Season 27, Day 5 - "Mr. Madison's Year"
It's Pirate week, and today's quiz is inspired by Jean Lafitte.
Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte was a pirate who fought heroically in the War of 1812 (a.k.a. “Mr. Madison’s War”). In the early 1800s, Lafitte and his brother Pierre established a blacksmith shop in New Orleans as a cover for smuggling goods and slaves. With his base in Barataria Bay and a privateer’s commission from the republic of Cartagena, Lafitte and his men plundered Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico. During the War of 1812, the British offered Lafitte $30,000 and a captaincy in the Royal Navy in exchange for his allegiance. Lafitte pretended to accept the offer, but instead warned Louisiana officials of the impending danger to New Orleans. Unfortunately for Lafitte, the governor of Louisiana had grown tired of his illegal activities (when he put a $500 bounty on Lafitte’s head, Lafitte responded by offering a $1,500 bounty for the governor). Lafitte was eventually convicted of piracy and his base was destroyed by the U.S. Navy. Still insisting his loyalty to the United States, Lafitte told General Andrew Jackson that he would help with the defense of New Orleans if he and his men could all get full pardons. After contributing to the U.S. rout of the British in the January 1815 Battle of New Orleans, Lafitte and his men were pardoned by President Madison. Soon after, Lafitte returned to pirate life on the site of the future city of Galveston, briefly serving as governor. But when some of his men attacked a U.S. merchant ship, Lafitte was forced to abandon the colony, sailing away with his men on his flagship, The Pride (his ultimate fate is unknown). According to legend, Lafitte’s ghost is said to sail Galveston Bay, searching for his lost love who fell overboard. Lafitte was played by Yul Brynner in The Buccaneer. A Louisiana national park and a historic Bourbon Street bar (Jean Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House) are named for Lafitte. Some descendants of Lafitte and his crew still live on Louisiana’s Grand Isle. Lord Byron’s poem “The Corsair” may have been loosely based on the life of Jean Lafitte.