Flibustier comes from the Dutch vrijbuiters (literally “free booty maker”), which gave rise to the French flibustier and the English freebooter. This word designates the pirates raging in the Caribbean Sea at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.
Pirate crews were democratic. The captain was elected by the crew and the latter could vote for his replacement. The captain had to be a leader and a fighter:in an attack, everyone expects him to fight alongside his men and not to give orders from a distance. Gains were divided equally, and if officers received a higher number of shares, it was because they took more risks or had special skills. Crews often sailed without pay, their catches accumulating over months before being distributed. They had, for some time, developed a system of social security, guaranteeing compensation in silver, gold or slaves for injuries received during battle. Pirates could, however, be fair to slaves and sometimes freed them when they captured a slave ship. A non-negligible part of the pirate crews was made up of freed slaves, on the run or more or less enlisted by force. Indeed, an undemocratic aspect of their society is the fact that pirates sometimes forced specialists like carpenters to sail with them and released them after some time, simply because no volunteers were available.
The filibusters are adventurers who, in the 16th and 17th centuries, scoured the coasts and devastated the Spanish possessions in America. The buccaneers number among their number English, Dutch, and French Huguenots. They are distinguished from pirates by the fact that they put themselves at the service of the states by accepting to fight under letter of marque and also by their comparatively restricted use of the boat. They are essentially earthlings, for whom the boat is a means of transport rather than a tool of combat. Their most spectacular actions bring together armies of over a thousand men to attack and ransom Spanish cities.
The heyday of buccaneering was before the 1680s when France and England decided to disperse them. Some move to the coast of Africa, others go to the South Sea where they settle in the Galapagos and in the Juan Fernandez archipelago.
In 1697, Ducasse, French governor of Saint Domingue, brought together almost a thousand buccaneers for De Pointis' operation against Cartagena in what is now Colombia. A misunderstanding over the division of spoils leads to the freebooters retaking the city alone. This is their last big action.
Among the most famous were:
* the Welshman Henry Morgan, who took Panama in 1670 and was appointed governor of Jamaica;
* Pierre Legrand, of Dieppe, who with a barque manned by 28 men captured the Spanish flagship;
* Michel de Grandmont also known as the Chevalier de Grammont who seized Maracaibo in 1678, Puerto Cabello in 1680, Vera-Cruz in 1683 and finally Campeche in 1685. These exploits earned him the appointment of lieutenant of the southern part of the island of Santo Domingo by the King of France. However, he never held this position because he made a last trip to sea before the arrival of his commission and disappeared during this last mission in April 1685.
The main source for knowing the exploits of the buccaneers is the book by Alexandre-Olivier Exquemelin (or Oexmelin) whose recent edition annotated by Patrick Villiers gives the original text and variants. Certain episodes and characters are generally considered today as questionable if not invented from scratch. This is particularly the case for the following:
* Nau l'Olonnais and Michel le Basque who took Maracaibo;
* Monbars the Exterminator who in 1683 seized Vera-Cruz;
It is also the name given to American adventurers, who, like William Walker, tried to play a political role in Mexico and Central America in the 19th century, most often to the detriment of the governments in place.
Filibusters are today frequently associated with libertarian or anti-globalization movements that claim a communion of ideals. It is this connection between anarchy and piracy that Mikhaïl W. Ramseier particularly tried to analyze in his book La Voile noire.