letters of marque
Licensed piracy document
Letters of marque were government licenses authorizing private ship owners to attack and capture enemy vessels during wartime.
The practice, called privateering, essentially legalized piracy against hostile nations.
A ship operating under letters of marque could seize enemy cargo and keep a share of the profits.
The practice was abolished by most nations in the mid-19th century but remains referenced in discussions of maritime law and constitutional history—the U.S.
Constitution explicitly grants Congress power to issue them.
Payment for services rendered
- authorizationFormal permission granted
- admiraltyLaw of the seas
- prize courtCourt adjudicating captured vessels
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
reprisal · seizure · capture · contraband · embargo · sovereign · treaty · belligerent
Authorized civilian warship
- corsairPirate or pirate ship
- raiderOne who attacks suddenly
- prize moneyAward given to winners
- merchantmanCommercial sailing vessel
capture · spoils · venture · outfitting · investor · shareholders · auction · profit
Medium-sized naval warship
- sloopOne-masted fore-and-aft rigger
- brigShipboard detention quarters
- schoonerMulti-masted sailing craft
- armamentCollective military weapons
broadside · cannon · crew · captain · gunner · convoy · blockade · sea battle
Early American-British military conflict
- Napoleonic WarsBonaparte's military campaigns
- Sir Francis DrakeTudor sea captain, explorer
- Elizabeth IFinal Tudor sovereign
- Dutch RepublicReformed confederation, 1581-1795
Caribbean · Royal Navy · colonial · Age of Sail · Congress · Constitution · abolished · mercantile
commission
Payment for services rendered
- authorizationFormal permission granted
- admiraltyLaw of the seas
- prize courtCourt adjudicating captured vessels
jurisdiction · reprisal · seizure · capture · contraband · embargo · sovereign · treaty · belligerent · condemnation
privateer
Authorized civilian warship
- corsairPirate or pirate ship
- raiderOne who attacks suddenly
- prize moneyAward given to winners
merchantman · capture · spoils · venture · outfitting · investor · shareholders · auction · profit · risk
frigate
Medium-sized naval warship
- sloopOne-masted fore-and-aft rigger
- brigShipboard detention quarters
- schoonerMulti-masted sailing craft
armament · broadside · cannon · crew · captain · gunner · convoy · blockade · sea battle · chase
War of 1812
Early American-British military conflict
- Napoleonic WarsBonaparte's military campaigns
- Sir Francis DrakeTudor sea captain, explorer
- Elizabeth IFinal Tudor sovereign
Dutch Republic · Caribbean · Royal Navy · colonial · Age of Sail · Congress · Constitution · abolished · mercantile
- Piratespirate, buccaneer, corsair, corsairs, privateers
- Caribbean piratespirates, buccaneers, Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, privateers
- naval historybattleships, naval battles, naval history, admiral, battleship
- naval warfarenaval battles, naval battle, battleship, destroyer, sea battles
- Congress powersspending power, declare war, impeachment, lawmaking, appropriations
- piracysoftware piracy, pirates, torrents, book piracy, buccaneers
letters of marquemilitary enlistment
Joining armed forces voluntarily
market, letter, marker, marked, remark, marketing, letter of marque, marketer, marketable