[Dead Corpse]

Not quite. Letter's of M&R were authorization for privateers, already armed, to act on behalf of the government in a legal capacity. No more. No less. They were also loot sharing agreements as well. Government got its armed ships, Captains gave govt a cut of anything they captured.

[StJacques]

". . . Letter's of M&R were authorization for privateers, already armed, to act on behalf of the government in a legal capacity. No more. No less. They were also loot sharing agreements as well. Government got its armed ships, Captains gave govt a cut of anything they captured."

Of course that's what they are and I didn't say anything to contradict that. The point is that those "letters" are issued by the federal government acting under constitutional authority (See Article 1, Section 8) which makes "Letters of Marque" an activity that is regulated.