In 1708, a former merchant named Woodes Rogers began to harry Spanish shipping in the Americas under the authority of a “letter of marque”. Rogers acquired a fortune in his privateering career, but then switched to a different line of work. What was it?
A) Converting island natives to Christianity B) Establishing new diplomatic ties with Spain C) Improving the quality of navigation charts D) Reducing Caribbean piracy ü
In 1717 Woodes Rogers was appointed governor of the Bahamas, with the special task of eliminating piracy. At that time, some 2,000 pirates were based in Nassau. Rogers began by winning over many of the pirates with an offer of amnesty. The information they provided enabled him to round up nearly all the rest, including Blackbeard himself.
