Tyb
Interesting this post was deleted last bread…
A Letter of Marque is a historical government license authorizing private ships (privateers) to attack and capture enemy vessels and their cargo during wartime, essentially legalizing private warfare to disrupt enemy trade and supplement a nation's navy, though its use declined after 1856, with recent proposals to revive it for modern threats like cartels or cyberattacks.
Purpose & Function
State-Sanctioned Piracy: It turns private citizens into state-authorized agents (privateers) to seize enemy property, acting as a cost-effective naval force.
Economic Warfare: Capturing enemy ships and goods helped fund the issuing nation's war efforts, as seen during the American Revolutionary War.
Legal Framework: It provided legal justification for capturing foreign ships, distinguishing privateers from pirates under international law.
Key Characteristics
Issued by Government: Granted by a sovereign or legislature (like the U.S. Congress under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution).
Specifics: Detailed the vessel, owner, master, armament, and often specified the enemy or target.
"Marque and Reprisal": Originally two separate authorizations, combined to mean crossing borders (marque) to seize property (reprisal) for past wrongs.
Decline & Modern Relevance
Abolition: The Paris Declaration of 1856 largely abolished privateering, though the U.S. never signed it.
Modern Revival: Recent proposals suggest using them for non-state actors, like drug cartels or cyber threats, allowing private groups to seize assets abroad, though this remains controversial and largely theoretical.
https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/2001780160878497967
Watch the Water.
>>24009840
Notice the filter in this way and in this aspect of things.
>that;s