During our circumnavigation, Christi used to write histories for all the countries we visited. Given that legacy, we felt it was appropriate to publish Keith’s school assignment on Henry Morgan, as Morgan altered the course of history for both Panama and Jamaica.

Sir Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer who fought for the English against the Spanish during the 1660s and 1670s. He is remembered as one of the greatest privateers in the world, along with being one of the worst enemies to the Spanish since Sir Francis Drake. 

Nobody knows Morgan’s exact date of birth, but people theorize that he was born around 1635 in Monmouth County, Wales. He had two uncles who were both prominent in the English military. Morgan decided early in his life to follow his uncles’ footsteps. He served under General Venables and Admiral Penn in 1654 when they took Jamaica from the Spanish. 

After leaving the official military, Morgan took on the life of a privateer, who were mercenaries who were allowed to attack an/or raid enemies in exchange for the majority of the loot they took. Morgan was one of many privateers who had a “license” to raid the Spanish, given that England and Spain were at war. 

Morgan was a fearless leader and a clever tactician. He became the leader of the Brethren of the Coast, a group of privateers. 

In 1667, Morgan started making an attack plan on the rich town of Portobello, Panama. By July of 1668, Morgan took Portobello, easily defeating the town’s meager defenses. Morgan and his men looted the town, then demanded 100,000 pesos in exchange for not burning the town down. After receiving his bounty, he left, and grew even more famous. 

In October of 1668, Morgan decided to raid Maracaibo Lake, Venezuela .He sent out word that he was organizing another raid, and Morgan waited in the Caribbean sea at Isla Vaca while hundreds of corsairs and buccaneers rallied to his side. 

On March 9, 1669, he and his men attacked La Barra fort, the main defense of Lake Maracaibo. They easily overran its defenses, then proceeded to ransack the towns of Maracaibo and Gibraltar. However, they spent too long in the lake, and three Spanish warships blocked them off. Even worse, the Spanish had rearmed La Barra fort. 

Through a clever mix of tactics, manipulation and sheer tenacity, he managed to capture two of the Spanish ships and sunk the last. He then tricked the fort into thinking that he was on land, and he managed to sail out of the lake by the cover of night. 

In 1671, Morgan was ready to launch his greatest assault on the Spanish yet. He again gathered an army of pirates, and they decided to attack Panama City. In order to raid Panama City, he and his 1000 men captured and razed the fort of San Lorenzo, making it possible for them to hike overland to attack Panama City. 

On January 28, 1671, the privateers and the defenders met in battle on the plains outside Panama City. The privateers easily defeated the defenders, and were free to raid Panama City. They looted the city, then escaped before Spanish reinforcements could arrive. Even though the raid was a success, they didn’t get as much loot as they expected due to the Spanish shipping out most of the valuables in the city before the attack. 

However, there was still more to the story. Spain and England had signed a peace treaty just before the sacking of Panama City, and by raiding the city he violated the treaty. Nobody knows if he knew about the contract, but either way, the Spanish were furious. 

Sir Thomas Modyford, the governor of Jamaica and the man who let Morgan attack Panama, was relived of his station and sent back to England, where a light punishment followed. Morgan returned to England as a celebrity, and he stayed in London for a few years. 

Morgan was knighted, then sent back to Jamaica to become the Lieutenant Governor. He lived the rest of his life drinking with his men, running estates, and remembering his glory days. He helped build Jamaica’s defenses and administered the government if the governor was absent. He died on August 25, 1688. 

Henry Morgan’s legacy is one of adventure, war and of the ocean. Though his actions caused the deaths of hundreds of innocents, the English loved him for his exciting adventures. Diplomats loathed Morgan for violating treaties, but the fear of the English that he instilled in the Spanish was one of the main reasons why the Spanish were willing to negotiate in the first place. 

In this day and age, Morgan is revered as being one of the greatest pirates ever. However, he was not one, and would be offended if he was called one. There are many places in Jamaica still named after him, and there are countless small businesses near places he went to often that are named after him.