Runaway slaves found that joining a pirate crew was the best way to truly escape their bondage. Many either ran away from plantations or joined maroon communities of escaped slaves, eventually traveling to port cities to find a pirate crew to join.

There Was Equality Between Black and White Pirates

Pirate crews were diverse, and the men that joined were from many different places. They had different religions and ethnicities, united in their shared desire for a free, comfortable life of plunder. These crews were so ethnically diverse that it contributed to the creation of the term “motley crew,” a term still used today. Captain Morgan was famous for his “motley crew” of pirates, including former slaves and military men, French Huguenots who were  escaping persecution, and mulattos.

For the most part, pirate captains ran their crews diplomatically: the ship was a democracy, where every member of the crew voted on any matter. In the seventeenth century, about three hundred years before the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the United States, black men could vote, but only if they were pirates. They elected their captain, and they voted on a strict code of crime and punishment as well as how they treated each other. Some ships even established reimbursement for pirates who were killed or injured in their roles, the seventeenth and eighteenth-century version of workmen’s compensation.

From <https://historycollection.com/11-interesting-connections-piracy-slavery-didnt-hear-teacher/9/>

When Piracy Declined, the Slave Trade Increased Astronomically

Pirates were famous for attacking slave vessels, and it became very expensive to transport slaves across the Atlantic Ocean. In making the slave trade a dangerous and costly endeavor, piracy prevented the growth of slavery in the New World. By the end of the Golden Age of Piracy in the early eighteenth century, most of the pirates in the Atlantic and the Caribbean were either captured or dead, giving the slave trade was given the boost that it needed. Slave vessels could cross from Africa to the New World without fear of harassment or theft by pirates. The rise in New World slavery directly correlates with  the decline of piracy.

While pirates still operated in the years after the end of the Golden Age of Piracy, they had nowhere near the numbers or the influence they had before. What was the result? The slave trade was able to become a successful endeavor. There was an average increase of over 30,000-60,000 slaves transported to the New World over the course of the eighteenth century. The end of the influence of piracy helped create a world where slavery could grow and reach its height by the nineteenth century.

From <https://historycollection.com/11-interesting-connections-piracy-slavery-didnt-hear-teacher/10/>