(Edward Teach)

c. 1680
November 22, 1718

Pirate

The famous pirate Blackbeard sailed the waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic Oceans between 1716 and 1718. According to legend, he was a vicious murderer who tortured his victims and showed little mercy. In 1997 a sunken ship was discovered off the North Carolina coast that is believed to be Blackbeard’s vessel, Queen Anne’s Revenge. The find generated new interest in the pirate. Scholars now believe that the seafaring renegade did not resemble the “brother of the devil” portrayed by legend. (See original entry on Blackbeard in Outlaws, Mobsters, & Crooks, Volume 3.)

Reconstructing history

Artifacts salvaged from shipwrecked vessels have provided archaeologists (scientists who study people or cultures by examining artifacts) with new information about pirates. Aided by these valuable finds, scientists are piecing together a more accurate picture of pirates than that painted by legend. Historians, too, are taking a...