Pirates have long captivated our imaginations, and most of the pirates from fiction were inspired by one group, the pirates of the Flying Gang. Following the end of War of Spanish Succession, a European conflict surrounding the Spanish throne, many British privateers were either out of employment or reluctant to return to mercantile sailing. These privateers turned to piracy, and a group of them gathered on the island of New Providence in the Bahamas. Once an English colony, it was evacuated after being attacked by a French and Spanish fleet. The city of Nassau on New Providence was taken over by pirates who formed the Flying Gang. Notable pirates in this gang were Benjamin Hornigold, "Calico" Jack Rackam and the female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Samuel Bellamy "the Gentleman Pirate", Charles Vane, and the most famous pirate of all, Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard.

       The pirates on Nassau created a self-declared "Pirate Republic" using a code of conduct to create their own society. Under this code,  ship captains were voted democratically and shared loot equally with the crew. Many of the pirates were ex-sailors who had fled from harsh treatment on the naval and merchant ships, and Africans and Irishmen (who at this time could be treated as poorly as slaves across the world) could be equal crew members. Under this system, the pirates of Nassau commanded a small fleet that could take on formidable British frigates

       This pirate society lasted from 1706 through 1718, when the British sent Woodes Rogers specifically to break it up. Rogers offered pirates a pardon on the condition of ceasing all criminal activity, or hanged the ones who refused. Many pirates did escape however, and continued raiding elsewhere in the Caribbean.