Tim Cooke - Blackbeard: A Notorious Pirate in the Caribbean

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cooke, Tim, 1961

Blackbeard : a notorious pirate in the Caribbean / Tim Cooke.

pages cm. (Wanted! Famous outlaws)

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4824-4247-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-4824-4248-9 (6 pack)

ISBN 978-1-4824-4249-6 (library binding)

1. Teach, Edward, -1718Juvenile literature. 2. PiratesNorth CarolinaAtlantic CoastBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. PiratesVirginiaAtlantic CoastBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. North CarolinaHistoryColonial period, ca. 1600-1775Juvenile literature. 5. VirginiaHistoryColonial period, ca. 1600-1775Juvenile literature. I. Title.

F257.T422C66 2016

910.45dc23

[B]

2015029034

Published in 2016 by

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2016 Brown Bear Books Ltd

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Blackbeard was one of the most feared pirates of the 18th century. He terrorized sailors along the Caribbean and North American coasts.

B lackbeards real name was probably Edward Teach. He was thought to have been born in Bristol, England, in around 1680. Experts do not know much about Blackbeards early life. Bristol was a port, so he may have become a sailor before turning to crime. He is first mentioned as a pirate in the Caribbean in 1716. Pirates were thieves who attacked ships at sea and stole their cargo. Sometimes they also seized the ships.

The English Royal Navy defeats the Spanish Armada, or fleet, in 1588. The victory made England the worlds leading naval power.

This hill at Potos in Bolivia was full of gold and silver. The Spanish shipped treasure from their colony in Bolivia across the Atlantic to Spain.

The first pirates

Pirates often operated with the official approval of their countrys government. These pirates were called privateers. Governments wanted privateers to attack ships from other nations. They saw this as a way to weaken their enemies.

Queen Elizabeth I of England (15331603) asked Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a colony in America. She gave him permission to raid Spanish vessels and settlements. Raleigh attacked Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. The Spanish saw Raleigh as a pirate. The English saw him as a hero. Raleigh helped begin the English settlement of North America. By the 1660s English colonies stretched south along the coast from Virginia to the Carolinas.

Privateers Sailors with official permission to raid ships from other countries.

Colony An area under the control of another country.

The success of Englands new colonies was based on naval power. People in the colonies depended on ships for essential supplies. Ships also took goods produced in the colonies back home. European countries built fast, efficient ships. After the English defeated the Spanish fleet in 1588, Englands Royal Navy was the most powerful naval force in Europe. As England increased its colonies in North America and the Caribbean, France and the Netherlands also tried to gain control of territory in the Caribbean islands.

Sir Walter Raleigh was a famous British privateer of the 16th century.

European jealousy

Meanwhile gold and silver from Spains American colonies made Spain rich. The treasure had to be transported to the royal treasury in Spain. Spanish ships could not cross the Atlantic Ocean without breaking their journey to take on supplies. They stopped in the Caribbean. The Carribean was also full of ships bringing slaves from Africa to the New World.

Outlaws of the sea

As the European nations competed for control, the Caribbean became lawless. Merchant ships and their cargo were easy targets for other ships to attack. Many former privateers decided to become pirates. This time, they were not operating on behalf of a government. They stole in order to make money for themselves. Blackbeard was a privateer turned pirate. He quickly became the best known and most feared of all the pirates of the Caribbean.

Slaves harvest sugarcane in the Caribbean. A cargo of slaves was valuable for pirates.

Merchant ships Ships that carry cargo or passengers.

Unknown Beginnings

No one really knows much about Blackbeards early life. Experts have tried to guess some of the details.

H istorians believe Blackbeard was named Edward Teach. He was probably born around 1680 in the port of Bristol, England. Some people think his surname was not Teach at all, but was Thatch. Experts know that as an adult Teach could read and write. This suggests he came from a family that could afford to send him to school. In 17th-century England, wealthier families often sent their sons into the shipping trade or the Royal Navy.

Bristol was an important English port. Ships often sailed from there across the Atlantic.

In the Caribbean

How Teach ended up as the pirate Blackbeard in the Caribbean is a mystery. He may have taken a job on board a ship in Bristol. Experts believe it is more likely he joined the Royal Navy. The navy was growing quickly and taking on many recruits.

A global war

Blackbeards first naval experience probably came in the War of the Spanish Succession (17011714). The part of the war fought in North America between 1702 and 1713 was known as Queen Annes War. The war began as a fight over who should become ruler of Spain. It grew into a fight between Spain and France on one side and Britain, Austria, and some states in what is now Germany on the other. Spain lost much of its territory when it was eventually defeated in 1714.