Pirates and the Law
Grade Level: Middle
Overview:
In this lesson, discussion of modern day piracy begins with a cartoon by Michael Ramirez depicting a 17th century pirate ship pulling a large 21st century ship through the sea. Then, the instructor can lead a conversation about piracy – What is piracy? Who are pirates? What motivates them? Etc. The lesson introduces students to issues involving international law in the context of globalization.
Time Needed: 1 class period
Materials Needed:
National Archives Cartoon Analysis
Procedure
Introduction
Introduce the topic of pirates and the law in the 21st century. Make clear that this does not refer to “software piracy.” You should make sure participants are familiar with recent incidents involving pirates off the coast of Somalia in East Africa. Most well known was the effort in April 2009 by Somali pirates to seize the American merchant vessel Maersk Alabama. U.S. Navy SEALs killed three pirates holding Captain Richard Phillips hostage. A fourth, Abdul Wali Muse, surrendered and was taken into custody by the United States. A federal grand jury in New York subsequently indicted him on piracy and other charges.
Cartoon Analysis
Show participants the editorial cartoon by Michael Ramirez. It appeared in Investor’s Business Daily on November 29, 2008, when another incident involving Somali pirates was in the news. Ask participants to look carefully at the cartoon. To facilitate your discussion, you may wish to refer to the cartoon analysis worksheet available from the National Archives.
Ask students:
- What does the cartoon depict? Describe what you see in it. What words or phrases appear? What objects are illustrated?
“Pirates” appears on a banner flying on the small ship, which looks to be an 18th century sailing vessel flying a “Jolly Roger” pirate flag—the skull and crossbones. “21st Century” appears on the much larger oceangoing vessel. What do flags on ships mean? The primary flag on a ship signifies the nation under whose authority the vessel sails. A “Jolly Roger” traditionally signified a ship flying under no national authority, not subject to the law of nations, and not bound to take prisoners. It was meant to strike fear.
- What is the setting, the time and place, of the cartoon?
- What identifies the small ship? Where have you seen ships like it before?
Bring out that it is a pirate ship, evident even if the word “pirates” had not been used to illustrate the ship. The “skull and crossbones” depicted is a “Jolly Roger”—pirate flags of both historical fact and popular culture fiction. Participants should recognize it and make the connection to pirates. When most people think of pirates, the images that first come to mind probably relate to the period of the “Golden Age of Piracy” in the early 18th century in the Caribbean. In popular culture, these images were first formed in the late 19th century by authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island) and have continued through such Hollywood movies as Captain Blood (Errol Flynn, 1935) and the recent Pirates of the Caribbean movies starring Johnny Depp. “Golden Age” pirates continue to have a strong hold on our popular imagination. This is evident even at the policy level.
In 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced an initiative to address what she called “the scourge of piracy.” She went on to say, “We may be dealing with a 17th century crime, but we need to bring 21st century solutions to bear.”
- Why does the large ship have the words “21st Century” on it? What do you think this means?
The cartoon juxtaposes the contemporary oceangoing vessel with a symbolic anachronism, the 18th century pirate sailing ship. Assuming they are moving forward, which ship do you think is in front and which ship is in back? Why is there a line tying the small ship to the large one? Why do you think the cartoonist shows a pirate ship tied to a “21st century” ship? It looks like the small pirate ship, implausibly, is leading or pulling the larger vessel. By depicting the pirate ship as a popular-culture anachronism, the cartoonist may be making the pointed political comment that we of the 21st century, apparently big and mighty, are letting ourselves be pulled along by what should be no more than a relic of the past.
- Do real pirates exist today, in the 21st century? If so, where are they? Who are they? What do they do? What identifies them as pirates?
The short answer to the first question is “yes.” Refer to discussion of Somali pirates. The last question is more difficult to answer, as we weigh how to define pirates, legally and otherwise, in response to the globalized conditions and changing political circumstances of the 21st century.
- Who are pirates? What makes them pirates? Does it have to do with how they look? How they behave? Where they act as pirates? With whom they associate? What motivates them?
Ask these questions as a way to introduce the subject of how to define piracy. You might want to ask participants to name examples of pirates. Sort out responses that might consider pirates as historical or contemporary figures, imaginary or real. You might probe as to whether pirates are only found in ships on the seas, whether they are outlaws, whether they act by themselves or with others, what crimes they commit, whether they use violence or force or threaten to, whether they are engaged in warfare, and, finally, what makes them do what they do (their intent).
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, National Council for the Social Studies
Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change