Blackbeard

Edward Teach (or Thatch; c. 1680 – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English <a href="/facts/Piracy/7HjKaWFC">pirate</a> who operated around the <a href="/facts/West_Indies/PpnoN692">West Indies</a> and the eastern coast of Britain's <a href="/facts/Thirteen_Colonies/H50dauTJ">North American colonies</a>. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on <a href="/facts/Privateer/PfeEkF2p">privateer</a> ships during <a href="/facts/Queen_Anne%2527s_War/lJrsIJYQ">Queen Anne's War</a> before he settled on the <a href="/facts/The_Bahamas/x6VKsUhj">Bahamian</a> island of <a href="/facts/New_Providence/BmYIQ27z">New Providence</a>, a base for Captain <a href="/facts/Benjamin_Hornigold/cVo8qFYC">Benjamin Hornigold</a>, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a <a href="/facts/Sloop/TyvqvLLU">sloop</a> that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by <a href="/facts/Stede_Bonnet/sFuTNY8j">Stede Bonnet</a>, but Hornigold retired from piracy toward the end of 1717, taking two vessels with him.
Teach captured a <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">French</a> slave ship known as La Concorde, renamed her <a href="/facts/Queen_Anne%2527s_Revenge/MVhAFmvm">Queen Anne's Revenge</a>, equipped her with 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He became a renowned pirate. His nickname derived from his thick black beard and fearsome appearance. He was reported to have tied lit fuses (<a href="/facts/Slow_match/5pEIcrW1">slow matches</a>) under his hat to frighten his enemies. He formed an alliance of pirates and blockaded the port of <a href="/facts/Charleston%2c_South_Carolina/dB8lmPF2">Charles Town, South Carolina</a>, ransoming the port's inhabitants. He then ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground on a sandbar near <a href="/facts/Beaufort%2c_North_Carolina/uuAlyebI">Beaufort, North Carolina</a>. He parted company with Stede Bonnet and settled in <a href="/facts/Bath%2c_North_Carolina/PvaGPKGk">Bath, North Carolina</a>, also known as Bath Town, where he accepted a <a href="/facts/King%2527s_Pardon_(piracy)/hxAYC4TU">royal pardon</a>. However, he was soon back at sea, where he attracted the attention of <a href="/facts/Alexander_Spotswood/swTtaPXx">Alexander Spotswood</a>, the <a href="/facts/Governor_of_Virginia/MbRx2GMT">governor of Virginia</a>. Spotswood arranged for a party of soldiers and sailors to capture him. On 22 November 1718, following a ferocious battle, Teach and several of his crew were killed by a small force of sailors led by Lieutenant <a href="/facts/Robert_Maynard/0Rv3SzDd">Robert Maynard</a>.
Teach was a shrewd and calculating leader who spurned the use of violence, relying instead on his fearsome image to elicit the response that he desired from those whom he robbed. He was romanticised after his death and became the inspiration for an archetypal pirate in works of fiction across many genres.

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Blackbeard