Should the United States Authorize Privateers | The Historical Case of Privateering

[searcher]

Should the United States Authorize Privateers | The Historical Case of Privateering​

Jan 22, 2026 What's Going on With Shipping - Maritime Industry Today
In this episode, Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — discusses Senator Mike Lee's and Congressman's Tim Burchett Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025.
#supplychain #privateer #shipping


17:28

- Patriots of the Caribbean: Lee Bill Authorizes American Privateers to Seize Cartel Assets with President’s Approval https://www.lee.senate.gov/2025/12/pa...
- H.R.1238 - Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
- S.3567 - Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
- Report to Congress on Letters of Marque and Reprisal https://news.usni.org/2025/02/27/repo...
- U.S. Forces Seize Sanctioned Tanker ‘Sagitta’ in Caribbean, Marking Seventh Vessel Captured https://gcaptain.com/u-s-forces-seize...
- Could Ukraine Recruit Privateers? https://gcaptain.com/ukraine-privateers/
- Small Boats and Daring Men: Maritime Raiding, Irregular Warfare, and the Early American Navy (Volume 66) / small-boats-and-daring-men
- Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution / rebels-at-sea

 

[Casey Jones]

Short answer: NO.

This has been done before - everything from the Roman Publicans, who took a loose percentage of their "receipts," to the Haitian Tonton Macoutes - who are not paid; they're freebooters. The whole of Haiti is their oyster. Even if that oyster's dead fifty years, they can have what they can glean. And they have to kill their own dinner - often literally.

Plenty of activities associated with government can/should be privatized. A military force or navy, is not one of them.

 

[Fatrat]

Trump seems to be stealing the money himself, no point sharing. Seven oil shipped seized and where did the money go?

 

[Bottom Feeder]

Should the United States Authorize Privateers ?​

Oh hell yeah! Let's bring back the Golden Age of Piracy!!
Royal Museums Greenwich

In the Western world, the period from the 1680s to the 1720s has come to be known as the ‘golden age’ of piracy. This was a time of heightened pirate activity, when thousands of ships in the Atlantic and beyond became the prey of roving bands of sea-robbers.

​

 

[nickndfl]

Avast ye mateys! I am organizing a crew of hard hearted buccaneers to take the wealth from the sailing seas and send anybody who is against me down to Davey Jones' locker. Arrrrrgh!

 

[Fatrat]

Starting on Wall St.....

 

[Someone_else]

Starting on Wall St.....

I remember one Monty Python movie starting out with an attack on a Wall Street building... Was it "Time Bandits?"