It depends on how much you loved your employer.

The pirates had no quarrel with their fellow sailors as long as they didn't stand between them and whatever goods or treasure your ship may be carrying. There were many instances of crews joining on with the pirates, as wages were actually much more fair.

Typically the crewmen on pirate ships were each entitled to 1 share to the captain's 2. This was in stark contrast to their wages on a private vessel, where the captain could make 80 - 500x or more what a crewman made.

Sources include The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard.

There's a lot of BAD info running around this thread and I'll try to clear a lot of it up.

• Sailors didn't just randomly mutiny and join pirates willy nilly. Most sailors were on the job because they needed a paycheck. During the period of the Golden Age of Piracy, many of the sailors that came out of Europe were there because there was a glut of labor in the countryside, and they migrated to the coastal cities to look for work. They often took the jobs as you did not really need a large amount of skill to start off with scrubbing decks and pulling ropes. Many of these men did have wives and families they were trying to support.

• Impressment WAS NOT AS COMMON AS YOU THINK IT WAS DURING THE GOLDEN AGE! The Golden Age largely existed because there was a glut of experienced sailors. After The War of Spanish Sucession, the European navies downsized and released a large number of sailors, and privateering contracts dried up, leaving many combat experienced sailors out of work. Merchant crews did not have to staff as heavily as a naval vessel, so there were a lot of free sailors out there. Only the Navy could impress people, and during the Golden Age, didn't really need to. Yes, you could be "Shanghai'd" but again, this was EXTREMELY RARE

• Yes, merchant ships DID HAVE CANNON! They weren't the huge hulking brass beasts you see in movies. These were smaller 8 pounders, swivel guns, etc., and a ship had maybe two to four at the most. Ships did want to defend themselves. Besides, where do you think pirates got their cannons from? Pirates would tuck tail and run at the first sight of a naval vessel as they would fight back, and pirates rarely if ever wanted a slugging match with the navy. Firstly, there's no profit. Secondly, if you lose you get hung. Thirdly, if you win, your ship is battered, your crew is dead, and you're vulnerable to other pirates and other naval vessels. Pirates got their cannons from merchant vessels.

• While abuse was common, it wasn't a common everyday event. No, the beatings did not cease because morale never improved. In fact, there are recorded cases of where ships captains and officers were criminally charged for their excessive cruelty. The largest reason Captain Kidd turned from pirate hunter to pirate (if he ever really did), was because he killed a man by beating him to death and was charged with murder! You weren't flogged as if you were on a Roman War Galley ala "Ben-hur"

• People didn't jump at the chance to become pirates like you would think. It was more common for people to want to avoid anything to do with them. Piracy came with a pretty much guaranteed death sentence. If you were caught, you were hung, you could easily die of your wounds as doctors were scarce, the best you could hope for as a home was a tent made from old sails on some tropical island. In fact, there are more recorded incidents of people being forced into piracy than people jumping with joy at the idea of becoming a pirate. Pirates would often impress needed skilled people such as carpenters, navigators, doctors, etc. Some of these men did eventually willing become pirates, but more often begged to be let go at the first chance they got.

• No, pirates didn't kill sea captains just for spite. There are several recorded incidents where the crews of merchant vessels vouched for their captains honesty and fairness. Pirates were NOT complete barbarians. They were more prone to torture if resisted, but killing someone met no financial gain, and could possibly increase future resistance from targets because no one wants to be killed. Killing officers and the captain was rare. Torture common, but only when truly necessary.

• more comming up....

Pirate ships rarely attacked other ships as soon as they saw them. The standard behavior was to trail a possible target, and try to see if it was worth it. They went so far as to check the taverns in the towns the target ships were berthed in. These people were obviously very careful with how they went about their business.

A major part of the pirates strength was surprise. However, if you caught one trailing you, you did your best to avoid a fight. You could show all your weapons (different types of ships had different types and amounts of guns), you could try to make it seem like what you had on your ship wasn't worth the effort (the pirates did their research though, so this wasn't the best of ideas.) You could also try to outrun them.

I got all this from http://www.cindyvallar.com/tactics.html, which does an amazing job of detailing the answers to your questions.

EDIT: berthed* you guys are so sarcastic.

Also, how do we know they're pirates (before they board us and demand our booty, that is)?

Are you on a merchant ship or a war ship?

It depends on what nationality you are. Most piracy in the 17th century was a nationalist phenomenon. France and England supported privateers to project power into the Caribbean and harass their weakening Spanish enemies.

The golden age of piracy as we think of it, with lots of nihilistic free-wheeling pirates attacking whomever under the flag of the Jolly Roger, was actually a pretty limited phenomenon. It lasted about a decade between 1716-1726 and included only a few thousand pirates. In fact, all the pirates in this period descended from just two ships that mutinied against harsh working conditions.

The best article I have ever read on the matter is "Under the Banner of King Death" by Marcus Reddiker. It's a must read if you really want to understand this topic.

I would like to ask a follow up question regarding the pirate captains. How would they become captain and what was their background? Is there any records of Naval or merchant officers becoming pirates? I would have thought the knowledge these officers possessed would be quiet valuable to pirates.

William Dampier seemed more worried about coming into contact with a Spanish ship then any other type of ship when he was working legally in the Caribbean. Eventually though, he fell in with pirates and did some amazing things. I just had to throw this into this thread.

Pirate of Exquisite Mind by Diana and Michael Preston is an awesome book.

http://www.amazon.com/Pirate-Exquisite-Mind-Naturalist-Buccaneer/dp/0802714250