Thriving Pirate-infested Islandīefore long, English privateers attempted to set up a colony on Tortuga, though the Spanish were able to drive them away. A Letter of Marques was essentially a pirate license. When the French governor announced he would offer safe harbor for any non-Spanish ships and offered Letters of Marque to any buccaneers who would attack Spanish ships and split the booty, privateers from France, England, and other European nations came to Tortuga. Tortuga soon became an island full of buccaneers, who referred to themselves as The Brethren of the Coast. Spanish forces proved unsuccessful in their repeated attempts to dislodge the French settlers from the island. Although the small island was surrounded by Spanish colonies, the French first colonized it in 1625. It was strategically located in the path of Spanish treasure ships returning to Spain. Tortuga, sometimes called Turtle Island, is a small island about 20 miles in length just north of Haiti. Listen French Possession in a Sea Spanish Rule
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