Blackbeard:
The most feared pirate of the
Atlantic
Presented by Carol Holden and Tanya Klanert
The Beginning of Blackbeard
• No one is sure exactly where Blackbeard was born.
He could have been born in one of two places,
Bristol, England or the island of Jamaica
•Blackbeard’s real name has also
been hard to discover, however,
Edward Teach is the most
common in documents about
Blackbeard.
• He was an active privateer for the British, spying
on French ships during the Spanish War. Privateers
were used to attack enemy ships.
• Becoming a privateer was the first step in
Blackbeard’s piracy.
For more information about Blackbeard’s life, link to http://www.blackbeardlives.com/day1/bio.shtml
The Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR)
One of the largest
pirates ship to ever
sail. The Queen
Anne’s Revenge was
the ship Blackbeard
captained.
• Before Blackbeard claimed the ship, it is
believed to have been sailed in England.
• The QAR left Africa with gold dust, silver,
jewels, and slaves on board.
• It was captured by Blackbeard during its
voyage from Africa.
• The ship could hold up to 300 tons (600,000
pounds), was armed with 40 different cannons,
and had a crew of 150 pirates.
• Blackbeard captured the QAR in November
1717 in the Caribbean.
•He used the QAR as his prime weapon during
the height of his reign of terror.
• The QAR is known to have taken at least 18
ships as "prizes."
• It is believed that Blackbeard and his crew
removed most of the booty of gold and silver
before they left the ship.
• The QAR wrecked in June 1718 at Beaufort
Inlet, North Carolina. The crew abandoned the
ship.
After he captured the QAR, Blackbeard
flew his flag from for all to see.
A pirate’s flag is known as a jolly roger. The
above picture is Blackbeard’s jolly roger.
Life as a Pirate
It is thought that
Blackbeard’s home
was a big white
house located on
the inlet in
Beaufort, NC. This
is a picture of his
house. Today it is
known as the
“Hammock House”
The Blockade
Blackbeard’s largest accomplishment was the
blockade he set up outside of Charleston, SC. He
stretched his vessels across the harbor and
made demands of the town for money, supplies
and medicine. The blockade wore on for weeks,
and without firing a shot, Blackbeard slowly
received what he came for.
Abandoning the QAR
• In 1718, he sailed it into the Beaufort Inlet. It
was there that he intentionally ran the ship
aground. In reality, he was planning another
theft of booty, but this time it was from his own
crew. He took the treasure and his favorite crew
members and abandoned the ship in the inlet to
be taken away by the ocean tide.
• Blackbeard and the crew he took with him,
sailed another ship up Pamlico Sound to the town
of Bath.
Blackbeard’s
Death
• Blackbeard missed being
a pirate and soon started
sailing the North Carolina
and Virginia coast again
with another ship and
searched for other ships
to attack.
• He settled on Ockracoke
Island near Cape
Hatteras.
• The Royal Navy found
Blackbeard’s ship
anchored at his favorite
spot and attacked.
• Both sides lost crew
members in the battle.
• Eventually Blackbeard
was killed in battle by
the Royal navy.
• Blackbeard's head was
cut off and his body
thrown overboard where
legend has that it swam
around the ship several
times before sinking.
For more legends link to http://www.icw-net.com/tales/
• Blackbeard's Ship is still underwater in just 20
feet of water off of Fort Macon.
• Some cannon and artifacts from the QAR have
been recovered from the wreckage.
• Some smaller items, such as the stones in the
picture below that have been found are on display
at the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort, NC.
For more photos of artifacts link to
http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/blackbeard/artifacts.htm
“Only the devil and I
know the whereabouts
of my treasure, and the
one of us who lives the
longest shall take it all.”
ARRGH!