The High Courts of England define piracy as "acts of robbery and violence upon the sea, which if committed on land, would be a felony. Pirates hold no commission or delegated authority from any sovereign or state empowering them to attack others." In this paper I will examine the acts of William Kidd according to record and review them with respects to the definition in attempts to identify them as piratical activity.
First off, let us examine a statement attributed William Kidd. In his book Under the Black Flag, David Cordingly attributes some quotes to Captain Kidd, the first of which is an account were he declares to his men: "Come boys, I will make money enough out of the fleet. " in reference to the ship Sceptre of a pilgrimage fleet to Mecca. …
