Existing comment:
Shipboard Social Geography:
The design and arrangement of sailing ships reinforced the social structure of life at sea. In the sailing ships of every nation, whether merchantman or naval vessel, seamen resided forward or on the gun decks, officers in the after part of the ship, and the captain lived in solitary splendor in his great cabin. The floating societies of pirate ships were the most democratic and egalitarian of all Europe's early modern social institutions, where status and authority derived from a leader's personal qualities and the conditional consent of colleagues. Even so, everyone knew that the occupant of the great cabin was the one in charge. |