WEBVTT - Pirates 1: A Pirate’s Life 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.479 Everyone loves a good story, and since you're listening, chances 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.560 are you're also fond of pirates. From sailing the high 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:16.480 seas and buried treasure to swilling rum and singing shanties, 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.840 pirates have come to represent a lot about the human spirit. 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.680 Through the centuries, we've fallen in love with adventure, danger 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:29.120 and exploration. Honestly, we never tire of hearing about pirate life. 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.960 In Sweden, for example, there's a story that's been handed 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:37.040 down from generation to generation, and like other pirate tales 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.360 the world over, people love it so much they don't 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.519 care whether it's true or not. The story goes that 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.960 back in the fifth century, there was once a mighty 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:50.279 Scandinavian king with a lovely daughter, young Princess a Wilda's 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.440 beauty was such that her father, King Sanartis, locked her 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.800 away in a tower for her protection, of course, and 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.920 to ensure that no ordinary man could easily scale the tow, 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.559 or he surrounded it with deadly snakes and traps. While 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.360 many men failed, Prince Alf of Denmark succeeded in breaching 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.120 the castle and then asked the king for his daughter's 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.400 hand in marriage, to which the king agreed. They had 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:17.880 a problem. Though the princess had vanished from the tower, 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:21.200 you see, a Wilda's beauty was matched only by her 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:25.080 feistiness and sense of independence. With her mother's help, the 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.480 princess had made her escape, accompanied by her strong willed 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.039 handmaidens and other young women, who, much like the princess, 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:36.480 were also promised to men they'd never met. They dressed 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:39.360 as sailors and made off with a ship, deciding to 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.319 explore the world, and during their travels, the women came 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.200 across a pirate ship that had recently lost its captain. 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.880 Enamored with a Wilda and her crew, the men voted 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:52.600 her to be their new leader, knowing that her father 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.280 still searched for her. A Wilda and the other women 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.520 wore helmets to hide their long hair. The princess, pirates 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.680 and her crew earned a fierce reputation raiding many merchant 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.840 ships on the Scandinavian seas, and like all pirates, they 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:10.080 soon had a bounty on their heads. The King of 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:13.400 Denmark placed his son alf in charge of the navy 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:17.040 and sent him to eliminate the troublesome pirates. The prince 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.840 quickly located them, and a great battle ensued. While his 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.400 crew engaged with a Wilda's, He and the princess faced 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:28.600 each other, swords drawn. They dueled, neither of them getting 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.400 the better of the other. Having become impressed with her 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.880 rival and seeing something familiar about him, Awilda removed her helmet. 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.520 The prince instantly recognized the princess and dropped to one 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:44.639 knee to propose, which she accepted. Of course, the battle 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.200 ended and a wedding took place instead. A Wilda's pirate 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:52.280 ship and Alf's naval fleet returned side by side to Denmark. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:56.480 The newlyweds were welcome to Denmark with a lot of fanfare. 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:00.000 A message was sent to King Sanartis, who was also 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.840 pleased with the marriage. A Wilda and Alf went on 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:05.080 to have a daughter together, and it was said that 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.440 she was just as beautiful and fierce as her mother, 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.360 and when the king died, the couple ruled long and well. 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:16.960 And while our fictional introduction story is the stuff worthy 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.080 of a Disney movie, we're about to embark on a 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:24.120 different sort of journey, a historical adventure into the most 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:30.680 legendary real life rogues of the seas. I'm Aaron Mackey, 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:43.720 and welcome two pirates. Piracy has been around for about 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.240 as long as there have been oceans to sail. But 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.640 not every pirate belonged to bands of renegades who pillaged 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:54.800 and plundered. Some had a softer title. Governments employed privateers, 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:59.120 men who raided and harassed ships belonging to a competing power. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.280 And if you're thinking it's the same thing, it was. 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.200 Governments on the receiving end didn't differentiate between the two. 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:10.920 Piracy government sanctioned or otherwise remained an act of war. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.720 And there was no more tumultuous time than the Golden 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:18.560 Age of piracy, which started in the late seventeenth century. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.080 And the rise in piracy began with what might be 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.520 the most successful pirate most of us have never heard of. 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.680 Like a lot of english men of his time, Henry 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.360 every got his start with the Royal Navy. But he 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.440 was different from other sailors who spent their meager earnings 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:37.520 on liquor or tobacco. He sent money home to his family. 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.880 Eventually he moved working aboard the Charles the Second, a 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.919 privateering ship sent to pray on French ships in the 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:48.880 West Indies. Like those aboard most British ships, Every lived 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:52.479 in squalid conditions and suffered from poor treatment. The last 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.839 straw for the men aboard the Charles The second came 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.680 when they didn't get paid, so the crew mutinied and 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.840 Every took control as captain and set a course for 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:05.040 the southern tip of Africa. Along the way, he led 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.600 raids on three English merchant ships and several more from 0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.960 other European countries. But his real popularity with the crew 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.760 happened when he led a capture of a mogul ship 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.080 full of treasure and women. When the raid was complete, 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.599 Every split the wealth equally among his men. Pirating, as 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.039 you probably know by now, was a dangerous business, and 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.600 because of his success, Every had a price on his head. 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.640 Two years in he gave up the pirates life he 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.600 could afford to, having raked in what amounted to tens 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:41.280 of millions of pounds in late six hundreds currency not modern, 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.080 Henry Every is only one of a few pirates to 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.479 retire and live to tell the tale. In literature, he 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.320 became the inspiration for characters in books and plays. People 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.720 saw him as a sort of Robin Hood, or at 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.719 least a man who had fought back against the corruption 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:02.320 and unfair practices of English ship captains. He became the 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.320 most talked about pirates in the world, until that is, 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:09.479 a newcomer showed up and perfected whatever he had started. 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.040 Edward Teach had come from a comfortable family, or so 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.880 it's theorized, he was educated, unlike many of the sailors 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:21.200 of the time. Tall and thin with broad shoulders, he 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:25.240 sported a heavy black beard. People found him charismatic and 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:29.400 highly intelligence. Those qualities helped him rise through the ranks 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.320 in the British Navy. During the Queen Ann's War, the 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:36.760 French and Spanish mercilessly attacked the Queen's ships, forcing the 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:41.159 British to hire their own privateers, including men like Benjamin Hornegal, 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:45.560 Henry Jennings, Woods Rogers, and Charles Vane. But more on 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:49.159 them later. Their jobs came to an end in seventeen 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:52.599 fourteen after Queen Anne died When her Catholic heir was 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.800 found unacceptable to rule, Many of the men loyal to 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.800 the Queen's House of Stuart remained in Nassau in the 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:03.320 Bahamas instead of returning to England. Known as the Pirate Republic, 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:07.919 the area became popular among privateers and pirates alike, Hornegold 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.600 and Teach oversaw the development of the base a few However, 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.480 men like Jennings remained loyal to England and continued to 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.640 raid Spanish ships. That's when Teach paired up with Captain 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.400 Hornigold once again, this time as his lieutenant. Before long, 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.920 the two acquired additional ships, one of which was entrusted 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.640 to Edward Teach. By seventeen seventeen, the captain retired from piracy, 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:34.720 leaving his lieutenant to venture out on his own and 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.000 make his own mark. Now a captain of his own fleet, 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:41.360 Edward Teach set out to perfect the art of piracy. 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:45.760 He grew his beard even longer, giving him a wilder appearance, 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.840 and he wore a long sling over his shoulder, where 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.160 he kept not one, but three pistols. Now referred to 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:56.960 as black Beard, he also put Litton matches in his beard. 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:59.840 It said that he looked like the devil himself, and 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.680 the merchant ships he challenged became so frightened they willingly 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:08.160 surrendered without a fight. It was a great strategy. Firepower 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.480 damaged ships and potential cargo, and fights risked as men. 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.520 His strategy of shock and awe had a way of 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.600 keeping everyone and everything a bit safer, which put more 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:24.160 money into their pockets. Clearly, he had become formidable, but 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.680 Blackbeard wanted to take piracy to the next level, and 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:39.839 to do that he needed a better ship. That better 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.360 ship presented itself on November sevent of seventeen seventeen, when 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.720 the French slave ship the lack Concord appeared on the horizon. 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.080 The two fifty tons ship had a strong, oaken hull 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.880 and ports that accommodated forty cannons. Under ordinary circumstances, black 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:59.960 Beard's crew wouldn't have presented much of a problem. However, 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:03.360 most everyone on board the lach Concord had scurvy. With 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.600 his crew sick and aware of the pirate's reputation, the 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.760 captain surrendered the moment the first warning volley landed in 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.280 front of his ship, and with that Blackbeard now had 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.720 a proper flagship that could stand up to any English vessel. 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.000 He left the French captain and his crew with one 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:22.160 of his own sloops, and then he offered some of 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:24.959 the healthy slaves a place among his men. Then he 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:28.000 christened his new ship the Queen Anne's Revenge, and went 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.720 on to raid several British vessels throughout North American colonies 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:35.800 and those traveling in the Caribbean. Pirating became such a 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:40.600 problem that King George the First offered clemency for all pirates. Naturally, 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.080 there was a catch. They'd have to give up their 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:47.560 marauding ways forever. The deal attempted to weaken or disband 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.120 pirate cruise through attrition, and of course those who refused 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.160 were still hunted. What the King didn't offer was away 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.800 for the men to make a living or provide better 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:02.080 conditions and pay aboard British ships, and frankly, conditions treatment 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:06.040 and pay we're far better aboard pirate ships. That said, 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.600 many captains and crewmen did take the King up on 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.640 the offer. Pirating was still a dangerous way to make 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:14.959 a living. Storms, disease, and months or even years at 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.920 sea made for a less than desirable way of life. 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:22.200 The deal, coupled with Nassau's new governor, Woods Rogers, put 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.559 the pirate Republic into a state of chaos. Blackbeard didn't 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.040 stay in Nassau long and chose to decline Governor Rogers offer. 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.520 You see, he had at least one bounty in mind, 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:36.480 so the Queen Anne's revenge set out once more. It 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:39.600 had been his friend and fellow pirate Steed Bonnets, who 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.040 had given Blackbeard the idea block the port of Charleston 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.960 and capture incoming and outgoing vessels. The township had no 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.280 guardian fleet, making it easy to overtake the pilot boat 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.559 and challenge anyone moving through the port. The crew stopped 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:58.040 the Crowley, an English bound ship with several prominent Charleston 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.840 citizens on board. Instead of raiding the ship, though, Blackbeard 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:05.680 chose to take the passengers hostage, including women and children. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.880 But he did release a single passenger, one Mr Marks, 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.360 to relay a message to the governor. You see, by 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.800 now Blackbeard's crew were sick. He no longer wanted gold 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:21.080 or valuables. Now he needed medicine. Two healthy members of 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.240 his crew accompanied Mr. Marks, and if they didn't all 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.839 return in two days, he threatened to execute the passengers 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:31.160 and send their heads to the governor. The plan went 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:35.559 sideways quickly, the boat carrying his crewman and Mr Marks capsized, 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:39.160 forcing them to swim ashore. En route to the Governor's office, 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:41.800 the crewman stopped at a tavern for drinks with other 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.679 fellow pirates. Imports now drunk and behind schedule, the group 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.200 finally made their way to their destination. The governor offered 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:54.200 the pirates clemency, and seeing the unfolding situation, they took 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:57.079 him up on it. Then the governor agreed to Blackbeard's 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.720 demands and Mr. Marks made his way back to the 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:03.559 dock alone. By the time he arrived, he was past 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.920 the deadline and the Queen Anne's Revenge had pulled into ports. 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.960 Crewman ran through the streets. Men, women and children screamed 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.360 and fled for their lives. Picturing this scene, I can 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.600 only imagine the terror that Mr Marks felt. The most 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.280 feared and formidable pirate had unleashed an angry and diseased 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.719 crew upon the town. Hoping to stop the attack, he 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:29.280 rode back to the ship after handing over the medicines. 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:34.360 Marks relayed a message from the governor surrender and received clemency, 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.760 but Blackbeard refused, and even though the deadline had passed, 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.520 he held up his end of the bargain. He returned 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:44.280 the ship undamaged and released all the prisoners unharmed, although 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:48.360 he did take some of their finer clothing. After loading 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:52.000 the clothes and medicines onto the Queen Ann's Revenge. Blackbeard 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:54.640 and his crew left port. He had a new plan, 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:58.720 this time one he shared with his trusted quartermaster, William Howard. 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.560 It was time to give up the pirate life, well 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:13.440 sort of. Blackbeard and Howard met with North Carolina as 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:17.680 governor Charles Eden, Charismatic as always, they negotiated a deal, 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.199 a pardon for the crew. The best part, though, they 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:25.080 would continue as privateers, sanctioned by King George the First. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:29.040 Shortly afterward, the Queen Anne's Revenge ran into a sandbar, 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.880 damaging her main mast, forcing them to switch to a 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.360 Spanish ship. Black Beard simply called the Revenge. While he'd 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:40.040 retired from piracy, word of his vicious nature endured, although oddly, 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.800 in all his time as a pirate, he never actually 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:46.160 killed anyone. He'd created a persona that did the work 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.800 for him. Captain and crew aboard the Revenge left Port 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:52.320 and headed up the Delaware River to sell off some 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.720 of their goods before leaving for the Caribbean. There they 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:59.120 captured two French ships laden with cocoa and sugar, a 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.280 valuable command city in the colonies. On the return trip, 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:05.360 they stopped for repairs and to unload the cargo at 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.160 Ocracoke Island, part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.920 There he met up with Charles Vane, a pirate who 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.959 hadn't taken the King's pardon, and invited him to stay 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.680 on Ocracoke for a while. Meanwhile, in Virginia, Lieutenant Governor 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.400 Alexander Spotswood, who not only hated pirates but had a 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.440 fear of them that bordered on irrationality, heard of Blackbeard's 0:14:26.480 --> 0:14:30.120 return and his current company. He claimed that Blackbeard planned 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:33.880 to make Ocracoke the new pirate republic. When no one listened, 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.840 he took matters into his own hands and planned an attack. 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.240 He had no authority over Ocracoke and understood that he'd 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:45.200 beheld accountable for his actions and for violating North Carolina's sovereignty. 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:48.480 To further justify his plan, he also claimed that Governor 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.280 Eden had become corrupt and was in league with the 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.440 pirates for personal gain. Of course, he had no proof, 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.880 but that didn't really matter. Step one was to send 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:01.600 out an expedition to capture both Beard and Governor Eden. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.240 Then he convinced Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:08.480 to hunt down the Queen Anne's Revenge at sea. Since 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.960 he knew he wouldn't get approval from Virginia's governor, Spotswood 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.880 paid all expenses out of his own pockets. He purchased 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:19.320 the Ranger and the Jane, two vessels capable of handling 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:22.080 the shallow waters that were common along the outer banks. 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:25.640 Well not as big as other ships, they still carried cannons, 0:15:26.000 --> 0:15:28.760 and accompanying them was the h M. S. Pearl. With 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.000 a plan in motion, spots would kept the ambush secret 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.560 from the governor, who would most certainly have called off 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:38.280 the attack. Maynard arrived on the southern tip of okrah 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:42.440 Coke after dark on the night of November one, seventeen eighteen. 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.120 By the morning of the surprise attack took a turn 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.320 when the Ranger and the Jane ran ashore, giving black 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:52.640 Beard time to ready his crew and a ship. It 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:56.080 wouldn't be enough, though Maynard's men unbeached the two boats 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.840 and the chase was on. The Revenge had superior firepower. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.600 A short barrage of cannon fire killed the Ranger's captain 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:06.560 and sent several men on the deck of the Jane overboard. 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.560 Realizing that a head to head battle with black Beard 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.920 wouldn't work. Maynard instead chose to set a trap. He 0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.400 ordered the remaining men on board the Jane to go 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:19.520 below deck and hide, and then they quietly waited, hoping 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:22.640 that they'd be boarded instead of taking more fire, and 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:26.000 it worked. Black Beard and his men boarded, not expecting 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:30.560 many survivors. Maynard and his crew charged from below. For 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:34.240 ten minutes, both sides engaged in brutal and bloody battle. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:38.320 Swords clashed and guns were fired. Men without weapons took 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:42.040 the fist fighting. Maynard managed to draw a pistol and 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:46.000 he shot Blackbeard once in the chest. Seemingly unfazed, the 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:50.520 infamous pirate lunged forward, forcing Maynard to retreat. A crewman 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.920 from the Jane rounded the corner and slashed black Beard 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:58.720 across the throat. Finally, another man fired four additional shots, 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:02.200 and black Beard fell to the blood soaked deck. With 0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.400 the famous pirates and most of his crew dead, Maynard 0:17:05.440 --> 0:17:08.960 took everything of value. Then he severed black Beard's head 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.680 and tossed the body overboard. Finally, he mounted the head 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.399 on the bowsprit and returned to Virginia, proudly displaying his 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:22.080 prize like a ghoulish hunting trophy. Naturally, Governor Eden was outraged, 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.360 and it's no surprise that Spots would denied any personal 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.840 involvement in the attack. He hated Blackbeard, and the one 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.920 thing the Lieutenant Governor couldn't do was stop people from 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.879 immortalizing the pirates. I can only imagine how furious that 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:40.680 made him. In seventeen twenty four, Captain Charles Johnson published 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.960 a general History of the robberies and murders of the 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:48.159 most notorious pirates Pirates spelled with the y instead of 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.119 an eye. He took literary license with the life and 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:55.200 times of all pirates, stating that they always buried their treasures. 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:58.919 With black Beard in particular, though, Johnson turned him into 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:03.919 a ruthless, thirsty killer, and from that point on, Johnson's 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.160 fictional depiction of black Beard would obscure the equally dramatic truth, 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.840 and in doing so, it would accomplish the opposite of 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.480 what Spots would had hoped, because while normal men can die, 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:31.760 legends live forever. For centuries, people have searched for black 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:35.520 beards reportedly buried treasure. Sadly, it appears to be a 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:42.040 stereotypical myth. Sorry fortune hunters, but in private salvagers came 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:44.960 across a shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina. The 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:47.920 nearly three year old ship looked to be the Queen 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.280 Anne's revenge. It wouldn't be until two thousand eleven before 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.880 evidence revealed without a doubt that the ship had once 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:57.920 belonged to Blackbeard. Originally built in seventeen ten in England, 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.960 the French had stolen the ship a year later, only 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:04.960 to have it taken from them by Edward Teach. Johnson's 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:09.160 version of black Beard has overshadowed history centuries after his death. 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:13.199 The stories surrounding his brutal end took on a supernatural flare. 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.919 Soon after his demise, reports of his ghost haunting the 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:21.399 coastline scared people half to death. As one British report stated, 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:26.440 he frightened America more than any comment, and in all honesty, 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.000 I can understand why it would have scared people too. 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:32.800 You see, according to the folklore, that final day, Blackbeard's 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.240 severed head called out to his body, and in response, 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:40.320 his body swam around Maynard's boat three times before plunging 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:44.080 into the ocean. Depths on Ocrah Cooke, there's a small 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:46.960 channel of water where it said Blackbeard anchored the Queen 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.639 Anne's revenge. People report seeing him there, swimming in the 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:54.080 waters in search of his head. On stormy nights. They 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:56.679 say you can still hear his voice calling out to 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:02.040 his body. Later in the twentieth century, moviegoers became obsessed 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.440 with black Beard and piracy as a whole. Soon all 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:09.040 pirates took on the stereotype men with black hearts who 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:14.040 spared no one who crossed their path. Pirates were lawless, bloodthirsty, drunkards, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.879 and they lived without rules. Hollywood and popular fiction also 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:22.320 romanticized piracy. In reality, most pirates met a fateful end 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:28.000 soon into their careers. Blackbeards lasted just two years. Historians 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:30.560 have long since pointed to documents and journals of the 0:20:30.640 --> 0:20:34.199 day that portrayed Edward Teach as a cunning strategist, a 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:39.280 brilliant marketer, and a relatively nonviolent man. In two thousand fourteen, 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:43.359 a historian combing through Jamaican maritime records stumbled across a 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:48.240 name Feach, a common variant of the surname Teach. This document, 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:50.960 from seventeen oh six revealed a letter from a man 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:55.080 named Edward Feach aboard a sixty gun ship called the Windsor, 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:59.679 a Royal Navy vessel. The sailor's father had died, leaving 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:03.320 his Alafa state to his eldest son. Typical for the time, 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.359 Feach Senior had owned a sugar plantation in Jamaica, and 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:11.000 back in the seventeen hundreds sugar was known as white gold. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.199 This young man had written to the lawyer handling the 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:17.280 execution of his father's will back home in Bristol, England. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.800 He stated his love and affection for his stepmother Lucretia, 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.119 his sister Rachel, and his brother Thomas, and asked that 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:28.920 the estate be divided among them. Essentially, Edward Teach gave 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.520 up a considerable fortune and instead chose a hard life 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:35.680 on the seas, also that his family back home could 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:39.760 be comfortable. Quite a different picture from the bloodthirsty rogue 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:43.320 that Johnson painted for all of us. But Teach painted 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:45.760 his own picture as well. He did such a good 0:21:45.840 --> 0:21:48.800 job of instilling fear into the hearts of his adversaries 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:52.400 by making himself out to be the devil, and perhaps 0:21:52.600 --> 0:21:55.560 that's why today we still think of him first as 0:21:55.680 --> 0:22:00.600 Blackbeard rather than Edward Teach. One thing is certain, though 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:05.840 years later, the real history doesn't stop us from loving 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:14.600 the legend any less. I think we can all agree 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:17.600 that the world of historical pirates has the potential to 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.199 deliver both thrills and chills. Hopefully today's walk through the 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:24.080 Man behind the Legend of Blackbeard give you a little 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.320 bit of both. And if you were hoping for more, 0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:28.880 then boy, do I have a treat for you. Today's 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:31.400 episode kicks off a brand new season that will take 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:33.120 us all the way to the end of the year, 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.920 exploring all the water logged corners of this unique culture 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:40.199 and cast of characters. But before we wrap things up 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.240 for today, my grim and mild teammate Ali Steed has 0:22:43.320 --> 0:22:46.320 one last treasure to unpack for you. Stick around through 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:54.960 this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. When 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:58.359 it comes to buried treasure, there's one myth that stands 0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:01.760 out from all the rest. Little is known about William 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:05.160 Kidd's early life. He was born in Scotland somewhere around 0:23:05.280 --> 0:23:09.800 sixteen fifty four, either January or October, depending on the source. 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:13.200 By Kid's own account, he had been born in Greeneck. 0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:17.240 He ventured to New York City in search of new opportunity. 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:19.720 Some time after the British took over the area from 0:23:19.720 --> 0:23:23.760 the Dutch. Shortly after his arrival, Sarah Bradley cox Ort, 0:23:24.000 --> 0:23:27.840 a young and wealthy widow, caught his eye. Though they 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:30.840 briefly courted, the sea called and he left again. In 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:35.240 sixteen eighty nine, William Kidd sailed with the privateering crew 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:39.200 who rated ships in the Caribbean. During this particular trip, 0:23:39.320 --> 0:23:42.439 the crew mutinied over poor treatment and made sail to 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:47.200 the British colony of Nevus, a small island neighboring Saint KITT's. Willing, 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:51.639 Kidd became the captain and renamed the ship the Blessed William. 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:55.560 While not fully sanctioned or supported by the British government, 0:23:55.760 --> 0:23:58.879 as long as Kidd and other privateers only rated French 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:01.919 supply ships, the King looked the other way for a 0:24:01.920 --> 0:24:05.199 ten percent fee. Of course, the cruel board the Blessed 0:24:05.240 --> 0:24:08.560 William became quite successful, once taking in what amounted to 0:24:08.640 --> 0:24:12.679 two thousand pounds sterling in a single raid. After months 0:24:12.680 --> 0:24:15.240 at sea, Kid returned to New York to find Sarah 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.159 had been waiting for him. He showered her with gifts 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:21.320 and courted her with long walks, and on May sixteenth 0:24:21.320 --> 0:24:25.080 of six The two wed and settled into a tall 0:24:25.119 --> 0:24:29.159 house on Wall Street. The couple had two daughters and kids. 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:33.800 Privateering ways ensured his beloved family wanted for nothing. They 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:37.639 were the perfect couple except for one thing. Kid had 0:24:37.680 --> 0:24:41.880 another love. Let see, he wanted to hunt the pirates 0:24:41.920 --> 0:24:44.359 that attacked British trade ships in the Red Sea and 0:24:44.400 --> 0:24:48.600 the Indian Ocean. After earning his commission, Kids set sail 0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:52.040 out of Portsmouth in sixte on a galley ship named 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.679 the Adventure. The ship boasted thirty four guns and a 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.000 crew of a hundred men. He lived his dream life, 0:24:59.359 --> 0:25:02.560 and yet he is about to lose everything. While sailing 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:05.320 down the Thames in England, Kid failed to salute a 0:25:05.400 --> 0:25:09.240 naval yacht. In response to the snub, the yacht fired 0:25:09.240 --> 0:25:11.920