Pirates of the Florida West Coast – Presented by Robert Jacob
October 8 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm CDT
Free
Florida has a long and rich history of pirates plundering its shores, cities, and shipping lanes from Key West to Pensacola and from Miami to Jacksonville. But how much of it is true? Exaggerations of true pirate histories have been told and retold for centuries, giving rise to imaginary pirate heroes, and spawning sensational legends and myths. This course examines the truths, myths, and legends about Florida Pirates of the west coast from the buccaneer days to the pirates of José Gaspar.
• The Spanish Main, early colonization of the Caribbean and Florida
• The rise Buccaneers on Hispaniola
• Privateers of Jamaica
• Pirates of the Apalachee Bay
• William Augustus Bowles and the Seminole Pirates
• Jean Laffite comes to Florida
• Myth of José Gaspar
• The rise Buccaneers on Hispaniola
• Privateers of Jamaica
• Pirates of the Apalachee Bay
• William Augustus Bowles and the Seminole Pirates
• Jean Laffite comes to Florida
• Myth of José Gaspar
Robert Jacob is an award-winning author and lecturer with a passion for history. He has been on the History Channel series Beyond Oak Island as a pirate expert and inducted into the International Pirate Hall of Fame in 2023 for his work. While researching pirates, Robert realized that much of the historical record was contradictory. He compiled his fact-based research in his first book ‘A Pirate’s Life in the Golden Age of Piracy’. Fans inspired him to write his second book, ‘Pirates of the Florida Coast: Truths, Legends, and Myths’. His third book, ‘Blackbeard: The Truth Revealed’ (August 2024), is the definitive publication on the world’s most famous pirate.