Boom! A pirate ship fires its cannon. The explosion rocks a nearby merchant ship. Bullets fly. The grenades explode. A wounded helmsman staggers. He lets go of the ship's rudder and the ship rocks wildly out of control. Flames are everywhere. The pirates, shouting curses and threats, board the merchant ship. Axes and sabers swing. Hissing through his teeth, Blackbeard, one of the most feared pirates ever, leaps onto the merchant deck. He is tall and padded belts of pistols and daggers cross his large chest. Black ribbons flutter from the braids of his beard and terrified sailors flee. Blackbeard and his fearsome crew have pirated another ship. Blackbeard was a pirate not to be trifled with. Blackbeard wasn't always a pirate. His real name was Edward Teach and he was born in 1680. When Edward was a young sailor he had clashed with a British privateer (a legalized pirate) in Jamaica. His mission was to attack French and Spanish ships during the Spanish War (he was allowed to keep the stuff he found). By the time the war ended in 1813, Edward was experienced in the art of plunder at sea. Like many previous privateers, he decided to become a pirate. With his tall figure and booming voice, Edward was a terrifying pirate. Blackbeard was under the command of another pirate for several years before becoming captain. In 1716 Edward was sailing under the famous (at least famous at the time) pirate captain, Benjamin Thornigold. These two pirates terrorized the Indies and the American coasts for a year before the two scoundrels parted company. They separated after Edward took control of a large French ship called La Concorde and renamed her Queene Anne's Revenge. He became captain of this great ship and transformed it into a pirate wa...... middle of paper......or frighteningly some even called him the son of the devil. Another legend says that Blackbeard buried treasure before he died. It is unlikely that he buried any treasure because he probably spent it on rum and other pirate stuff. Works Cited http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pirates/bbeard.html http://latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/Pirates/ tp/Ten-Facts-About-Blackbeard-The-Pirate.htm http:// www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/466/entry http://www.piratedocuments.com/Admiralty%20Reports/blackbeards_history_1718.htm http:// /www.ehow.com/info_7977522_blackbeard-pirate-children.html http:// latinamericanhistory.about.com/od/TheGoldenAgeofPiracy1700-1725/tp/The-Five-Most-Successful-Pirates.htm http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/Blackbeard.html http://www.qaronline.org/History/ StoryofBlackbeard.aspx http://www.qaronline.org/History/StoryofBlackbeard.aspx