Jean Lafitte and his role in Galveston - Galveston Unscripted: Free Audio Tour of Galveston, TX

View our free interactive map of historic Galveston, Texas: www.galvestonunscripted.com/
Interested in information covered in this episode? Dive deeper into the links below! :
Jean Lafitte in Galveston: www.galvestonhistorycenter.or....
Jean Lafitte: www.tshaonline.org/handbook/e...
Jean Lafitte-Slave Trade:scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/vi...
A Podcast Deep Dive on Jean Lafitte's Life before Galveston:
Jean Lafitte: Kingdom of Barataria Part 1 and Part 2:
open.spotify.com/episode/2zCo...
Transcript:
Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He eventually ended up using Galveston Island as his smuggling outpost after he was driven out of Louisiana. Infamous in American history, Lafitte is known as a smuggler, pirate, gun for hire, gentleman, and slave trader. He fought against the U.S. and then hired by the U.S. Government to fight against the British in the war of 1812. Although, Jean Lafitte’s origin, demise and actions are highly contested, his privateering career is well documented. The only difference between a pirate and a privateer, is that a government hires privateers for their plundering of the hiring governments enemies. It has been said that Lafitte would work for anyone who would pay him for his services on the open water. You may be asking, why and how does Jean Lafitte end up on Galveston Island!? The US government kicks Jean Lafitte out of southern Louisiana, around the same time, he is hired by the Spanish to spy on Mexico. His first mission between 1815 and 1816 was to check on a rebel outpost causing trouble for the Spanish on Galveston Island. He arrived on Galveston Island expecting to spy on rebels against the Spanish. Once he arrived, he quickly realized the naval and shipping benefits of an island such as Galveston. Lafitte had many followers who willingly accompanied him to Galveston, he set up a shipping and smuggling outpost which expanded into a colony over over 1000 by 1820. At first, the pirate colony and Karankawa traded and socially mingled, but tensions grew as the two groups tried to cohabitate the same island. After one of the many disagreements, His men battled the Karankawa in a battle known as the battle of the three trees. This show of force effectively drove the karankawa off the island for good. At the time many who came in direct contact with Lafitte noted that he was a New Orleans gentleman who could smuggle any cargo. One type of shipment became his specialty on Galveston that specialty slaves. Although slavery was l

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