Golden Age of Piracy

With canons blaring in the distance, Captain Edward Teach sits in his quarters, preparing for battle. To his belt, Teach straps pistols, daggers, and his cutlass. Across his chest, a sling with six pistols all loaded. Then, slowly, Teach braids his bushy, pitch-black beard that would come to give him his name. Finally, Teach places several slow burning fuses under his hat, lighting each one by one[i]. With wisps of smoke billowing around his face, Blackbeard, the most treacherous pirate in history, emerges from his cabin to join the fight.

In the golden age of piracy, Captain Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, stands out as the fiercest and most important figure. Blackbeard and his crew successfully controlled commerce along the North Carolina and Virginia coast from 1717-1718. Blackbeard influenced government in Bath, North Carolina, ultimately controlling the governor during this period. Contrary to the modern romanticized image of a pirate, pirates of the late 1600’s to early 1700’s were quite the despicable group.

Movies and stories often portray pirates as misguided individuals with a good cause deep at heart.

In reality, this could not be further from the truth. Pirates were the scum of the earth. Today they would be considered common criminals, gangsters. [ii] The majority of pirates started off as ordinary, honest sailors. Unfortunately, during the 1700s, jobs were few and pay was poor. Though the majority of sailors settled for the low pay and unfavorable conditions, a greedy few turned to the life of the pirate.

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Often, the intermediate step was the job of a privateer. Privateering was essentially legal piracy. [iii] Privateers were legally sanctioned, private ships licensed to prey on enemy ships.

Privateering lured many sailors because of its massive payoffs. Captured enemy ships were sold and profits were split up between the crew. In times of war, the role of the privateer was crucial but, in times of peace, many privateers were out of work. The absence of jobs and money, mixed with the lavish lifestyles privateers longed for, lead to the golden age of piracy. Historians have dubbed the time period from the start of the 18th century to approximately 1730 the “Golden Age of Piracy”. Unlike the Buccaneers of the 17th century, who had gradually been brought under government control, irates in the 18th century controlled the seas and influenced commerce throughout the Americas. [iv] Prior to the start of the 18th century, England, France, and Spain, were at constant maritime war. [v] There was a massive need for privateers and the majority of sailors served this role. Privateers captured enemy merchant ships and would split the bounty with their affiliated government. When England, France, and Spain reached peace in the early 1700s, these sailors were left crippled. The nautical life was all they knew, so many continued to perform the role of privateer, only this time without proper sanction of a government.

Most of the pirates during the golden age were former merchantmen or privateers, though an occasional logger or fisherman would become part of a crew. [vi] The bulk of seamen became pirates when the merchant sloops, single-masted, fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessels, they were serving on were captured. The men were given the option to join the pirates or be killed. [vii] As more and more pirates arose, a need for a certain amount of economics between pirates came to light. Unlike pirates of previous centuries, the piracy was very structured, with the rules very plainly laid out. viii] Pirates laid out a democratic system and checks and balances. Leaders were elected democratically. [ix] When a new captain was required, members of a crew would essentially campaign, giving speeches in hopes of persuading his fellow pirates that he was deserving of becoming a captain. After the vote, the elected captain would, much like the Presidential Inauguration, address the crew, promising to faithfully serve their interests. [x] It was no accident that pirates adopted this model of governing each other.

It was molded from experiences on merchant ships, where captains regularly abused their power with freedom from consequence. [xi] To prevent a captain from becoming autocratic, pirates had the unrestricted right to depose a captain for any reason. For example, Captain Benjamin Hornigold’s crew deposed him for “refusing to take and plunder English Vessels. ”[xii] Democracy was the primary mechanism pirates used to control their captains. Also, much like modern American democracy, pirates instituted a separation of powers to regulate the amount of control one man could have.

Crews had many officers, each one dealing with a different aspect of upholding the pirate code. [xiii] One could argue that the Framers based their entire government off of the democratic checks and balance practiced by pirates. It is amazing to think that a successful model of democracy was being practiced on pirate ships more then a half century before Congress would sign the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Very little is known about Blackbeard’s early life. Not unlike the vast majority of seamen at the time, he remained anonymous.

It is believed that Blackbeard was born around 1860 in Bristol, Britain. [xiv] First record of Blackbeard appears in 1715 in town of New Providence in the Bahamas. [xv] New Providence was the original pirate haven because the ownership of the city was hazy. The Spanish had originally claimed the Bahamas but, as the Spanish neglected to colonize the islands, they were left to the British. The British eagerly claimed the land but neglected to police it. [xvi] New Providence was perfectly situated near major trade routes and favorable winds allowed pirates to easily pick off merchant ships.

By 1715, New Providence was a shantytown of wooden shacks. The streets teemed with prostitutes, bartenders, and merchants. For nearly every dozen pirates there was a bar. [xvii] Teach was a very successful privateer and was well known in New Providence. His reputation earned him a spot on Captain Benjamin Hornigold’s crew in 1716. Hornigold immediately recognized Teach’s potential, mentoring him to the rank of auxiliary captain. Hornigold and Teach set sail for America in the spring of 1717, pillaging as far north as Virginia. xviii] An article in the Boston News-Letter in late October gave evidence of Teach and Hornigold’s attacks claiming “a merchantman commanded by Captain Codd was captured in the mouth of the Delaware river by a pirate sloop of 12 guns, 150 men, commanded by one Teach. ”[xix] On their return to the West Indies, Teach and Hornigold captured a large French slave ship. [xx] With Hornigold’s consent, Blackbeard took command of this ship. Blackbeard mounted 40 additional guns to the slave ship and renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge. [xxi] The Queen Anne’s Revenge quickly became known as the scourge of the seas.

On his way towards Spanish America, Blackbeard encountered the pirate sloop Revenge, commanded by Major Bonnet. Bonnet immediately joined forces with Blackbeard. A few days after the two ships had set sail, however, Blackbeard realized that Bonnet had no maritime experience or wit. [xxii] With the consent of the Revenge’s crew, Blackbeard’s second in command, a man only known as Richards, took command of the Revenge, while Bonnet assumed the position of Major on the Queen Anne’s Revenge. [xxiii] Blackbeard’s crew continued to grow and they began to capture more and more vessels.

On a warm day in early June 1718, Blackbeard and his crew made their way towards the coastal town of Beaufort, North Carolina. Accompanying the Queen Anne’s Revenge, were three other sloops, the Revenge commanded by Captain Richards, Blackbeard’s second in command, the Adventure captained by Israel Hands, sailing master for Blackbeard, and a small nameless Spanish vessel that Blackbeard had captured in his journey north from Cuba. [xxiv] Blackbeard’s treacherous caravan snaked their way through the Topsail Inlet, a narrow inlet 30 feet deep and 300 yards wide that separates the Back Sound from the Atlantic Ocean. xxv] In his previous voyages, Blackbeard was believed to have sailed the inlet before, so he would have had knowledge of the area along with the location of sandbars. [xxvi] As the caravan approached the coast, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, in the lead, ran aground a sandbar, splintering the main mast and many boards. Because of Blackbeard’s extensive knowledge of the area, it can be concluded that Blackbeard did this intentionally, as a part of his most ingenious plan ever. In an attempt to free the Queen Anne’s Revenge from the sandbar, the Adventure hitched a rope to her side.

This attempted rescue failed miserably, as the Adventure manage to get herself caught on the sandbar as well. [xxvii] Ultimately, the Queen Anne’s Revenge proved to be beyond repair and she was abandoned off the coast of Ocracoke, where she still lies. Blackbeard called Major Bonnet into his captain’s quarters and informed him of his plan, or at least a very censored version of it. [xxviii] Blackbeard had become aware that any pirate that would voluntarily surrender himself and take the oath would be cleared of all injustices.

He declared that he wished to do this and cajoled Major Bonnet to do the same, promising him his old post as captain of the Revenge. At the time, the governor of the colony that was North Carolina was Charles Eden. Eden resided in the small town of Bath, a three days voyage from the point in the Topsail Inlet where the pirates were stranded. Almost immediately after assuming the position of governor, it was rumored that Eden was allowing Bath to be a safe-haven for pirates, as long as Eden himself was receiving some of the loot that the pirates capture. xxix] Knowing this, Blackbeard was relatively confident that he could do business with Eden but, to be sure, sent Bonnet as a guinea pig. [xxx] Hapless Bonnet immediately took a large portion of his crew and departed for Bath. Shortly after Bonnet’s departure, Blackbeard began to execute his plan. He thoroughly looted the Revenge, stripping it of everything: food, water, rum, maps, essentially everything needed for a voyage. Blackbeard loaded all of the loot onto the Adventure and sailed out to sea with forty members of the crew. Before he left, Blackbeard leaked that he was headed to Ocracoke Island, a false trail for Bonnet.

Meanwhile, Bonnet and his men had successfully received pardons from Governor Eden and were heading back to the ships, expecting to find Blackbeard. [xxxi] When Bonnet realized what had happened he immediately departed for Ocracoke, enraged at Blackbeard’s betrayal. The dim-witted Bonnet began a search for Blackbeard that would take him as far north as Virginia, a voyage that would claim the lives of many of his crew. [xxxii] Blackbeard, meanwhile, had sailed to Bath and received pardons for him and his men. Blackbeard was welcomed with open arms.

Blackbeard himself boasted that he could be invited into any home in North Carolina. He bought himself a glamorous house, took a sixteen year old to be his wife (little did the girl know that she was, in fact, Blackbeard’s fourteenth wife), made friends with neighboring planters, and attended parties. While living this lavish lifestyle, however, Teach had secretly continued to pillage the North Carolina coast. Small ships heading up the up the inlet were regularly robbed, yet no one dare accuse Teach. [xxxiii] This small-scale pirating produced meager rewards and soon, Blackbeard’s immense fortune waned.

Blackbeard sent out a call to his former crew members and, within weeks, the Adventure was ready to set sail again. To all who asked, the respectable Mr. Teach was simply heading a trading expedition to the West Indies. The Adventure then slipped out of the inlet and into the ocean, where the real prizes were. Naught but a few weeks later, Blackbeard returned to Bath with a large French ship, brimming with sugar, cocoa, spices, and other merchandise. Teach ludicrously claimed that he had simply found the vessel floating at see, with no so sign of life.

In reality, Blackbeard had captured two French vessels, loaded both crews onto one and sent them on their way, leaving Blackbeard with the richer cargo. Governor Eden and Chief Justice Tobias Knight, also believed to be receiving payments from Blackbeard, ruled that Blackbeard and his crew could keep the cargo for themselves, and a week later eighty barrels of sugar “mysteriously” arrived at both Eden’s and Knight’s houses. [xxxiv] Now that Blackbeard had essentially been given consent to do what he pleased, he returned to the sea as captain of the Adventure, pillaging up and down the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia.

In late 1718, merchants were too afraid to set sail, in fear of being attacked by the buccaneers. Additionally, Blackbeard hijacked merchant ships heading towards North Carolina, hailing south from New England and north from the West Indies. This short period of time would define Blackbeard’s career. In just a few months, Blackbeard crippled all trade and commerce throughout the eastern seaboard. In the defense of Governor Eden, he was put in an extremely difficult position. If Eden had not given Blackbeard complete freedom, Eden and the colony of North Carolina would likely have been starved of all goods, crippling the colony.

Blackbeard’s control of Eden and North Carolina illustrates the susceptibility to corruption colonial governance had. Blackbeard’s total control terrified Eden and made him realize that Blackbeard needed to be killed. Governor Eden was defenseless against Blackbeard so he turned to Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood. Evidence proving Teach was still acting as a pirate was impossible to find, as he had taken the king’s oath. In the lieu of incriminating evidence, Governor Spotswood dispatched an expedition to capture Blackbeard. [xxxv] Three sloops were sent to North Carolina, in an attempt to ambush Blackbeard.

At the head of the largest sloop was Lieutenant Robert Maynard. [xxxvi] The ships set off November 17 with the destination of Ocracoke, where Blackbeard was rumored to be. The ships arrived in Ocracoke four days later and, anchored in open water, lay Blackbeard’s Adventure. On November 22 at daybreak, Maynard attacked the Adventure. In an attempt to seize Maynard’s sloop, Blackbeard ordered his men to board Maynard’s ship. [xxxvii] In a clash with Maynard himself, the great Blackbeard was cut down. Twenty five wounds and five pistol balls lodged in his body finally had sapped the life out of Blackbeard. xxxviii] Seeing their leader fallen, the remaining crew members of the Adventure surrendered, throwing down their weapons and begging for mercy. [xxxix] As a trophy, Maynard sliced the head of Blackbeard and hung it from the bowsprit of his ship. [xl] Thus, the reign of terror that was Blackbeard the Pirate was over. Though Blackbeard was dead, his image lived on. To this day, Blackbeard is viewed as an enigmatic figure. His activities as a pirate were more gruesome and violent then of any other pirate, but he is widely considered as the most intelligent and cunning pirate to roam the seas.

Blackbeard’s immortal image is portrayed in various, famous fiction works. The pirate villain in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island shares an uncanny number of similarities, both physically and emotionally, with descriptions of Blackbeard. Robert Newton, the actor charged with the invention of the “Arggh” and “Shiver Me Timbers” phrases we now associate with pirates based the voice off Blackbeard’s West Country accent. Even modern portrayals of pirates continue to be based off Blackbeard.

In the 2003 hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the main pirate character is an exact portrayal of Blackbeard, long braided hair, dark beard, confident bravado. Presently, practically anything with a connection to the pirate name is associated with Blackbeard. In fact, Blackbeard’s headless ghost is still thought to be haunting the North Carolina coast. Blackbeard’s death marked the descent of the “Golden Age of Piracy” in North Carolina. Despite playing host to many notorious pirates during the golden age, North Carolina was most affected by Blackbeard.

The swashbuckling buccaneer had free reign in North Carolina during 1717 and 1718, and would until the day he died. ———————– [i] Hugh Rankin, Pirates of Colonial North Carolina (Chapel Hill: North Carolina Historical Comission, 1997), 46 [ii] Ibid, 3 [iii] Angus Konstam, Piracy: The Complete History (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2008), 150 [iv] Ibid, 151 [v] Ibid, 152 [vi] Angus Konstam, Blackbeard: America’s Most Notorious Pirate (Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. , 2006), 604 [vii] Ibid, 606 [viii] Peter Leeson, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009), 6 [ix] Ibid, 19 [x] Ibid, 23-24 [xi] Ibid, 19 [xii] Ibid, 30 [xiii] Ibid, 34-36 [xiv] Konstam, Piracy, 188 [xv] Konstam, Blackbeard, 534 [xvi] Ibid, 490 [xvii] Konstam, Piracy, 154-157 [xviii] Daniel Defoe, A General History of Pyrates (Mineola: Dover Publications 1724), 71 [xix] “Captures off Charlestown bar” Boston News-Letter, 24 October 1717 [xx] Defoe, General History of Pyrates, 71 [xxi] Ibid, 72 [xxii] Konstam, Piracy, 190 [xxiii] Defoe, General History of Pyrates, 74 [xxiv] Konstam, Blackbeard, 2,392-2,395 [xxv] Ibid, 2,400 xxvi] Rankin, Pirates of Coastal North Carolina, 51 [xxvii] Ibid [xxviii] Konstam, Blackbeard, 2,421 [xxix] Rankin, Pirates of North Carolina, 51 [xxx] Konstam, Blackbeard, 2,428 [xxxi] Rankin, Pirates of North Carolina, 52 [xxxii] Konstam, Blackbeard, 2,486-2,520 [xxxiii] Rankin, Pirates of North Carolina, 54 [xxxiv] Ibid, 53 [xxxv] Ibid [xxxvi] Defoe, General History of Pyrates, 80 [xxxvii] Rankin, Pirates of North Carolina, 54 [xxxviii] Defoe, General History of Pyrates, 81 [xxxix] Rankin, Pirates of North Carolina, 54 [xl] Defoe, General History of Pyrates, 82