This article was written by Mallory Sweeney
The cascading waves of the sea have a knack for washing up legends on the eroding sands of time. Perhaps some of the most rogue characters of all time are seafarers--rough around the edges and enriched by the cultivation of bountiful treasures. In a culture so imbued with "Pirate" tales, it becomes difficult to judge which chronicles will actually hold true. The most satisfying swashbuckling stories are those taken from lives of historical figures, mostly with a Caribbean flair. One such figure who constantly reappears is the infamous Sir Henry Morgan.
Captain Morgan, as history has remembered him, consistently blurred the line between crafty business man and cutthroat privateer turned pirate. But before time could paint the classic picture of Morgan in our minds--a curly black mustache atop an equally curling scowl, an ornate long coat and a broad hat featuring a plume--Hari Morgan was born in 1635, the son of a squire, in the southernmost part of Wales. The young Morgan came from humble beginnings, taking to the sea at the age of 21, with his first expeditions most likely being to the Spanish colonies of Trujillo and Granada.
Before Morgan was known strictly as a pirate, however, he was predominantly known as a privateer. Privateering, most popular at the height of colonial naval warfare, was the institution of authorizing a private ship through the government, to attack other foreign shipping, exclusively during times of war. When hired privateers attacked otherwise, one crossed into the bounds of piracy and out of the range of honorable service to one's country, converting respectable admirals to sea-beaten scallywags. Morgan, was no exception.
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