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The beginning of the colonial era in the Caribbean was also known as the "Golden Age of Piracy." The Caribbean Sea was thousands of miles from European control, making the region a prime target for pirates who patrolled the seas in order to steal. The Europeans monarchs could not afford to send their naval forces to the Caribbean, so they instead issued "letters of marque" that allowed the owners of private ships to attack ships from rival nations. These ship captains were known as privateers, legal pirates who turned over a portion of what they seized to the government that sponsored them.