How Edward Teach Became The Treacherous Blackbeard

How Edward Teach Became The Treacherous Blackbeard

Dressed all in black with six pistols strapped to his chest, the famed pirate ‘Blackbeard’ would tie slow-burning fuses in his long black hair and beard, giving the impression he was more demon than man as he boarded the ships of his prey. These theatrics also served a useful purpose as some crews were so terrified by his appearance and reputation they would surrender their cargo without a fight.

See the terrifying illustrations and discover how a man named Edward Teach became the infamous ‘Blackbeard’ by clicking the link in our bio.

The period of the late 17th and early 18th centuries was known as the Golden Age of Piracy, and the most notorious of all the Golden Age pirates was known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard was a sea robber who plagued shipping lanes off North America and the Caribbean between 1717 and 1718.

By some reports, before he became a pirate Blackbeard served as a privateer during Queen Anne's War (1701–1714) and turned to piracy after the war's conclusion. In November of 1718, his career came to an abrupt and bloody end off Okracoke Island, North Carolina, when he was killed by the crew of Naval ships sent by Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood.

According to a Boston newspaper report, before the final battle he "called for a glass of wine, and swore damnation to himself if he either took or gave Quarters." What we know of this man is part history and part public relations: here are a few of the known facts.

Newspapers and other historical records called Blackbeard Edward Thatch or Edward Teach, spelled in a variety of ways, including Thach, Thache, and Tack. Recent genealogical research has discovered that he was named Edward Thache Jr., born about 1683 in Gloucestershire, England; and it was apparently pronounced several ways.

Blackbeard's father Edward Sr. moved the family to Jamaica, where Blackbeard received enough of an education to be able to read and write, and he was trained as a mariner. His respectable upbringing is likely why his contemporaries did not know his name. Like other pirates of the day, he chose a frightening name and appearance to terrify victims and minimize their resistance to his plunder.

At the end of Queen Anne's War (1702–1713, one of several French and Indian Wars fought in North America), Blackbeard served as a crewman aboard the ship of the legendary English privateer Benjamin Hornigold. Privateers were people who were hired by one side of a naval war to do damage to the opposing fleet, and take whatever booty was available as the reward. Hornigold saw potential in young Edward Teach and promoted him, eventually giving Teach his own command as captain of a captured ship.

The two were very successful while they worked together. Hornigold lost his ship to a mutinous crew, and Blackbeard set out on his own. Hornigold eventually accepted a pardon and became a pirate-hunter.

In November of 1717, Blackbeard captured a very important prize, a large French slaving vessel called La Concorde. The ship was a 200-ton vessel armed with 16 cannons and a crew of 75. Blackbeard renamed it Queen Anne’s Revenge and kept it for himself. He put 40 more cannons on it, making it one of the most formidable pirate ships ever.

Blackbeard used the Queen Anne's Revenge in his most successful raiding: for nearly a week in May 1718, the ship and some smaller sloops blockaded the colonial port of Charleston, South Carolina, seizing several ships coming in or out. In early June 1718, she ran aground and foundered off the coast of Beaufort, North Carolina.

Before its life as a pirate ship, La Concorde was used by its captains to bring hundreds of captured Africans to Martinique between 1713 and 1717. Its last such voyage began at the infamous port of Whydah (or Juda) in what is today Benin on July 8, 1717. There, they took on a cargo of 516 captive Africans and obtained 20 pounds of gold dust. It took them nearly eight weeks to cross the Atlantic, and 61 captives and 16 crewmen died along the way.

They met Blackbeard about 100 miles from Martinique. Blackbeard put the enslaved Africans ashore, took on a portion of the crew, and left the officers on a smaller vessel that they renamed the Mauvaise Rencontre (the Bad Encounter). The French took the captive Africans back on board and returned to Martinique.

Like many of his compatriots, Blackbeard knew the importance of image. His beard was wild and unruly; it came up to his eyes and he twisted colorful ribbons into it. Before a battle, he dressed all in black, strapped several pistols to his chest, and put on a large black captain’s hat. Then, he would put slow-burning fuses in his hair and beard. The fuses constantly sputtered and gave off smoke, which wreathed him in a perpetual greasy fog.

He must have looked like a devil who had stepped right out of hell and onto a pirate ship, and most of his victims simply surrendered their cargo rather than fight him. Blackbeard intimidated his opponents this way because it was good business: if they gave up without a fight, he could keep their ship and he lost fewer men.