Did Black pirates and women really sail during the Golden Age of Piracy? Yes—but the real history is more complicated than a simple representation debate. Black sailors worked in maritime worlds shaped by slavery, colonial trade, naval warfare, and piracy, while women such as Anne Bonny and Mary Read became among the best-known names in pirate lore. The new MGM+ adaptation of Treasure Island brings those histories into conversation with Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, especially through David Oyelowo’s Long John Silver and the expanded role of Bess Hawkins.
The important distinction is between what records support, what later writers embellished, and what a modern drama invents. The reboot can use historical context to make its characters richer without every plot point being a literal reconstruction of the 18th century.
Quick answer: What is historically true about Black pirates and female buccaneers?
Black people were part of the Atlantic maritime world, including pirate crews, merchant vessels, naval service, and privateering. Some had been enslaved; others were free, and their circumstances varied widely. Women also participated in maritime crime and conflict, with Anne Bonny and Mary Read among the most famous documented cases. But surviving records are incomplete, and the popular image of pirates comes partly from sensational accounts written after the events. There is no reliable basis for treating a single percentage of all pirates as a settled historical fact.
Why David Oyelowo’s Long John Silver has a real historical conversation behind him
In the MGM+ and Paramount+ reimagining, David Oyelowo plays Long John Silver, the charismatic and dangerous sailor at the center of the treasure hunt. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Oyelowo described the production’s interest in the presence of Black people in pirate history and in the racial and political realities of the period. That is a useful starting point—but a cast member’s estimate about how many pirates were Black should be treated as a quoted perspective, not a settled statistic.
The broader historical context is clear: the Caribbean and Atlantic shipping economies were built around imperial rivalry, plantation slavery, forced migration, and commercial trade. Ships brought together people from different backgrounds under radically unequal conditions. Some Black sailors worked under coercion; some escaped enslavement; some served in naval or privateering contexts; and some joined pirate crews. The surviving evidence does not allow historians to reduce those different lives to one typical experience.
That complexity gives the reboot an opportunity. Silver can be a compelling fictional character whose identity affects how he moves through the world, while the show remains honest about the gap between an individual drama and a complete account of pirate history.
Were Black pirates common during the Golden Age of Piracy?
Black sailors were present in the maritime world that produced piracy, but “common” is difficult to quantify. Pirate crews were not consistently documented in a way that would support a dependable census across the Caribbean and Atlantic. Records may identify a person by name, status, or a racial label used by the recorder, and many records omit details entirely. The word “pirate” itself can also blur differences between people who attacked ships illegally, privateers operating under a government commission, and sailors caught up in changing wartime allegiances.
Enslavement is central to this history. Ships and ports were part of the slave-trading economy, and some people turned to piracy after escaping coercive conditions. Others were captured, sold, or forced to work. It would be misleading to portray all Black sailors who appeared in pirate records as free adventurers choosing the same path for the same reasons. Their options and risks were shaped by law, violence, money, and the colonial powers controlling the sea lanes.
It is also important not to confuse the presence of Black people in pirate history with proof that every famous pirate crew was integrated in the modern sense. Crews varied by place, period, captain, and circumstance. The strongest historical approach is to recognize Black maritime lives while being specific about what the records can—and cannot—show.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read: what do the records actually tell us?
Anne Bonny and Mary Read are usually discussed together because both were associated with the crew of John “Calico Jack” Rackham and were captured in 1720. Their cases entered the public imagination through trial reports and the widely read book A General History of the Pyrates, published under the name Captain Charles Johnson. That book is a major source for pirate lore, but it also uses dramatic storytelling. Historians therefore distinguish between information supported by legal or administrative records and details that may have been shaped for readers seeking sensational adventures.
Both women were tried for piracy in Jamaica. Contemporary accounts describe them as having taken part in the crew’s activities, while later retellings have amplified their disguises, personalities, and battlefield exploits. The broad outline of their involvement is better supported than every colorful anecdote attached to their names.
Were Bonny and Read “buccaneers”? In everyday writing, the term is often used loosely for pirates, but historically “buccaneer” most often refers to raiders active in the Caribbean in an earlier period, especially during the 17th century. Bonny and Read’s best-known activity dates to 1720, within the later Golden Age of Piracy. Calling them female pirates is more precise than treating “buccaneer” as a universal label.
What about other pirates in the old engravings?
Popular pirate imagery is often mistaken for documentary photography. It is not. The portraits circulating today were commonly printed in books long after the people depicted lived, and the artists may never have seen their subjects. An engraving can show how a publisher wanted readers to imagine a pirate, but it cannot reliably establish a person’s appearance, clothing, ethnicity, or exact conduct.
That caution matters when looking for visual evidence of Black pirates. A portrait captioned “pirate” does not automatically establish the subject’s race, and a modern illustration cannot fill a gap in the historical record. Where a named Black pirate’s life is poorly documented, responsible reporting should say so rather than attach an unrelated image or present a speculative depiction as fact.
Why female pirates were unusual—and why their stories became famous
Women faced legal, social, and practical barriers to working aboard many ships, but those barriers were not absolute. The cases of Bonny and Read stand out partly because they were unusual enough to attract intense public attention. Their stories were published at a time when accounts of criminal trials and notorious offenders sold well. That commercial context encouraged dramatic details and memorable characters.
The result is a historical paradox: the women are famous, but much of what modern audiences think they know about them comes through sources that mix reporting with entertainment. Their stories deserve to be told, but with a clear distinction between documented events and legends that grew around them.
What the MGM+ reboot changes from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel
Stevenson’s Treasure Island was published in 1883, long after the peak years usually associated with Golden Age piracy. It is an adventure novel, not a historical survey. The new screen adaptation expands Bess Hawkins’s role and places Silver in a more explicitly racial, cultural, and political setting. Those are creative choices designed to make the familiar story speak to contemporary viewers.
Hayley Atwell’s Bess is a more sustained presence than Jim’s mother is in the original novel. That change creates room to explore a woman making decisions in a dangerous, male-dominated world. It should not be confused with proof that Bess is based on one specific historical pirate. Likewise, Oyelowo’s Silver is a fictional performance, not a documentary portrait of a single real sailor.
The best way to assess the reboot is to ask two separate questions: does the drama work on its own terms, and does it use history responsibly? A series can invent characters and events while still acknowledging the real systems of slavery, colonialism, maritime labor, and gender that surrounded piracy. Problems arise only when a dramatic invention is presented as established historical fact.
Watch the official Treasure Island trailer
The six-part adaptation stars David Oyelowo, Hayley Atwell, Tom Sweet, Jack Huston, and Tomer Capone. The U.S. premiere on MGM+ was scheduled for October 11, 2026, with the UK and Ireland launch on Paramount+ on October 12. The official trailer introduces the series’ darker take on Stevenson’s story.
Frequently asked questions
Was Long John Silver a real pirate?
No. Long John Silver is a fictional character created by Robert Louis Stevenson for Treasure Island. The 2026 adaptation reimagines him for television.
Were there Black pirates in the Caribbean?
Yes. Black people appear in the broader history of Atlantic piracy and maritime labor, including people who had escaped enslavement and others whose circumstances differed. The surviving evidence does not support one universal estimate for the proportion of pirates who were Black.
Were Anne Bonny and Mary Read real people?
They are historical figures associated with John Rackham’s crew and captured in 1720. Some details of their lives come from dramatic pirate biographies and should be treated cautiously.
Were Anne Bonny and Mary Read buccaneers?
They are more precisely described as female pirates active around 1720. Historically, “buccaneer” is most often associated with Caribbean raiders of an earlier period, especially the 17th century.
Are the pirate engravings accurate portraits?
Not necessarily. Many were published after the events and may reflect an artist’s or publisher’s imagination. They are valuable historical illustrations, but should not automatically be treated as verified likenesses.
Does the MGM+ series tell the true history of piracy?
No. It is a fictional adaptation of an 1883 adventure novel. It draws on historical themes, but its characters and plot are dramatized rather than a documentary reconstruction.
Sources and further reading
- Entertainment Weekly: David Oyelowo on the new Long John Silver and the series’ historical context
- Paramount+ UK & Ireland: official Treasure Island series guide and first-look gallery
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Anne Bonny
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Mary Read
- Library of Congress: 1725 Blackbeard engraving
- Wikimedia Commons: historical Golden Age of Piracy material
By Shivam Das
