Corsair: (n) a pirate, especially formerly of the Barbary Coast

When they attack our ships, they’re pirates. When we hire them to attack the ships of our enemy, they’re buccaneers, or corsairs.

I just had to giggle when I saw this today.

There were so many pirates who aided the early American league of states in the pursuit of freedom, that I am not sure we would have been nearly so successful without them.

The pirates were a rowdy, bawdy group, willing to fight anyone as long as they could rebel against the establishment and the ships they were targeting had plenty of bounty.

In our American history books are quite a few pirates who sided with us against the British, and therefore, we considered them to be swashbucklers instead of thieves and murderers.

For history is written by those who survive the wars, and the pirates were very happy to help our young country, although I’m sure they had no sense of our destiny, but instead, were curious about what was being hidden on British ships.

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