Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

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408

spanish dollar

The pirate’s currency was a spanish gold dollar worth

eight reales (called a real de a ocho). The

pirate terms “pieces of eight” comes

from the habit of cutting these into

eight pieces, each worth one real.

BlackBeard

one of the most

terrible pirates

was edward

Teach. his

nickname was

Blackbeard, and

his favorite drink

was rum and gun-

powder. in battle, he carried six pistols and wore

burning matches twisted into his hair. he died

during a fight with a British warship in 1718.

piraTe ships

Traditional

pirate vessels

were generally

small, fast, and

maneuverable.

They floated high

in the water so they

could escape into

shallow creeks and

inlets if pursued.

They were armed with as

many cannons as possible.

some cannons were heavy

guns that fired large metal balls;

others were lighter swivel guns

that fired lead shots.

anne Bonny

anne Bonny was

born in ireland.

she fell in love with

the pirate “calico

Jack” rackham and

sailed with him. on

a captured ship she

met another female

pirate, Mary read.

The women were

arrested in 1720, but escaped

the gallows, since they were

both expecting babies.

Pirates

in Tales aBouT piraTes, shady figures row through the moonlight to bury

treasure on tropical islands. The reality of a pirate’s life, though, was very

different from the storybook version. Most pirates were simply criminals who

robbed ships at sea and often murdered the crews. pirates first appeared

when trading ships began to cross the Mediterranean about 4,000 years

ago. They have flourished ever since in every ocean of the world, but

were particularly active from 1500 to 1800. some pirates, such as

Blackbeard, cruised the caribbean sea, which was also called

the spanish Main. others, such as captain kidd, attacked ships

in the indian ocean. sometimes countries

at war encouraged piracy, but only against

enemy shipping. They called the

pirate ships privateers and gave

them letters of marque—official

licenses to plunder enemy

ships. pirates still exist in

the waters off somalia.

They hijack ships,

take them into

their own ports,

and demand

ransoms for the

ships’ owners.

Find out more

ships and boats

Treasure Maps

Buried pirate treasure,

marked with an X on a

map, is largely the invention of

adventure writers. Most

of the time, pirates attacked

lightly armed merchant

ships, stealing food

and weapons.

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