On The England Elizabethan Privateering

Privateering refers to that during the war, one of the hostilecountries authorized shipowneres or go-betweens to interceptother countries' ships, plundering their cargoes and treatingwith the sailors and passengers on board with violence, or toattack the hostile countries' colony harbors to pillage, burnand kill. It is a kind of piracy authorized by the governmentand is targeted in essence. But it is distinct from ordinarypiracy. Moreover, it arose in the reign of Elizabeth I whenEngland was confronted with internal disturbance and foreignaggression. And it is not only a sort of political phenomenonbut also a social phenomenon. The persons taking part in thePrivateering activities, such as the Queen, the Englandgovernment, officials, traders, aristocrats, merchants and thepoor, were so complicated that this campaign almost became a'National Movement' due to its special background. With thedevelopment and change of the political situation, thePrivateering activities also were constantly growing in scaleand amount. Therefore, in that special time of Elizabeth I andthat peculiar circumstance, Privateering played a particular role and produced exceptionally important results, although itwas the supplementary form and no more than an incidentalderivative of war. First of all, as a part of anti-hegemonicstruggles, Privateering sped up the decline of Spain and ledto the change of the European pattern. Secondly, it brought hugeeconomic benefits, amassing a huge amount of wealth for theElizabethan government, which not only eased the financialdifficulties, but to promote the prosperity of the domesticeconomy, drive the development of the cities, stabilize thedomestic situation and accumulate a certain amount of originalcapital for the industrial revolution. In terms of military,it was of strategic significance in that it stepped up the seapower of England, and win the victory against Spain Warco-ordinated with the Royal Navy. Meanwhile, it took the firststep in exploiting the New World and building colonies, and alsopromoted the development of the shipbuilding and shipping.However, Privateering also played a negative part, especiallyin the corruption of the England officials and the drop of thelegal authority.