"The Last Days of Blackbeard" Topic

Quite interesting article here.

"…Out of all the pirates who've trolled the seas over the past 3,000 years, Blackbeard is the most famous. His nearest rivals—Capt. William Kidd and Sir Henry Morgan—weren't really pirates at all, but privateers, mercenaries given permission by their sovereign to attack enemy shipping in time of war. Blackbeard and his contemporaries in the early 18th-century Caribbean had nobody's permission to do what they were doing; they were outlaws. But unlike the aristocrats who controlled the British, French and Spanish colonial empires, many ordinary people in Britain and British America saw Blackbeard and his fellow pirates as heroes, Robin Hood figures fighting a rear-guard action against a corrupt, unaccountable and increasingly tyrannical ruling class. So great were these pirates' reputations—daring antiheroes, noble brigands—that they've been sustained ever since, inspiring 18th-century plays, 19th-century novels, and 20th- and 21st-century motion pictures, television shows and pop culture iconography. In his lifetime, Blackbeard—who terrorized the New World and died in a shipboard sword fight with sailors of the Royal Navy—captivated the public imagination like no other. He has never let it go.

And yet Blackbeard's life and career have long been obscured in a fog of legend, myth and propaganda, much of it contained in a mysterious volume that emerged shortly after his death: A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates. Nobody knows for sure who wrote the book—which was published pseudonymously in 1724—but the General History almost single-handedly informed all the accounts that have come since. Parts of it are uncannily accurate, drawn word-for-word from official government documents. Others have been shown to be complete fabrications. For researchers, it has served as a treasure map, but one that leads to dead ends as often as it does to verifiable evidence, which scholars covet like gold.

In recent years, however, researchers have dug up new evidence, buried in the archives of England, France and the Americas, or beneath the sands of the American coast, allowing them to piece together a fuller and extremely compelling picture of Blackbeard and his cohorts, one that shows him to have been a canny strategist, a master of improvisation, a showman, a natural leader and an extraordinary risk taker. "Researchers are often drifting around without a rudder not sure what pirate stories are real," says underwater explorer Mike Daniel, president of the Maritime Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, who found the never-before-published account of the Rose Emelye's capture buried in the Archives Départementales de Loire-Atlantique in Nantes in 2008. "Then all of a sudden you find documents like these and it's like finding an island. There are solid facts beneath your feet."

Many of the discoveries shed light on the final months of Blackbeard's life, when he executed a series of daring schemes that, for a time, kept him one step ahead of his enemies as the golden age of piracy was collapsing all around him. They go a long way in explaining why a pirate active for, at most, five years has managed to grip the public's attention for nearly three centuries…"

Full article here
link

Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

I was just reading that article today, which is worth a look.

Sadly, there's no info on the treasure trove of stuff they're pulling up off the Carolina Coast in it.

Interesting too, to note, is that NBC will be running a pirate series at the end of the year, based upon one of the recent, historical pirate books, which is good news.

Arrrrr!

"Sir Harry Morgan… Sir Edward Teach 'twill be!"

Thanks for the link.

Suppose to be a series coming up on NBC called Crossbones about Blackbeard.
Mark

How could discuss pirates and not list Steve the Pirate as one of the most well known?

I have visited the site in Beaufort, NA on multiple occasions where the stuff is being processes and displayed. Pretty neat stuff!

Lost Pict

Fergive, the lad, he be meanin' Beaufort, NC.

The Outer Banks area off the coast of NC is well worth a trip: Beaufort, the Wright Brothers museum (and hang-glliding) in Kitty Hawk, lots of lighthouses, Fort Macon, Fort Raleigh, the Lost Colony, miles of sandy beaches . . .

Interesting article.

Thanks!
Doug

Glad you enjoyed the article boys!. (smile).

Amicalement
Armand

jpattern2, you don't actually expect a native son of north cackalacky o be able to properly abbreviate "NC" do ya?

;-)

Lost Pict

Very interesting article.I look forward to the new show but am worried as how realistic will it be on a network show.I have the first 2 episodes of Black Sails recorded but haven't watch them yet.Has anybody watched them and what do you think of it?
Mark

Regarding Black Sails: I deleted the series record on my DVR. Massive disappointment.

That doesn't make me happy.
Mark

I saw them. Not for recommend.

Amicalement
Armand

Excellent article. I'm painting some Foundry Pirates now, and this makes for inspirational stuff.

I saw episode 1 of Black Sails and thought it was OK.