Really Organized
Even if pirates were thieves, they were trying to be fair among each other. So, whenever it came to the loot, they divided it fairly, with the captain of the ship taking a little bit more of the share.
They were organized criminals and knew minimal conflict would equal maximum profit. In Bartholomew Roberts’ articles on the Royal Fortune (1720), we see one of the rule describing how the profit was shared:
“The Captain and the Quarter-master to receive two Shares of a Prize; the Master, Boatswain, and Gunner, one Share and a half, and other Officers, one and a Quarter.”