The Crime Book

20

A

lthough far from the most

successful pirate, Edward

“Blackbeard” Teach is

undoubtedly the most notorious.

Originally an English privateer

during Queen Anne’s War (1702–

13), he turned to piracy when the

hostilities ceased.

In 1716, Blackbeard travelled to

the “pirate’s republic” of Nassau

in the Bahamas. There, he met

Captain Benjamin Hornigold who

placed him in charge of a sloop.

Together the pair plundered

ships in the waters around Cuba

and Bermuda, and along the East

Coast of America.

Hornigold and Teach soon

encountered the Barbadian pirate

“Gentleman” Stede Bonnet, who

had been seriously wounded

battling a Spanish man-of-war.

Half of Bonnet’s crew had perished

and the remaining 70 were losing

faith in his leadership. The three

men joined forces, with Bonnet

temporarily ceding command of his

sloop, the Revenge, to Blackbeard.

Taking charge

During a raid near Martinique in

November 1717, Hornigold acquired

the 200-ton frigate La Concord de

Nantes. Hornigold placed

Blackbeard in charge of this prized

vessel. Blackbeard renamed it

Queen Anne’s Revenge.

In December, King George I

passed the Indemnity Act, which

pardoned any pirate who officially

renounced his lifestyle. Hornigold

• who had been replaced as
  captain by his and Blackbeard’s

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

The Caribbean and East

Coast of North America

THEME

Piracy

BEFORE

1667–83 Welsh privateer and

later Royal Navy Admiral Sir

Henry Morgan becomes

famous for attacks on Spanish

settlements in the Caribbean.

1689–96 Captain William

Kidd, a renowned Scottish

privateer and pirate hunter,

plunders ships and islands

in the Caribbean.

AFTER

1717–18 Barbadian pirate

“Gentleman” Stede Bonnet,

nicknamed for his past as a

wealthy landowner, pillages

vessels in the Caribbean.

1719 –22 Bartholomew “Black

Bart” Roberts, a Welsh pirate,

raids hundreds of ships in the

Americas and West Africa.

DAMNATION SEIZE MY

SOUL IF I GIVE YOU

QUARTERS

EDWARD “BLACKBEARD” TEACH, 1716–18

Blackbeard’s fearsome appearance

matched his reputation, but evidence

suggests he only used force as a last

resort. His swashbuckling was greatly

romanticized after his death.

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21

See also: The Hawkhurst Gang 136–37

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS

combined crews after he voted

against a decision to attack any

ship they wanted, including British

ships – took the King’s pardon and

parted ways with Blackbeard.

Eventually, Bonnet’s men

deserted him, choosing to serve

under Blackbeard’s command.

Blackbeard put a surrogate in

charge of the Revenge and kept

Bonnet as a “guest” on his ship.

Soon after, Blackbeard sailed to

North Carolina, where he blockaded

the port of Charleston, capturing

nine ships and ransoming a

wealthy merchant and politician.

Upon sailing away from

Charleston, the Queen Anne’s

Revenge ran aground. Anchoring

their fleet at Topsail Inlet, Bonnet

and Blackbeard travelled by land to

Bath, North Carolina, in June 1718

where they were granted pardons

by Governor Charles Eden.

However, while Bonnet remained

there, Blackbeard crept back to the

fleet, plundered the Revenge and

two other ships in the fleet and

transferred the goods to his sloop,

the Adventure.

Having violated the conditions

of his pardon, Blackbeard now

had a sizable bounty on his head.

On 22 November, 1718, two Royal

Navy sloops commanded by

Lieutenant Robert Maynard

caught up with the Adventure at

Ocracoke Harbor.

Last stand

Outmanoeuvring the Royal Navy’s

ships, Blackbeard lured them onto a

sandbar. Rather than escaping, he

fired two broadside attacks at

Maynard’s ship. When the smoke

cleared, only the lieutenant and a

few crew members remained on

deck. Blackbeard ordered his band

of 23 pirates to board the vessel.

As his men clambered onto the

ship, 30 armed sailors emerged

from below decks. A bloody battle

ensued. Maynard and Blackbeard

both aimed their flintlock pistols at

each other and fired. Blackbeard’s

shot missed but Maynard’s struck

Blackbeard in the abdomen.

Blackbeard recovered, however,

and broke Maynard’s sword in two

with a mighty blow of his cutlass.

Before he could capitalize on his

brief advantage, though, one of

Maynard’s men drove a pike into

Blackbeard’s shoulder. Outgunned

and outnumbered, Blackbeard’s

crew surrendered, but he continued

to fight. He finally fell dead after

taking five gunshot wounds and

20 sword wounds.

Maynard ordered his men to

hang Blackbeard’s head from the

bowsprit. Later, it was mounted on

a stake near the Hampton River as

a warning to other pirates. ■

“Legal” piracy

Sociologists have long recognized

that crime and deviance are

situational – that they change over

time and from one location to the

next. Piracy is a good example of

this phenomenon.

In the mid-13th century,

Henry III of England started to

issue licences, called “privateering

commissions”, which allowed

sailors to attack and plunder

foreign vessels. After 1295, these

licences were known as letters of

marque. Privateers became much

more numerous in the 16th to 18th

centuries, with some working

without royal consent, including

Francis Drake, who carried out

raids on Spanish shipping.

During Queen Anne’s War,

British privateers regularly

plundered French and Spanish

ships. However, when hostilities

between the nations ended,

these same professional

plunderers suddenly found

themselves on the other side

of the law. Clearly, what is

considered criminal depends on

shifting social structures, which

are in turn dictated by larger

political and economic realities.

Privateer Sir Henry Morgan

attacks and captures the town of

Puerto del Principe in Cuba in this

engraving from 1754.

Let’s jump on board, and

cut them to pieces.

Edward “Blackbeard”

Teach

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