Surge of Caribbean Piracy and Privateering (1630s)

Timeline

1. 1630–1633Providence Island · West IndiesIn 1630 the English Providence Island Company established a colony on Providence Island in the western Caribbean, using plantations as cover for a forward base to privateer Spanish ships. French and mixed Anglo-French bands also took root on Tortuga (a small island off northern Haiti), forming twin hubs of Caribbean pirate activity.
2. 1633–1638Northwestern Hispaniola and Tortuga · Greater AntillesIn the jungles of northwestern Hispaniola, exiled Europeans and runaways lived by hunting wild cattle and smoking and salting meat (boucan) to sell to passing ships. These "boucaniers" gradually evolved into professional armed raiders who merged with privateer captains, forming the Tortuga-centered "Buccaneers" who made up the main force of Caribbean piracy in the 1630s.
3. 1638–1640Tortuga and surrounding Caribbean waters · West IndiesSpanish fleets launched repeated expeditions between 1638 and 1640 to clear the pirate bases at Tortuga and Providence Island, briefly occupying them and expelling some of the occupants. However, the pirate bands regathered each time they were dispersed and returned within a few years; Spain ultimately failed to stem the tide of Caribbean piracy, and instead spurred France, England, and the Netherlands to increase state support for privateering.