When people think of Britain’s rise to global power, they often imagine disciplined naval fleets, shrewd trade, and industrious merchants.

What is less discussed—and rarely taught in mainstream history classes—is how much of Britain’s early wealth and influence was built on piracy, smuggling, and state-sanctioned theft on the high seas.

Far from being outlaws, many pirates were encouraged, funded, and knighted by the British Crown itself. In fact, piracy in the Atlantic Ocean played a pivotal role in laying the foundations of the British Empire.

This story is not about rogue criminals but about “privateers”—pirates with official licenses from monarchs like Queen Elizabeth I—who looted Spanish galleons, raided colonies, and redirected stolen wealth into Britain’s expanding economy.

It is a history of empire-building not just through trade and diplomacy but through plunder, violence, and manipulation of maritime law.

The Age of Empire-Building and Piracy

By the late 15th and 16th centuries, Spain and Portugal had become dominant world powers. With Christopher Columbus’ voyages and the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), much of the New World was divided between these Catholic empires. Spain extracted enormous wealth from its colonies in the Americas, shipping gold, silver, and other resources back to Europe.

Britain, late to the game, lacked both the colonies and the wealth of its rivals. The monarchy desperately sought ways to catch up. With limited naval strength and financial resources, they turned to a cheaper option—encouraging pirates and privateers to attack rival ships.

The monarch’s strategy was simple: weaken Spain and Portugal, disrupt their trade, and bring stolen riches back to Britain.

Privateers: Pirates with Royal Blessings

A pirate without a license was an outlaw. But a pirate with a royal license became a “privateer.” This letter of marque from the Crown allowed individuals to plunder enemy ships under the guise of warfare. In reality, many privateers blurred the line between legal warfare and outright piracy.

Queen Elizabeth I, facing Spain’s naval might, openly encouraged privateering. The profits from piracy were too lucrative to resist. The Crown often took a large share of the loot, and the rest went to private investors and the crews.

Some of the most famous “heroes” of English maritime history—like Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Walter Raleigh—were essentially glorified pirates. Their exploits were celebrated in England but condemned abroad.

Sir Francis Drake: The Queen’s Pirate

Drake is often remembered as a national hero, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and the admiral who helped defeat the Spanish Armada. But beneath the glory lies piracy.

• Slave Trading Beginnings: Drake started his career under his cousin Sir John Hawkins, raiding West Africa, capturing enslaved Africans, and selling them in the Americas. This brutal business was directly encouraged by the monarchy as a way to undermine Spain’s monopoly.

• Raiding Spanish Wealth: In the 1570s, Drake carried out daring attacks on Spanish ports in the Caribbean and captured treasure fleets. His most famous heist was the 1579 capture of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de la Concepción (nicknamed the “Cacafuego”), laden with gold and silver.

• Royal Rewards: Despite Spain’s protests, Queen Elizabeth knighted Drake in 1581—on his ship, with captured Spanish treasure still in its hold. This act was a clear signal: piracy in service of empire was not only acceptable but honorable.

The Atlantic as a Battleground

The Atlantic Ocean became the main theater of this shadow war. Britain’s monarchs saw piracy as a weapon against Spain’s dominance in the Americas. Privateers attacked treasure fleets sailing from the Caribbean to Spain, seized cargoes of gold, sugar, and tobacco, and raided coastal towns.

This looting had several effects:

1. Economic Gain: The wealth flowing into Britain fueled trade, funded naval expansion, and encouraged investment in overseas ventures.

2. Strategic Weakening of Rivals: Spain’s constant losses drained its economy and forced it to spend heavily on defense.

3. Colonial Expansion: Profits from piracy were reinvested into colonization efforts, including the first attempts to establish English settlements in North America and the Caribbean.

Piracy, Slavery, and the Birth of Capitalism

Britain’s state-sponsored piracy was deeply connected to the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade. Pirates like Hawkins and Drake were not just raiding Spanish ships; they were also transporting enslaved Africans.

• Hawkins made multiple voyages to West Africa, capturing or buying enslaved people, and then selling them in Spanish colonies in the Americas—illegally, but with Elizabeth I’s full knowledge and partial funding.

• Profits from this early slave trade were enormous, and they laid the foundation for Britain’s later dominance in the triangular trade between Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

Piracy and slavery together helped Britain accumulate the capital needed for its commercial expansion. In this sense, piracy was not just a side-show of empire—it was central to the birth of British capitalism.

The Shift from Pirates to Empire

By the early 17th century, piracy was becoming less useful to Britain’s monarchs. The country was establishing its own colonies in North America and the Caribbean and needed stability for long-term trade.

But the culture of piracy had already done its work:

• Britain had weakened Spain and Portugal.

• Wealth from looting had funded new ships, companies, and colonies.

• The monarchy had established its reputation as a maritime power.

As the British Empire grew, the monarchy gradually cracked down on uncontrolled piracy. The same pirates once celebrated as heroes were now hunted if they attacked British interests. The Royal Navy, once reliant on privateers, became the protector of British trade routes.

The Legacy: Empire Built on Plunder

What textbooks rarely emphasize is how much of Britain’s “greatness” was financed by theft and piracy. Without the loot brought back by privateers, Britain may not have had the resources to fund its navy, expand its colonies, or dominate global trade.

Even cultural legacies carry this history:

• The romanticized image of pirates in literature and film often erases their brutality and their state connections.

• National heroes like Drake and Hawkins are still celebrated in Britain, though their wealth came from enslavement and theft.

• The monarchy’s role in encouraging piracy is often glossed over, with the narrative focusing instead on exploration and naval heroism.

Before and Now: Continuities of Exploitation

• Before: Britain’s monarchy openly used pirates to enrich the kingdom, exploiting lawlessness on the seas.

• Now: While piracy is condemned today, the underlying principle—using legal loopholes and power to exploit others—remains. Modern equivalents can be seen in multinational corporations, financial hubs, and political interventions where wealth is extracted at others’ expense.

Britain’s rise to global power was not simply the result of industrious merchants, disciplined sailors, or naval superiority. It was fueled by piracy—sanctioned, encouraged, and rewarded by the monarchy. Pirates were not outlaws but agents of empire, helping Britain steal its way into global dominance.

What they don’t teach you is that the British Empire’s foundations were built not just on trade but on theft, violence, and exploitation on the high seas. To understand the true history of empire, we must acknowledge piracy not as a romantic adventure but as state-sponsored looting that enriched Britain and devastated others.