Pirate Museum
THE PIRATES OWN BOOK
"Port Royal," Jamaica:
Pirate Capital of the World
Famous Pirates
Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie Stuff
Blackbeard and his crew of pirates terrorized sailors on the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea from 1716 through 1718. Blackbeard was British, thought to be born before 1690. His real name was Edward Teach.
As a young seaman, he had served on a British privateer that was based in Jamaica, an island in the Caribbean. Queen Anne of Britain allowed Teach's privateer to plunder French and Spanish ships during the War of the Spanish Succession and to keep the stolen goods. By Wars end , Teach had become an experienced sea robber. He then joined a group of fierce Caribbean pirates. It was not long before the cunning, fearless Teach became captain of his own ship - one that he had stolen.
As Teach's power and reputation as the most frightening of pirates grew, so did his beard and hair. Now calling himself Blackbeard, he braided his beard and tied the braids with black ribbons. He stuffed burning rope under his hat to make himself look more ferocious and menacing.
Blackbeard made a home base in North Carolina, a British colony, near a string of islands called the Outer Banks. From there he preyed easily on ships traveling the American coast.
In the fall of 1718 Blackbeard returned from sea to his favorite hideaway off Ocracoke Island. He was hosting a huge, wild pirate get-together with dancing, drinking and bonfires. Other famous pirates sailed in for the days long event.
News of the pirate bash reached the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, who decided that the time had come to stop Blackbeard once and for all. He sent two small swift sloop ships,
commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy
assigned to Ocracoke.
In the early morning hours, the tide rising, the two British sloops started moving in on the pirate ship still unmoving by the shore. Then Blackbeard laughing started moving along an unseen canal between a sandbar and the shore. The ships all started firing on each other. One sloop was totally disabled , the other damaged. Maynard , pretending to be deserted, allowed Black beard and crew to board. A battle began, Blackbeard and Maynard came face to face, cutlass and pistol in hand. Blackbeard shot and missed, Maynard fired and hit his mark, Blackbeard still swinging at Maynard had his throat slit from behind by another seaman.
As a warning to other pirates, Blackbeards head was cut off and hung from the bow of Maynard's sloop.
In the late 17th century, Port Royal, Jamaica, was the wickedest, richest city in the Western Hemisphere.
The city was first built on a piece of land guarding what we know as Kingstown Harbor. It was built originally to protect British interests in the New World. But with the easy access to the trade routes and a good, deep harbor it was a perfect base for pirates. The British government, stationed an inadequate amount of troops to protect Port Royal, so they also relied on the pirates for protection of the city.
The wealth in the city was considerable. Merchants and tradesmen of all types were flocking to the city. At the height of Port Royal's Popularity it is said to have had a tavern for every ten people. There were about 200 buildings in the city on 51 acres, which would have the buildings crammed tightly together. Most buildings were three or four stories tall.
At least 6500 and possibly as many as 10,000 people were estimated to have lived in Port Royal in it's golden age.
June 7th, 1692 the city had three large earthquakes between 11 am and noon, unlike any they had had in the past. The earthquakes swallowed up at least 2/3's of the city, before the tsunami that followed hit and wiped out the ships in the harbor and the rest of the city.
struck fear into all Seafaring men.
for all to see!
Pirate
Maps
Blackbeard & Maynard
Tortuga is an island located in the Caribbean. Along with Port Royal ,it was the strongest and safest pirate port in the mid 17th century.
Also called Turtle Island, because of its shape.
At first there were a few Spanish colonists living on the island. Then the French and English arrived in 1625, and started setting up plantations. The pirates saw the value in slave trading in 1633. The island was split between the French and the English, with years of spuratic fighting with the Spanish.
In 1640 the pirates started calling themselves "The Brethern of the Coast"
Today the island belongs to "Haiti", it is 25 miles long by 4.5 miles wide and 1,522 feet above sea level at its highest point.
Around 1670 alot of the pirates started trading in wood, shipping it from the Island.
Pirating was starting to die off as revenues started developing in legal business.
Doubloons
The First Buccaneers' Haven
WOMEN PIRATES
