Brethren of the Coast

[4] They would supply wares to visiting ships in exchange for guns and ammunition,[2] an activity which led to the Spanish driving them out.

[5] Despite their origins their ranks swelled as they were joined by other adventurers of various nationalities, including Spaniards, African sailors, as well as escaped slaves and outlaws of various sovereigns.

[9] A few, unable to compete effectively with slave labor, enamored of easy riches, or out of angst continued to maintain the Brethren of the Coasts as a purely criminal organization which preyed upon all civilian maritime shipping without the legal endorsement of any government.

This second era of the Brethren began the so-called Golden Age of Piracy and brigandage which affected the Caribbean until socioeconomic and military changes of the late 17th and early 18th century finally caused its decline.

In keeping with their Protestant and mostly common-law heritage, the Brethren were governed by codes of conduct that favored legislative decision-making, hierarchical command authority, individual rights, and equitable division of revenues.