The late 1600s to the early 1700s were the golden age for pirates and privateers. Most of the ones you've heard about - like Sir Francis Drake and Blackbeard - used the Islands of the Bahamas as their port at one time or another. the Islands of the Bahamas made an ideal home base for pirates and privateers. The numerous islands and islets with their complex shoals and channels provided excellent hiding places for the plundering ships. And since the Islands of the Bahamas were close to well-travelled shipping lanes, it gave the buccaneers plenty of opportunities to steal from merchant ships.
Famous Pirates
The distinction between privateers and pirates was blurred, since at some point in their careers, they oftentimes would switch from working on one side of the law to working on the other. In theory, privateers only attacked enemy ships at the request of their government and sent the spoils of war back to their monarch. Pirates, on the other hand, were indiscriminate and preyed upon any vessel unlucky enough to cross their path. Historical records about individual rogues often contradict each other and are inaccurate at best, with myths obscuring the truth. The following is as accurate as possible, but you might enjoy checking the details out (or maybe even visiting) the Pirates Museum on Nassau/Paradise Island.
Blackbeard
One of the most notorious pirates of all time was Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard. An unusually large man, he struck terror in his own crew and in those he attacked. Before battle, Edward Teach would weave hemp into his long, black beard and light it. The sight of his smoking form standing on deck - displaying numerous swords, knives and pistols - was enough to make many merchantmen surrender before any shots were fired. If they gave up without a fight, Blackbeard would confiscate their valuables and weapons - letting them sail away without bloodshed. However, if the crew showed any resistance, he would either kill or maroon them, leaving them abandoned on a deserted island. When Blackbeard lived in Nassau, fellow pirates appointed him as the magistrate of their "Privateers' Republic." He enforced his own style of law and justice until Royal Governor Woodes Rogers arrived in 1718. Blackbeard was out to sea when Rogers eradicated all of the pirates from Nassau, so he moved to another spot in the Caribbean and continued his raids. In 1718, a British ship trapped Blackbeard's on a sandbar off the coast of Virginia. A bloody battle ensued in which Blackbeard received "five pistol balls and 20 cutlass wounds" before he expired. The Royal Navy captain then decapitated Blackbeard and displayed his head on the ship's rigging. Although his pirating career only lasted about five years, it is believed that Blackbeard captured 40 ships and his legend lives on today.
Calico Jack
John Rackham, called Calico Jack for the striped pants and coat he wore, was best known for his association with two female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Calico Jack's pirating activities began when he took control of Charles Vane's ship. Vane, the pirate captain of the ship Treasure, had failed to attack a French man-of-war. Infuriated, Calico Jack set up a protest that was supported by fellow crew members. Calico Jack then placed Vane and his supporters on a small sloop and sent them on their way. Thus, the former quartermaster became the new captain. Sometime later, Calico Jack met Anne Bonny on the island of New Providence. He persuaded her to leave her husband and she joined him on his ship dressed as a man. (Mary Read, disguised as a man, was already part of Calico Jack's crew.) Anne and Mary were both on board when one of Royal Governor Woodes Rogers' pirate-hunters attacked their ship in 1720. During the fight, Calico Jack cowered in the hold along with the crew, leaving Anne and Mary topside trying to fend off the attackers. They lost the battle and Calico Jack was sentenced and hanged.
Sir Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan, a Welsh privateer, was famous for his exploits against the Spanish. He led his crew on many successful and profitable raids - including a spectacular attack on Panama City in 1670 that earned him a knighthood. A few months later, Henry Morgan settled in Port Royal, Jamaica as its deputy governor and pursued his life as a rich sugar plantation owner. On the Bahamian island of Andros, the highest point on the island is called Morgan's Bluff as a tribute to the famous buccaneer. Although highly unlikely, some say Henry Morgan once hung a lantern from there to lure a ship onto the reefs and to plunder it after it wrecked.
Treasure
Slow-moving merchant ships - especially Spanish galleons weighed down with riches plundered from Central and South America - were easy prey for pirates. After removing the stolen cargo, they hid it in the numerous limestone caverns dotting the Islands of the Bahamas or buried it somewhere. Rumors of treasure still hidden in the Islands of the Bahamas exist today. British pirate William Catt, for instance, is supposed to have buried loot on his namesake, Cat Island. And Sir Henry Morgan, a wealthy privateer who preferred the island of Andros, is said to have buried treasure throughout the Islands of the Bahamas.
Paradise
The city of Nassau with its sheltered, all-weather harbour, was the perfect haven for pirates and privateers. Originally established as a commercial port around 1670, it was soon overrun by lawless, seafaring men. Over the years Nassau became a notorious stronghold for pirates, privateers and wreckers - people who used false "lighthouses" to lure ships onto the reefs and then confiscated the cargo. For almost 40 years, pirates like Blackbeard, Henry Morgan and Calico Jack Rackham raided so many Spanish galleons that in retaliation Spanish troops destroyed the town in 1695. Two years later, settlers rebuilt Nassau with the goal of making it a privateering capital. However, the French and Spanish navies joined forces and wiped out the town for the second time in 1703 because British privateers continued to plunder their countries' merchant ships. Looting heavily-laden cargo ships as they passed by on the nearby shipping lanes was a lucrative business, so it wasn't long before pirates once again reestablished Nassau for themselves. Complaints of piracy kept rolling in, so in 1718 the King of England appointed Woodes Rogers as Royal Governor of the islands to restore order. Rogers, a former privateer, offered amnesty to all those who surrendered - those who didn't would be hanged and their ships sunk. After a brief battle with Rogers' four battleships, 300 pirates surrendered and the rest fled.
Women Pirates
Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Anne Bonny's pirating days began when she met Calico Jack Rackham on the island of New Providence. She left her husband, James Bonny, for pirate captain Calico Jack. Disguising herself in men's clothes, Anne joined Jack on his ship and soon earned the reputation of being as ruthless and fearless as the other pirates on board. Remarkably, there was another female pirate on the same ship. Disguised as a man, Mary Read had joined Calico Jack's crew sometime earlier. From an early age, Mary Read had craved adventure. By the time she met Anne Bonny she had been in the regiment of a man-of-war, had been a sailor on a shipping vessel and had been part of the crew on a privateer. By all accounts, Anne Bonny and Mary Read were as brave and daring as the men who fought beside them. In 1720, Captain Burnet, a pirate-hunter commissioned by Royal Governor Woodes Rogers, attacked their ship. The crew, which was drunk at the time, huddled in the hold while the two women fought off the attackers. They were unsuccessful and everyone was tried for piracy and sentenced to death. Claiming pregnancy, Anne and Mary avoided an immediate hanging, although Mary eventually died in her prison cell from a fever. Anne gave birth to her baby and, for some reason, was granted a reprieve. She disappeared and was never heard of again.
