Pirates of the Caribbean, it is a fantastic series of movies from Walt Disney and it bring to life those swashbuckling adventurers. Ironically enough, most people think of Caribbean Pirates as being scoundrels of the seas, raiding villages, stealing goods and raping women. But were they all bad and did they have any lasting effects upon society? Were there Caribbean Pirate contributions to the world as it exists today?

One way the pirates contributed to modern society was through life insurance and workman’s compensation! That is correct, the first written workman’s compensation rules and the first life insurance policies were written as part of the infamous Pirate Code! The pirates signed this document when joining the crew and it guaranteed everyone that was on the ship fair pay, and extra pay if they got injured while fighting! If they were killed, their pay and goods went to they appointed beneficiary.

The beneficiary was often a “special male” friend , and so many believe that Caribbean pirates were the first Europeans to practice :gay rights”. They never worried about if you were gay or not, it was were you loyal and could you fight! Would you look after your fellow man and ship, sexual preferences weren’t important. It was also death to harass a “prudent woman”, so much for rape.

Neither was race, pirates were some of the first, outspoken people for human rights and racial equality. Captain Kidd violated British Naval law by making a “small black man” is number two in command, and this was in 1689. As much as 40% of the pirate crew was black and they were crew, not slaves! Many pirates would attack slave ships just to free the people, the ships carried few goods that a pirate could use.

Democracy was a pillar of pirate culture, and everybody had an equal vote, with votes being counted in public. The cabin boy could become the captain over night, and did in a few cases. Votes could be held at any time if half the crew wanted to have them, or any time that they were actively fighting an enemy. The Captain also only got 1/2 more share than the crew, so he didn’t really benefit much economically!

Caribbean Pirates also gave most of their money away, and in one case actually help set up churches and rescue a dog. Pirates definitely contributed to society, and not just the Caribbean!