Two centuries ago, a massive wave of piracy struck the Gulf of Mexico and terrorized shipping along the Gulf coast. Florida was especially dangerous for travelers. Jean Lafitte and Charles Gibbs, two of the most notorious pirates from this period, had close ties to the Florida panhandle. One case of piracy even wound up in the court of West Florida in Pensacola and made newspaper headlines across the nation. This talk examines some of the broader aspects of piracy during the early 1800s in the Gulf and Caribbean. It also focuses on the current archaeological evidence for possible pirate ships from this period that wrecked beneath the waters of the Gulf.