No one did more to create the image of a pirate as a murdering rogue than Edward Teach, popularly known as Blackbeard. A privateer who became an out and out pirate, Teach realized above all that terror was the pirate's chief weapon. Blackbeard's terrifying appearance was increased by dense black smoke wafting around his head. It came from smoldering cannon fuses stuffed under his hat. He deliberately made his appearance as terrifying as possible. Seeing him emerge out of a cloud of smoke, with braided beard and covered with weapons, his victims surrendered before a shot was fired. To make sure his captives knew what to expect, he cut the fingers off anyone who hesitated to give him their valuable rings.Teach was just as tough with his crew, slaughtering one every now and again to remind them who was boss. His ship, the 40-gun Queen Anne's Revenge, terrorized the Caribbean from 1717-1718. He beat off a British navy warship, captured four ships in Honduras and held the entire town of Charleston, South Carolina, to ransom.
BLACKBEARD'S BLOODY END In 1718 Governor Spotswood paid Lieutenant Maynard of the Royal Navy to hunt Blackbeard down. Boarding his ship, Maynard fought Blackbeard hand to hand. In a fierce struggle, it took 20 cutlass slashes and five pistol shots to bring the giant down. With Blackbeard's head swinging from his ship's bowsprit, the victor sailed back home in triumph.
