English privateer and pirate Edward Teach (c. 1680–1718), better known as Blackbeard, was one of the central figures of the “golden age” of piracy in the early eighteenth century. With long, gnarled hair; a scarlet coat; and two sabers at his side, Blackbeard deliberately cultivated a fearsome image that ensured him a place in nautical lore. His actual career was relatively short, however, and ended when he was cornered off North Carolina and killed.
Blackbeard’s early life is obscure. He was born in England and served aboard a privateer during the War of the Spanish Succession. A privateer was a privately owned warship whose crew was granted permission by the Crown to attack enemy ships and to keep whatever it captured. The British employed privateers in the Caribbean to disrupt Spanish commerce—and trained a generation of pirates in the process.
When the British dropped out of the war in 1713, many privateers, including Blackbeard, continued to attack ships in the Caribbean. He was offered—and declined—a pardon from the British, making him officially an outlaw. Over the next four years, he is believed to have captured and plundered about fifty ships; his personal armada grew to four vessels and about 300 pirates. He often hid near Ocracoke Island, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and fenced stolen goods to the American colonists.
In November 1717, Blackbeard attacked and took over a French slave ship, La Concorde, as it sailed off Martinique. He renamed it the Queen Anne’s Revenge and turned it into his flagship. The next spring, the Queen Anne’s Revenge and several other ships under Blackbeard’s command blockaded the port of Charleston, South Carolina. After plundering several ships, he escaped to his hideaway off North Carolina.
Blackbeard was killed by a squadron of Royal Navy ships that November, and his head was placed on a pike in Virginia to dissuade any other would-be pirates. Since then, he has figured in dozens of pirate-themed movies and books, a symbol of the romance and lawlessness of the high seas.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- Blackbeard had his own flag, which depicted a white skeleton against a black background. The more notorious Jolly Roger flag, which shows only a skull and crossbones, was introduced at about the same time by a different English pirate, Edward England.
- In the 2006 movie Blackbeard, the title role was played by Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen (1963–).
- The wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge was found in twenty feet of water at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, in 1996. It was identified by a bronze bell found amidst the debris and other artifacts.
