After Some Two Hundred Years of Tolerating and Even Supporting

Multiple Choice

After some two hundred years of tolerating and even supporting piracy, why did the English and Dutch governments suddenly try to stamp it out around 1700?

A) It became increasingly hard to retain maritime personnel for the unpleasant work on slave ships when sailors had the option of a more lucrative life as pirates.
B) Protestant governments in particular began to look upon their association with such "criminal elements" as antithetical to cherished Christian values.
C) The presence of an increasing number of women travelers gave rise to growing clamor for their protection from possible mistreatment by pirates.
D) English, Dutch, and French bands of sailors began to form associations of pirates, especially in the Caribbean, that preyed indiscriminately on shipping lines of every national origin.