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Assassin's Creed: Black Flag artwork


On the 3rd of July, 1716, Governor Alexander Spotswood in Virginia would write his complaints of pirates in the Bahamas to the Commissioners of Trade.

In his letter, his complaint regarded the island of New Providence, Nassau in particular where “a Nest of Pyrates are endeavoring to establish themselves” and that the overall lack of a British presence controlling the area was to blame. In 1706 a fleet consisting of French and Spaniards had assaulted Nassau, leaving it abandoned in the aftermath and devoid of British presence, and shortly afterwards English privateers would use it as a base of operations during the War of Spanish Succession. 

Nassau became the infamous pirate haven shortly after 1713, as many privateers were out of work as the War of Spanish Succession had drawn to a close, and for the last three years prior to Spotswood’s letter, Nassau thrived for smugglers and outlaws. Notable pirates such as Benjamin Hornigold, Samuel Bellamy, Henry Jennings, and Charles Vane had operated out of Nassau by this point. 

Despite his complaints about Nassau’s state of being, Spotswood wouldn’t receive a response for almost an entire year. Eventually in 1718, Governor Woods Rogers would be appointed to the island by England finally solving Spotswood’s complaint. As Rogers would introduce the King’s Pardon, leading to Nassau losing it’s infamous glory as a ‘pirate haven,’ and seeing a decline in piracy in general throughout the Caribbean.