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A privateer was a private Ship (or its captain) authorized by a country's government to attack and seize cargo from another country's ships. Overview Prior to the development of International Law among Europe an nations, there was no legal recourse for minor grievances. Privateering was a form of Covert Operation used to resolve these matters without open War fare. The government of a country provided a Letter Of Marque And Reprisal to a shipowner that allowed him to arm his ship and attack other ships sailing under a particular flag. In return he received a share of the seized cargo, while the rest went to the government as payment for the grievance. To the target country, a privateer looked very much like a Pirate , and indeed this was the intention. The only difference was that pirates were considered Outlaw s by all nations, while privateers had Immunity from the country that commissioned them, and were considered as Prisoners Of War if caught by other countries. Privateers were sometimes known as "gentleman pirates". Sometimes privateers would even be commissioned to hunt down other pirates, while some of the time, privateers would commit acts of piracy without being commissioned to do so if it fit the privateer's agenda. European powers renounced privateering in the 1856 Declaration Of Paris . Other countries (including the United States ) also renounced it under the Hague Conventions ( 1899 / 1907 ). Privateers in American history The United States Constitution authorized the U.S. Congress to grant Letters Of Marque And Reprisal , as did the Confederate Constitution . The Confederates used privateers during the American Civil War . Britain also used them against the U.S. after the American Revolutionary War . Famous privateers
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