Types of Pirates: Buccaneer, Corsair and Privateer

Imagine witnessing the trial of a pirate who was trying to prove to the Admiralty Court that he was a privateer. There were many different types of pirates. Being one and not another "could mean the difference between life and death" (Konstam 10). There were three main types of pirates: buccaneers, corsairs, and privateers.
First, buccaneers, from the French word boucanier, were pirates who were stationed in the Caribbean. They consisted mostly of runaways, fugitives, and seamen who deserted their crew. These pirates often hunted wild boar and oxen on the islands of Haiti, Hispaniola, and Dominican Republic. …