Piracy

Piracy is the term given to robbery at sea, or sometimes on shore, by an agent without commission from a sovereign nation. Those who commit the act of piracy—and by extension, robbery, pillaging, or plundering at sea—are known as pirates.
Though they were chased like animals by the navies of the nations, pirates were far away from being just a bunch of lawless thugs. Most of them lived by the rules written in the Pirata Codex, though some of them saw the Code more as guidelines than actual rules.
Many pirate crews had some type of ship's articles that all members of the crew had to sign. In many of these articles, divisions of power were discussed. However, it is difficult to say how effective these divisions of power were. Many pirate ships were ran by a captain who was the ultimate power on board the ship. Pirate captains like Blackbeard ruled their ships with an iron fist, and only a few dared to challenge their rule.
In other cases, a pirate captain was voted on by the crew and his authority was only absolute in the heat of battle or when giving chase. At other times, the captain's wishes could be dismissed by a simple majority vote of the crew. Pirates tended to like their captains to be not too aggressive and not too meek: a good captain had to know when a potential victim was too strong for them, without letting weaker quarry get away.
Well-run and organized pirate ships were more successful, and ships that lacked discipline and leadership generally didn't last very long. The duty of the pirate captain was to secure plunder for his crew. However, even the successful pirate captains weren't secure in their positions.
Pirate crews included men of all nations and races of the world. Unlike the societies of the larger world, women were equal to men among pirates.
Most pirates despised slavery. Many pirates allow former slaves to serve on their crews, while some are no better than the common slaver.