Golden Age of Piracy

With canons blaring in the distance, Captain Edward Teach sits in his quarters, preparing for battle. To his belt, Teach straps pistols, daggers, and his cutlass. Across his chest, a sling with six pistols all loaded. Then, slowly, Teach braids his bushy, pitch-black beard that would come to give him his name. Finally, Teach places several slow burning fuses under his hat, lighting each one by one[i]. With wisps of smoke billowing around his face, Blackbeard, the most treacherous pirate in history, emerges from his cabin to join the fight. In the golden age of piracy, Captain Edward Teach, more commonly known as Blackbeard, stands out as the fiercest and most important figure. Blackbeard and his crew successfully controlled commerce along the North Carolina and Virginia coast from 1717-1718. Blackbeard influenced government in Bath, North Carolina, ultimately controlling the governor during this period. Contrary to the modern romanticized image of a pirate, pirates of the late 1600’s to early 1700’s were quite the despicable group. Movies and stories often portray pirates as misguided individuals with a good cause deep at heart. In reality, this could not be further from the truth. Pirates were the scum of the earth. Today they would be considered common criminals, gangsters.[ii] The majority of pirates started off as ordinary, honest sailors. Unfortunately, during the 1700s, jobs were few and pay was poor. Though the majority of sailors settled for the low pay and unfavorable conditions, a greedy few turned to the life of the pirate. Often, the intermediate step was the job of a privateer. Privateering was essentially legal piracy.[iii] Privateers were legally sanctioned, private ships licensed to prey on enemy ships. Privateering lured many sailors because of its massive payoffs. Captured enemy ships were sold and profits were split up between the crew. In times of war, the role of the privateer was crucial but, in times of peace, many privateers were