The Employer’s Legal Advisor

Introduction

In the years following the discovery of the New World, many European nations and eventually the United States issued “letters of marque” to private citizens. A letter of marque authorized a ship’s owner to arm his vessel and prey upon the commerce of a warring nation, keeping whatever booty he “liberated” at cannon point for his own profit (minus a share for his government, of course). These vessels and their crews were known as privateers or corsairs, and without a letter of marque, the commander and crew of such a ship would have been nothing less than pirates. Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to grant “letters of marque and reprisal.” In fact, Congress did issue such letters against the Barbary ...