The buccaneer settlement on Tortuga had been…
1670 CE
The buccaneer settlement on Tortuga had been officially established in 1659 under the commission of King Louis XIV.
From their base on Tortuga, the French buccaneers have continue to extend control over northwestern Hispaniola.
Among the buccaneers is Bertrand d'Ogeron, who is to play a big part in the settlement of Saint-Domingue.
He has encouraged the planting of tobacco, which turns a population of buccaneers and freebooters, who had not acquiesced to royal authority until 1660, into a sedentary population.
D'Orgeron has also attracted many colonists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, including Jean Roy, Jean Hebert and his family, and Guillaume Barre and his family, who had been driven out by the land pressure which has been generated by the extension of the sugar plantations in those colonies.
By the year 1670, as the buccaneer era declines, many of the pirates, seeking a new source of trade, have turned to log cutting and trading wood from the island.
At this time, however, the pirate Henry Morgan has begun to promote himself and invite the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him.
They are hired by the French as a striking force that will allow France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region.
Consequently, the pirates are never really controlled, and keep Tortuga as a neutral hideout for pirate booty.