Except for a few rich men looking for adventure, pirates generally came from the lowest social classes. They were, as one official put it, "desperate rogues who could have little hope in life on shore." These men owed allegiance to no one and were not bound to land by home and family.

In fact, most pirate ships would not take married men. The dangerous life of a sea robber was no place for a man longing for his wife and children. Proof of this is shown in a survey of eighteenth-century pirate trial statistics. Only 23 of the 521 sea robbers on trial were known to be married. On the other hand, a few pirates were married to several women at once, each of whom lived in a different port.

Pirates had many life experiences in common. This gave them a base of unity...