Blackbeard: The Real Pirate Of The Caribbean

Black Beard the Pirate! The image of a man with a peg leg, a low IQ, and a parrat pops into your mind doesn't it. What people fail to realize is that they have the wrong image. This book goes through the life of Black Beard and reveals his historical signifcance. after reading it one would have a much better understandng of pirate life in the past. if you take the blue pill, you put this down, wake up in your bed, and believe that just sayig "arrrg matey" can pass you off as a pirate. if you take the red pill, you continue to read this and see how far the rabbit hole really goes.

looks like you took the red pill.

"display title" (sorry, my computer blew out so i have to retype the whole thing.)

By: Dan Parry

This report brought to you by : (insert name here. i'm not telling you my name). when you aren't cool, find (see above). all rights reserved.

Black beard was born around 1680. His real name was Edward Thatch, but many documents say tatch because of tribal inabilities to say Th. t was believed that he was from Bristol england but there are multiple suggestions. He was definitely from the water because he understood shipboard life. He was very smart. He knew how to navigate a ship. around that time, ships were all over bristol and were the biggest movile objects just as they are today. Bristol was the main point of trade at the time. For many boys asing for work from a ships captain was a daunting prospect, but strength and character were not in short supply.

the big thing at the time was wood. ships were made almost out of whole trees! The victory was mad out of 6,000 trees, 26 miles of rope, and 6,510 yards of sail, but Thatch started out on smaller ships. at the time, ships needed heavy objects to stay balanced . luckily, cannons were heavy and so were people. Ships had enormous vertical masts. They were the supporting foundations of a single area of the ship. Certain men were appointed to take care of the sails on these masts everyday at anytime. no matter how high (100 feet above the ship even).

Why would Thatch leave the land for the lure of te sea? because there was nothing on land but war to stir up the blood of many young men. protestant England was n a lasting conflict wit Catholic France. it lasted on and off for about a century. Napoleon was defeated, and sailors were in demand from the war of the league of Augsburg. There was a new prominent world in the west , tiny islands in the west indies. and they led to bigger slands, Like Jamaica. the navy was weak and other ships were ired to plunder other ships. their reward was what they plundered. Gold, food, women, etc. Pirates had been plundering since the mid-sixteenth century. they were feared for there ships agility. the knights of St. John attaccked ships out of religious purposes. Everybody was fighting on land and sea. England France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Denmark all fought. On the Whole, Englis buccaneers remaind loyal to their country. As a reward, they had legal authorities. they showed that lawlessness with a black flag. Privateering=money, and Blackbeard knew it.

Ships had low life expectancy and their wooden hulls flooded with water and were constantly being pumped out. Storms shortened that life expectancy drastically. During storms, lifelines were strung horizontally along the length of the deck and a lifebuoy was towed behind the vessel. just in cse. ships were always thrown off course after storms so navigation was the responsibility of a sip's master who could, read, write, and use and array of charts, tables and instruments. Pinpointing latitude was easy and was done with an instrument called a back staff that wa used to measure the angle of the sun above the horizon at mid day. Longitude was another story. it involved comparing local time with the time at the ships home port which

was practicall impossible. But that's too long a story. just know that Blackbeard did it. one smart cookie.

Blackbeard crossed the Atlantic in the 1690;s when ships were ordered to intercept the French. First owever, the were to wait at the Spanich port of la Coruna for their orders. Henry Avery decided to mutiny and take the Charles II out to sea. He then attacked the Ganji Sawai, reaping the rewards. a yong seaman would have many responsibilities like turning an hour glacss a nd mucking out livestock. He might just get paid, whether it be in money or educattion. Thatch may have served as a powder monkey, collecting gun powder for the fighters to use during battle. it was probably harde for a tall lad like him. he may have done more dangerous jobs ono top of the mast, working withsails. His sklls were a universal passport. He always had money to make. Experts served abooard any type of vessel. Thatch's contemporary John Young went to sea at 14 or 15 ears of age. 'It got harder when privateers couldn't operat legally anymore. they needed another war. and they got one. the war of the spanish succession. it left Englsh ships vulnerable to attack from France and Spain and their navystill had few ships, so 12 privateers were sent to Bermuda and 8 to Jamaica. Now the rabbit hole hits a drop Thatch would become a notorous pirate along with many in Benjamin Hornigold's crew on the Mary Anne. the were lawless, which to them meant free, and the did what they wanted.

Sam Bellamy then took over Hornigold's ship and sent him, Edward, and a few other pirates adrift because they didn't have the guts to go on the piratical 'account.' Later Sam was caought in a storm and his ship was wrecked. the war ended and privateering was illegal. AGAIN! Edward thatch joined HenryJenings and other former privateers and fled port Royal. (You know. the place in pirates of the carribbean.) They went to Nassau; a small town perched on the water fort, and mounted several guns i na fort overlooking the harbor to protect their perfect location. theh felt themselves to be behond the reach of law. Jennings had the group and they established a sense of unity. they created a seond Madagascar, trading with the occasional merchant ship. but the flying gang, another group of pirates, posed a threat since they were closer to maor shipping lanes used by heavly laden vessels htat could be captured by fas sloops. jennings and Hornigold were gentlemen pirates but they still let teir men cause a lot of trouble.

The pirates were messing up trade between Jamaica and Spain. the nest of pirates was growing. with the extra recruits cam new opportunities and Thatch was not on ot hold back. By 1716 he had his own command. 5 pirate captains (including Him) made Providence their renezvous