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What was privateering?

Privateering was the way countries acquired ships and crews to fight sea battles before the development of navies. Under this arrangement, a national government would hire a privately owned ship and its crew to engage in a campaign against an enemy at sea. The practice began in the 1400s and continued into the 1800s, when it was eventually replaced by strong navies. Privateers were, essentially, gunboats for hire. They played a crucial role in the American Revolution (1775–83), the conflict in which the American colonies gained independence from Britain. The Second Continental Congress, the government formed by the American colonists, authorized the use of privateers on March 18, 1776. This act enabled the colonists to capture about six hundred British ships in the Atlantic Ocean. Americans again employed privateers in the War of 1812 (1812–15; a conflict between the United States and Great Britain)....

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