letters of marque and reprisal

     The United States Constitution reserves to our federal government the right to grant letters of marque and reprisal. Letters of marque and reprisal are permission from the government to attack enemy ships and seize both ship and cargo if possible. What would have been piracy in peacetime is used as an irregular military force. During the Revolutionary War, the new government of the United States authorized people who owned ships to attack the British at sea. They were called privateers--private citizens who became something like a navy. Their reward was a share in any ships or goods they won in battle.