Did Pirates help America for the battle of Independence

Question: Did Pirates help America for the battle of Independence
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HUNDREDS of Pirates AND Privateers assisted America in it's fight for Independence & the War of 1812!.!.!.!.!. especially for their OWN purposes!

Hundreds of American privateers harassed British merchant vessels and dueled Royal Navy warships!. From the balmy West Indies to the icy waters of the northern Atlantic and beyond, American privateers ranged far, capturing provisions, raising revenue for the war effort, and enriching their crewmen!.

The lure of cash money spurred the privateers & pirates in their missions, but so did the American cause!.

John Adams himself pushed Congress to sanction privateering, or legally sanctioned piracy, though George Washington wanted raids on British shipping limited to vessels in military support!. But the necessity of war forced his hand!. The British fought back hard, and Congress responded aggressively, deeming cargo "of what kind so ever shall be liable to seizure!." A free-for-all ensued!. From 1778 to 1781, applications for privateering commissions soared!. By the early 1780s, there were 500 private warships prowling for British quarry, while the fledgling Continental Navy had fewer than 10 vessels at sea!. The Essex County, Mass!., ports of Beverly, Salem, Marblehead, and Newburyport became hubs of privateering initiative, a point of pride for Adams!.

One of the most renowned privateer captains — and most loathed by the British — was Gustavus Conyngham, known as "the Dunkirk pirate!."

The most enterprising figure was William Bingham, a Revolutionary-era wheeler-dealer who mastered what he called "the art of uniting war and commerce!."

John R!. Livingston--scion of a well-connected New York family who made no apologies for exploiting the war for profit, calling it “a means of making my fortune!.”

Vast fortunes made through pirating and privateering survive to this day, among them those of the Peabodys, Cabots, and Lowell's of Massachusetts, and the Derbys and Browns of Rhode Island!.

And who can forget the infamous Jean Lafitte! The famous swashbuckler pirate of the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans' own! Who assisted in the Battle of New Orleans against the British!

The fact of the matter is that without American Pirates, we would have been hard pressed to have won the war, period!. Yeah, they were pirates, but they were OUR pirates!

EDIT:
Privateering was purely and simply "legally sanctioned piracy"!.
Do NOT confuse the fact!
The infamous Captain Kidd of Great Britain was a legitimate "Privateer"!.!.!.!.!.quite sanctioned by the Crown!.!.!.!.while it "suited" the Crown's purpose, then suddenly he was a pirate, even though he really WAS "sanctioned"!.
As long as a pirate was suitable for the needs of a governing party at a particular time, they were "privateers"!.
Most "privateers" were made so simply by the nod of the head, or a word that they will "look the other way" and nothing more! There were NOT "issued a license"!
No one ever confused Jean Lafitte with being a "privateer"! HOWEVER!.!.!.!.it was HIS fleet of PIRATE ships that HELD New Orleans Harbor for America against the British! And he continually assisted blockcade runners in escaping British ships!.
Yes, they DID use pirating for their own advantage! But so did MANY "business men"! Their harrassment and assault on British ship was invaluable to the American cause!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No, they did not!. At least not on purpose!. Pirates are out for themselves and will take whatever prey they can!. So if they ended up helping American revolutionaries, it was only because the British shipping was more accessible!.

A Privateer is not a Pirate!. Some had been pirates, and some would be after, but while he operates under letters of mark as a Privateer, he is NOT a pirate!. Privateers are private captains that engage in what amounts to legally sanctioned piracy against the enemies of their sponsor nations!. But they do not attack other shipping, and do not simply keep the loot for themselves!. The booty is turned in to the sponsoring government and they are paid out a percentage!. All nations in the age of sail used privateers to a fairly large extent!. It was a cheap and effective way to interfere with enemy shipping!. And the advantage to the privateer was safe harbour with his sponsor nation and a guaranteed market for the loot!. also, a privateer was not hanged for piracy, they were considered to be deputized and a legitimate combatant!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the pirates attacked both the ships which brought supplies to the British as well as the ships which were bringing supplies to the revolutionnaires!. The "help" or "hindrance" would really be a question of timing and luck

BTW privateers were not pirates but privately owned ships which had a government license to operate as ships of war- which also means all the restrictions placed on ships of war (such as hanging those sailors who attacked neutral ships)!. Some privateers were former pirates but in most cases they were simply tradesmen who got fed up with being attacked with impunityWww@QuestionHome@Com

During the war of 1812 the american government hired privateers (pirates in a government's service) to help them out but i'm pretty sure that no pirates were involved in the revolutionary war!.Www@QuestionHome@Com