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Konstam, Angus. Blackbeard: America’s Most Notorious Pirate. Wiley, 2007.

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The world may have known who he was at the time, but nobody had written a book about him yet. Until 1724, when Captain Johnson published a book containing a lot of things about the notorious pirate, "In 1724, when the mysterious Captain Johnson first published his catalog of pirates, Blackbeard featured prominently among them" (vii).

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It is believed that Blackbeard was born in Bristol, England as Edward Teach. We don't really know his real backstory, but the evidence is focused to his last name being Teach and his home town as Bristol.

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Blackbeard's name is believed that his last name was Teach. Though we cannot confirm this information, it seems the most logical. Some think that his last name could've been Thatch, Thatche, Tatch, and Tatche. Text says "The name 'Teach' was hardly mentioned, except as one of several phonetic variations on 'Thatch' such as Thach, Thatche, Tatch, and Tatche...The authorities in Bristol conducted a census in 1698, when Blackbeard would still have been a teenager, and it was hoped that this might shed some light on the problem" (11-12).

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Blackbeard is perceived to be born in Bristol, England. But we don't know this for sure. The only reason we think this is because Captain Johnson said so in his biography, but he could be wrong about that too, "Building anything based on the word of Captain Johnson is like building a home on shifting sands. He might have well been right about the Bristol connection, or the surname Teach (or even Thatch), but given the evidence of the 1698 survey, it is unlikely he was right about both" (12)

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The Henrietta was a slave ship that belonged to Captain John Taylor. He sailed from London to West Africa to buy slaves and sellable goods. After he got his slaves, he sailed to Jamaica to auction them off and got a bunch of valuable items to sell back in London. on his way back, he got caught in a hurricane over the mountains of Cuba and everything went downhill from there, "It was there that fate took a turn, and the Henrietta Marie was caught up in a hurricane, which came howling up over the mountains of Cuba, lashing Havana and then picking up force as it headed out into the Straits. The slave ship never stood a chance" (21).

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It is believed that Blackbeard's father was a military soldier and was in the War of the Grand Alliance. It is also believed that Blackbeard was in a war, the War of Spanish Succession. "If Bristol legend is to be believed, Blackbeard's father was based here while he served as a privateersman during the War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97). If we are to accept Captain Johnson, his son performed the same role there during the War of Spanish Succession (1701-13). During that long war a growing number of privateersmen gathered in Port Royal, preying on French and Spanish ships from Newfoundland to the coast of Brazil" (24).

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After Blackbeard sailed to the Bahamas, he met his mentor, Benjamin Hornigold. According to Captain Johnson, that is when Blackbeard came onto the scene and surprised the world, "It was in the Bahamas that he would meet his mentor, Benjamin Hornigold, and where he turned his back on the law...As Captain Johnson put it, Blackbeard was about to burst of the scene 'like a frightful meteor,' and his coming 'frightened America more than any comet'" (30-31)

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Benjamin Hornigold’s Life In 1 Minute Or Less

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Captain Benjamin Hornigold. A pirate that became a pirate hunter. He was active at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy. If you enjoy my content and want to h…

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Blackbeard knew the punishment for piracy, public execution, but he didn't care. He ignored the consequences and just did what he wanted to do, and he did just that. The young buccaneer was focused on loot and money. "It was customary to display the corpses of the more notorious pirates at prominent locations at the entrance to a harbor or waterway...Captain Kidd's corpse was daubed with tar to delay the decomposition of the body, then was placed in a man-shaped iron cage...Like the other former privateers congregating in the Bahamas, Blackbeard was well aware of all of this,but it didn't deter him." (35)

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I don't know what made it so fascinating, but the Bahamas was so influential, that it made many people wanna turn to piracy. "Word soon spread that the Bahamas were becoming a haven for pirates, and this news alone would have been sufficient temptation for many to sign up under the pirate flag" (43). The Caribbean is also home to Blackbeard's Castle in the Virgin Islands.

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The brief era of adventure and chaos still enthralls the imagination.

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Mutineers were crews who thought they had no other option but to rise against their captain and take over the ship. After they did this, they had 2 options. 1, abandon ship and go to shore to find another job, or 2, go find another crew to join because if they went back to a city, they would be persecuted and punished to death. "Once the deed was done, mutineers had only two options. They could abandon their ship and slip ashore, hoping to mingle back into maritime society without being linked to mutiny. If this wasn't an option, then they had no choice but to turn to piracy, as returning to any law-abiding port would have invited arrest, trial, and a date with the gallows" (45).

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Pirate were usually sailors who wanted something different from life, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to go back to their old life. If they tried to quit pirating and go back to normal, they wouldn't get employed. Most pirates were in their late twenties and would only pirate for a few months (or years if they were lucky) due to death by disease, fighting, or execution, "Whatever the reason a sailor had for becoming a pirate, he was well aware that once the die was cast there would be little chance of returning to his old life, and even if he took the advantage of a pardon, he would be marked as a troublemaker by any future employer. Most would have a short, brutish career for a few months or years before succumbing to death by battle, disease, or the noose. We have already said that the majority of pirates were in their late twenties" (47).

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Why You WOULDN’T wanna be a Pirate | Unknown Facts about Pirates #shorts #history #pirates

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Explore the harsh realities of pirate life, from constant risks of capture to cramped conditions and uncertain wealth. Discover the perils of battles, author…

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Becoming a captain on a pirate ship was fairly simple. You were most likely young, fit and strong. You had to command firmly and meaningfully without being tyrannical, "Electing a captain was a fairly straightforward business...They chose a captain from amongst themselves, who is effect help little more than a title, excepting in an engagement, when he commanded absolutely, and without control. Most of them having suffered formerly from ill-treatment of their officers, provided carefully against any such evil, now they had the choice in themselves...so very industrious were they to avoid putting too much power into the hands of one man" (52).

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"Captain" was just a title on a pirate ship

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"Captain" was just a title on a pirate ship

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Being Captain was nothing more than a little more respect from the crew mates. You were treated the same, you were just the one giving out the orders. "Pirate captains had no special privileges. They shared the same fare as their shipmates...The one great strength of the pirate captain was that he had been elected into the job by a majority of his peers" (53).

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To be a captain, you had to be equal, but to be a better captain, you had to know how to read a map. The best captains out there were the best at knowing where they were, being able to read maps, and not getting lost. Cartography was a strong suit of great captains back in the day, "One skill that pirates demanded of their two leading officers was that they could tell where they were. They had to be able to navigate, to read a chart, work an astrolabe, and steer a steady course" (54).

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It is believed that Blackbeard was the captain of a sloop called Revenge. "In the report he sent to South Carolina deputy governor Robert Daniel in March 1717, the pirate hunter described the piratical vessels operating out of New Providence that spring. Conveniently for us, he also named their commanders...Thatch, a sloop 6 gunns an about 70 men.' This meant that by March 1717 Blackbeard (or 'Thatch') was a pirate captain in his own right, commanding a substantial crew" (64).

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Blackbeard was laid up in Charles Town for a while to get rich. It was most known for a "rice bonanza", it attracted many different ships, sloops, and crews during it's uprising. "Certainly none of the remaining eight ships in Charles Town Harbor would put to sea while the pirate blockade remained in place...Meanwhile, Blackbeard continued to capture prizes off Charles Town. Later on that second day two 'pinks' -- small vessels with narrow overhanging sterns -- would fall into he hands of the pirates as they tried to enter Charles Town Harbor" (137-138).

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Blackbeard was so feared and powerful that when he arrived or even left towns or ports, the government at the time would make up stories or exaggerate about what Blackbeard was really doing so that other people could go after him and get him out of the seas.

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How Blackbeard Became the Most Feared Pirate in History 🏴‍☠️

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After he left Charles Town, he sailed the Carolinas. He returned to Charles Town in search for medicine, reasons unknown. He threated the cities merchant with violence if he didn't get what he wanted, "Blackbeard threatened to wreak havoc if Richard and Marks failed to return" (143).

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Blackbeard's last battle was somewhere close to Ocracoke Island. Him and his crew stormed, and boarded a ship called the Adventurer. They used a something called a grenadoes, one of the first versions of a modern day grenade. They scuffled for a while, and then boarded Blackbeard's ship at the time, the Jane. Blackbeard came prepared with a bunch of pistols on his body and a sword. Blackbeard died on the Jane with a flash to his neck, then he was decapitated. Blackbeard's head was hung from the bowsprit of the Jane to show everybody as they sailed into the port of Williamsburg to send a message.

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The Demise of BLACKBEARD - How the Legendary Pirate Met His End!

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After Blackbeard's death, the world still was in fear of pirates remembering what he did. Blackbeard sparked the way for a lot of young men to become pirates as a huge inspiration. Blackbeard is still talked about today because of the impact he had on America at the time. Black was seen as a threat to the law, towns, sailors, and everybody else on the seas at the time. A lot of characters are inspired by him and he will forever be named the most notorious pirate ever.