Pirates were often depicted inaccurately in movies and stories. In reality, they rarely buried treasure, swung between ships, or made people walk the plank. While some pirates like Blackbeard were truly fearsome, most lost limbs in battles and did not have hooks for hands. Pirates democratically elected captains and signed contracts detailing shares of plunder. Some women also took up piracy, dressing and fighting as men.

1. PIRATES

2. The Jolly Roger Flies!
.

3. Pirates are evil
thieves, murderers,
liars, kidnappers,
rapists, terrorists,
and torture
experts.
There is no such
thing as a “good
pirate.”
Please remember…

4. What do you know about pirates?
• Did pirates have parrots?
–Sure. Monkeys were popular, too!
• Did pirates have peg legs & hooks?
–Yes, many lost limbs, but
few had hooks.
• Did pirates “grapple” & swing
from boat to boat?
–Not really, usually ships would launch
the long boats. But it happened.
–They usually didn’t swing from boat to
boat; it doesn’t work.
–They didn’t slide down sails w/ knives.

5. • Did pirate ships get close
together and fire cannons
from just feet away? It’s
in all the cool pirate movies?
–Maybe once, but that
would be a really dumb
maneuver.

6. • Did pirates make people walk the plank?
–No, there’s only one recorded
instance of this, & historians are
skeptical about it.
• A pirate’s favorite sword:
–Cutlass: short but practical (keeps
out of ropes)
–Daggers were handy, broadswords
popular
–Rapiers: good for duels
–Boarding axes & pikes too!

7. • Did they shoot silverware out cannons?
–Silverware, probably
not. Nails, chains,
other bits of shrapnel
sure.
*Did they use a lot of guns?
–Yes, but guns were
very unreliable. They
became wet easily &
wouldn’t work. Most pirates carried
several pistols.

8. It’s all about the booty…
Practical and common plunder:
• Food and water supplies
• Cloth for sails and markets
• Spare parts and pieces for
the ship (masts, ropes,
lumber, etc.)
• Slaves (to be sold or used)
The treasure:
• Reales or Pesos:
– Silver Spanish
coins
– “eight reales”
coin became
known as “pieces
of eight”
• Escudos:
– Gold Spanish
coins
– The “eight
escudo” coin
became known as
“doubloon”
• Ingot:
– Gold or silver
cast into a bar

9. Types of Pirates:
Pirate or Privateer?
Privateer: Has
a legal
commission
from a govt
to attack &
seize cargo
from enemy
vessels or
villages
Pirate: Illegal
criminals who
attacked and
plundered any
vessel or costal
village
Buccaneer:
– Boucaner: French
term for process of
curing strips of meat
over a barbeque
– Buccaneers were
thugs, outlaws, and
hunters of wild oxen
and pig on Hispaniola
– Eventually left island
after food shortages
and being pushed out
by authorities: took
to the seas
– Term for pirates in
Caribbean region
Corsair:
– Pirates in the
Mediterranean and
European areas

10. The pirate’s life for me!• Treasure! Gold! Jewels! A quick way to
make it to the good life of wine, food, &
luxury. It’s all about the booty!
• Easy way to get money to spend in the
brothels & taverns
• Some forced into it after pirate
attacks—carpenters, surgeons
• No jobs for sailors during times of peace
• Drinking led them to it!
– John Archer, before his hanging in 1724, admitted that “strong drink had
hardened him into committing crimes that were more bitter than death to
him”
– William White, before his execution on the same day, said that “drunkenness
had been his ruin, and he had been drunk when he was enticed aboard a
pirate ship”

11. Pirate Flags
• Black = Quarter given (We’ll be “gentle”)
• Red = No quarter given (We’ll kill and
possibly torture everyone on board)
Typical skull & cross bones flown by
Edward England
Arm & sword flown by Edmund Cook,
Thomas Tew, Christopher Moody

12. Henry Avrey’s flags
More Pirate Flags
One of Christopher Moody’s flags
Edward Low’s Flag

13. More Pirate Flags
Calico Jack’s flag
Notice the resemblance
between this flag and the flag
from Pirates of the Caribbean
Blackbeard’s
flag:
Devil skeleton
toasting while
stabbing a
heart

14. More Pirate Flags The Jolly Roger:
•Jolie Rouge: Red or bloody
flag
•Ali Raja: Tamil pirate
captain
•“Old Roger”: the devil
Two of Bartholomew
Robert’s flags
The two skulls represent
two Caribbean island that
fought against Roberts

15. Pirates were democratic:
• They elected captains!
• They could rescind their choice!
• Crew determined the course
of action:
– Fight, retreat, go to Madagascar, go to
New England
• The captain made sure
the ship went smoothly:
courses, battle positions
, strategy, argument
disputes, money, etc.

16. Articles and Contracts
“No prey, no pay!”
Pirates signed articles: contracts that
determine duration& compensation:
•Carpenter or shipwright: salary of 100-150 pieces of 8
•Surgeon: salary of 200-250 pieces of 8
•Captain: 5-6 shares plus a salary
•Master’s mate: 2 shares
•Crew: 1 share
•Any boys: ½ share
Honest about making sure everyone had
their “fair share”—those who lied or
concealed: turned out of the company!

17. Compensation for Injuries:
• Loss of starboard side arm: 600 pieces of eight
• Loss of portside arm: 500 pieces of eight
• Loss of starboard leg: 500 pieces of eight
• Loss of port leg: 400 pieces of eight
• Loss of an eye or finger: 100 pieces of eight

18. Buried Treasure & X-Marks the Spot!
*Pirates rarely ever
buried their treasure.
• Most squandered their
shares with drink &
prostitutes.
• Some hoarded their
shares to live the
good life, but… most
wasted it & had to
ship out again!
There are three recorded
examples of buried
treasure:
• Captain Kidd
• Captain Stratton
• Sir Francis
Drake

19. The pirates who liked to dig…
• Captain Stratton
wasn’t a pirate:
– a crooked captain
who made furtive
and underhanded
deals with pirates
– He was captured
for his deceptions
• Sir Francis Drake wasn’t a
pirate:
– A privateer who had
permission to plunder
Spanish towns and ships.
– Returned from a profitable
attack on a mule train at
Nombre de Dios
– Drake found his ship sailed
away after being attacked
– He buried the treasure,
went for the ship, and
unburied it that afternoon.

20. A fewother big scores*
• “Black Sam” Bellamy
– Close to $400 million
retrieved (modern
value) from the
wrecked Whydah
• Blackbeard
– Capture more than 20
ships in pirate career
– After his fall, £2,500
total, including the sale
of his sloop, collected
*Figures from Cordingly
Artistconceptionof“BlackSam”Bellamy

21. EDWARD TEACH or Blackbeard
• Born in Bristol,
England
• Started sailing
career as a
merchant sailor &
privateer
• Active during
1713-1718
• Based in the
Bahamas & Carolina
coast

22. EDWARD TEACH
• Fearsome pirate
who had an
intimidating physical
presence.
– Black beard with
braids
– Placed lit fuses in
his beard
– “looked like the
devil”
• Armed to the teeth
• Sling of 6 guns
• Sword
• Knives

23. Blackbeard!
AKA:
---Edward Teach---Edward Thatch---
---Edward Drummond---Edward Tach---
---Edward Tash---

24. EDWARD TEACH
• Converted slave ship Concordia into the
Queen’s Anne Revenge
• Had a crew of 300 men between 3 ships
• Blockaded Charlestown harbor in order
to get supplies for
his men
• Killed in battle off
of Carolina coast by
Captain Maynard

25. • Isles of Shoals off the NH coast:
–A great place fortrade
–Honeymooned with Martha
(one of 14 wives) on
Smuttynose Island
–He left her there to guard
a treasure
–She died of illness, but many say his
treasure is still there, as is the
ghost of Martha who wails, “You will
come back!”

26. Blackbeard’s Final Battle…
• British Navy sent
Robert Maynard
after him
• “Damnation seize
my soul if I give
you quarter or take
any from you.”
• Maynard’s men
board and attack
Blackbeard

27. Blackbeard’s Final Battle…
• Blackbeard : either shot by Maynard or
decapitated by a Scotsman under
Maynard
• Maynard tied Blackbeard’s head to his
Bowsprit & sailed home
• Blackbeard’s body:
20 serious cuts & 5 shot
• Legend: Blackbeard’s
headless body swam
around the boat several
times after it was dumped
overboard

29. Women pirates
• Anne Bonny:
–Left her husband for pirate
John Rackham (“Calico Jack”)
–Had a child with him
• Mary Read:
– Raised as a boy, fought in
land armies & on ships
–Joined with Anne & Calico
Jack after her ship was
captured

30. THE LADIES
• Both sailed fought dressed as men
• William was captured, the rest of the
crew wanted to surrender, but Anne &
Mary urged them to fight
• Both found guilty of piracy
–Both escaped hanging because of
pregnancy
–Mary Read died of fever in prison
–Anne Bonny’s & her child’s fate are
unknown

31. A few other lady pirates:
• Grace O’Malley
1500ad
– Cut her hair short
for sailing
– After her husband
died, “Granuaille”
took control of her
family’s fleet
– “Grany Imallye”
eventually
arrested
– Befriended Queen
Elizabeth I who let
her go
• Ms Ching (Early 1800’s)
– Perhaps the most
successful pirate ever!
– Nearly 1,000 ships in
her fleet!
– Harsh & cruel: stiff
punishments, no mercy
to victims
– China forced to hire
ships from Europe to
help stop her
– Secured a treaty:
pirates walk away with
plunder but turn in
boats and weapons
– More than 17,000
pirates in her force

32. Pirate Movies
The Black Pirate, 1926
Captain Blood, 1935
Fire over England, 1937
The Sea Hawk, 1940
The Black Swan, 1942
Captain Kidd, 1945
Treasure Island, 1950
Captain Horatio Hornblower, 1951
The Last of the Buccaneers, 1951
The Crimson Pirate, 1952
Blackbeard the Pirate, 1952
Errol Flynn as
Captain Blood

33. Against All Flags, 1952
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, 1952
Morgan the Pirate, 1961
Pirates of Tortuga, 1961
The King’s Pirate, 1967
Swashbuckler, 1976
Nate and Hayes, 1983
The Princess Bride, 1987
Magic Island, 1995
Cutthroat Island, 1995
Muppet Treasure Island, 1996
Pirates of the Caribbean, 2003
and thar be even more!

34. Pirates of the
Caribbean:
Dead Man’s Chest

35. Bartholomew Roberts
• aka “Black Bart”
Roberts
• Active from 1719-1722
• English
• Began sailing career as
sailor on a slave ship
• Main ship was the Royal
Fortune

36. Bartholomew Roberts
• Based off of the West
Coast of Africa
– Known for capturing
goods headed for
Africa
– Captured slave ships
and freed them
• Known for looking like
a “gentlemen pirate”
– Very well dressed etc…

37. Bartholomew Roberts
 Accomplishments
 Captured over 470
vessels
 He and his crew created
articles which governed
the ship
 The most successful
pirate of his age (1700’s)
 Killed in sea battle off of
West African Coast
 Last notable pirate of the
Golden Age

38. The one who inspiredstories of buriedtreasure…
Captain William Kidd:
• Not a pirate, at least he
would say he wasn’t!
• Became a privateer
– Wealthy businessmen
and politicians paid for
the outfitting of 34 gun
Adventure Galley
– Even King William III
got in on the deal
– Had permission to
attack French pirate
ships
– Kidd decided to sail to
the Red Sea & the
Indian Ocean
• Set sail in 1696 in Adventure
Galley
• Captain Kidd ended up with
a quickly-gathered crew of
misfits and ex-pirates
• Expedition suffered nearly
two years of bad weather,
sickness, and a lack of prizes
(plunder)

39. Captain Kidd…
Jan. 30, 1698: Quedah
Merchant.
--Kidd flew a French flag:
Quedah Merchant responded
similarly, flying a French flag
as well, despite belonging to
Armenians.
--Kidd had permission to attack
French vessels.
--Kidd’s ruse allowed him to
attack on a technicality:
--The captain was British
--The boat belonged to a high
Indian official
--Kidd also attacked Sedgwick of
the East India Trading Co.
• Kidd eventually dumped
the rotting, damaged
Adventure Galley and took
the Quedah Merchant,
renamed Adventure Prize
• Kidd had a few more
adventures and
associated with other
pirates
• Kidd found out that
England was unhappy
with him and sent ships to
arrest him
• Kidd sold Adventure Prize
and goods, bought a
sloop, sailed home to wife
and kids in NY

40. • Back in NY, Kidd dispersed
funds to wife and friends
• A few witnesses saw some
heavily-laden long boats
launch from his sloop and
land on Gardiners Island.
• Kidd arrested and sent to
England, received no help
from backers of his
expedition
• Spent several year in
solitary confinement on
ships and in Newgate
prison
• Charged with:
– Piracy: he illegally attacked
and plundered 5 ships
– Walloping William Moore in
the head with a bucket and
killing him (Cordingly 183)
• Kidd had 2 weeks to
prepare his defense
– Asked for papers, but the
license to attack French
vessels was missing
Captain Kidd…

41. • Found guilty on all
charges
– “My lord, it is a very hard
sentence. For my part, I am
the innocentest person of
them all, only I have been
sworn against by perjured
persons” (Cordingly 189).
– Hanged at Execution Block
in London, then his corpse
was hung in chains at
Tilbury Point on the
Thames
• Kidd’s treasure amounted
to nearly £400,000 but
only £40,000 were found
Captain Kidd…

42. Pirate families
• Most pirates didn’t have
families
• Henry Avery had a wife
and two kids
• William Kidd had a wife
and two “Kidds”
• Blackbeard had 14
wives—maybe.
• Most pirates didn’t have
time or were more
interested in “other”
women
Considered bad luck to have
women on board.
There were anywhere from 30-
200 male pirates on a ship
(depending on size).

43. “Only the devil and I know the
whereabouts of my treasure,
and the one of us who lives the
longest shall take it all.” ARRGH!

44. • http://www.history.com/videos/life-aboard-a-
pirate-ship#life-aboard-a-pirate-ship