Private maritime predation emerged from three separate sources during the Spanish American Wars of Independence. Firstly, it was authorised by Spanish American revolutionaries. Recognising the need to challenge Spanish sea power, yet confronted by an acute shortage of naval resources, revolutionary leaders issued licences for privateering. Secondly, private maritime predation was authorised by the Spanish government. It was becoming quickly apparent that the Spanish navy was incapable of defending Spanish trade against insurgent privateers, so Spain also issued licences for privateerng. Thirdly, individuals acting without the authority of any government established bases along the coast of Cuba in the early 1820s from whence they launched amphibious raids on passing merchant traffic. These three types of private maritime predation — insurgent privateering, Spanish privateering and Cuban-based piracy — have been confused and misrepresented in the handful of analyses produced on early nineteenth century prize-taking. This has given rise to the impression that the period 1810 to 1830 was marked by ‘maritime mayhem’. The following chapter disentangles this so-called maritime mayhem and clarifies the character and scale of privateering and piracy during the Spanish American Wars of Independence.

Insurgent Privateering

The first private maritime predators to put to sea during the revolutionary era became known collectively as los corsarios insurgentes (the insurgent privateers). They were, however, a cosmopolitan group authorised by independent governments across Central and South America. The first insurgent privateers were commissioned in the former Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1813 and were known successively as ‘Cartagenean’, ‘Venezuelan’ and ‘Colombian’ privateers in accordance with political developments in the region. They were a persistent thorn in the side of Spanish seaborne trade throughout the Wars of Independence and only vacated Atlantic waters when Simón Bolívar revoked Colombian privateering licences in 1829. A second hive of predatory activity was located in the Río de la Plata, where the government of Buenos Aires authorised privateering between 1815 and 1821.