of money because of the actions pirates would cause. This also highlights the actions nations take in order to stop piracy all together, as one of the main courses of action that European powers would take was execution. Alongside Philip Roche, three other pirates were sentenced to death because of their acts of piracy. 

          Ultimately, studying Philip Roche’s actions provide insight to the Atlantic World and how piracy would extend far more than to claim territories and riches. Piracy has had a direct impact on the European Nations that wanted to claim territories in the New World, causing economic, political and social dynamics that highlighted the age of the piracy.

 

Sources:

Frohock, Richard. “Satire and Civil Governance in ‘A General History of the Pyrates’ (1724, 1726).” The Eighteenth Century, vol. 56, no. 4, 2015, pp. 467–83. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44730001. Accessed 7 Apr. 2024.

“Other scholars have relied on the General History as a source of historical information about the practices of real pirates in the early eighteenth century. Because the General History tells the stories of persons and events that often have been substantiated in other documents, some have drawn on it as an archive of credible information” (Frohock 1).

“To begin, confidence in the reliability of the General History needs scrutiny, especially since this assessment is sometimes taken as a license to cite any passage in it as evidence of the real. Even if it were dependable, the General History includes a variety of narrative modes and presents a very diverse range of pirate biographies, so insisting on too much consistency from these portraits to support a unified, monologic view of pirate life risks misrepresenting the cultural work that the General History does as a whole” (Frohock 2).

“The General History, then, blends fact and fiction; although most of its biographies concern real persons, its sources are unreliable and its accounts are fictionalized to varying degrees, and at least one, the biography of Captain Misson, appears to be invented wholesale. In particular, the frequent reported speeches of the pirates included in the biographies raise caution flags given the temporal and narrative distance that separates first utterance from the words that appear in the pages of the General History; it is difficult to assume that what a pirate might bellow on deck would be faithfully recorded in a trial transcript or accurately reported in a periodical, and then reproduced unerringly in the General History” (Frohock 3).

“In its satirical rendering of pirate history, it does not offer an unambiguous portrait of pirate radicalism and reform ambitions; rather, it uses the pirate adventure as a trope for imagining the possibilities and problems of remaking civil society in an age when Atlantic travel and trade economies were opening new spaces for, and new ways of imagining, civil government” (Frohock 12).

Gibbs, J. (2016). John Massey, George Lowther, and the taking of the Gambia Castle, 1721. International Journal of Maritime History, 28(3), 461-479. https://doi.org/10.1177/0843871416647228

“Yesterday, a Court of Admiralty was held at the Old Baily, when Captain Mason was try’d upon three several Indictments and acquitted. Mr. Nowne was try’d for Murder and acquitted. Philip Roche was convicted of Pyracy. Captain Massey was try’d and found guilty, for running away with a Ship belonging to the African Company, and for two Robberies by taking Goods out of two Ships. Philip Roche, and Captain Massey receiv’d Sentence of Death” (Gibbs).

 Rediker, Marcus. Villains of all nations: Atlantic pirates in the golden age. Beacon Press, 2004.

“Finally, but not least important, pirates almost without exception came from the lowest social classes. Like the larger body of seafaring men of which they were a part, they were poor and had worked in the most proletarian of occupations. They were, as a royal official condescendingly observed, “desperate Rogues” who could have little hope in life ashore. Philip Roche, a sailor who led a mutiny and turned pirate in 1721, was “brought up to a seafaring life,” as were numerous poor, often orphaned boys. Many of those who sailed in pirate ships were men of “no property” (Rediker)

Marsden, R. G. “Voyage of the ‘Barbara,’ of London, to Brazil in 1540.” The English Historical Review, vol. 24, no. 93, 1909, pp. 96–100. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/550278. Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.

“The ‘John ‘ returned safely to Arundel with her spoil, part of which had previously been sent ashore at Plymouth ‘ to pay the lord admirall’s officer, George Maynerd, for sufferinge them to goe that voyaidge, according to a band by the said Philip Roche made and delyverid to the said Maynerd before their departure. The rest was all carryed to Arundell and there delyverid to the foresaid owner,
John T” (Marsden 100).

The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork : Containing a Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical, Historical and Topographical Description Thereof. JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.29823954. Accessed 3 Mar. 2024.

“This family was attainted and outlawed for being concerned in the Irish rebellion of 1641, and lost their estate; though Maurice Lord Roche, who was the forfeiting person, had a regiment in Flanders, and gave King Charles II. a considerable part of his pay, during the exile of that prince, for which and other services he expected, upon the restoration, to have his lands restored, and petitioned the king for that purpose being then in a very poor way; but that prince did nothing more than allow a small pension to the family, (14) so that they have been obliged to seek a maintenance in other kingdoms” (Smith 314).

https://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/newgatecalendar/lives_philip_roche.html