Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he may have been a sailor on privateer ships during Queen Anne's War before he settled on the Bahamian island of New Providence, a base for Captain Benjamin Hornigold, whose crew Teach joined around 1716. Hornigold placed him in command of a sloop that he had captured, and the two engaged in numerous acts of piracy. Their numbers were boosted by the addition to their fleet of two more ships, one of which was commanded by Stede Bonnet; but Hornigold retired from piracy toward the end of 1717, taking two vessels with him.
1718 (MDCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 1718th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 718th year of the 2nd millennium, the 18th year of the 18th century, and the 9th year of the 1710s decade. As of the start of 1718, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Stede Bonnet was an early 18th-century English/Barbadian pirate, also known as the Gentleman Pirate for the reason that he was a moderately wealthy landowner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. Despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the winter of 1716 or spring of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, the Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships.
Colonel William Rhett was a British-born plantation owner in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He arrived in America in 1694, accompanied by his wife Sarah. Rhett quickly became a prominent rice farmer and member of the South Carolina Assembly.
Charles Vane was an English pirate who operated in the Bahamas during the end of the Golden Age of Piracy.
Richard Worley was a pirate who was active in the Caribbean Sea and the East Coast of the American Colonies during the early 18th century.
See also 1717 in piracy, 1719 in piracy, and Timeline of piracy.
Israel Hands, also known as Basilica Hands, was an 18th-century pirate best known for being second in command to Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. His name serves as the basis for the name of the villainous sidekick in Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island.
Sir Nicholas Trott was an 18th-century British judge, legal scholar and writer. He had a lengthy legal and political career in Charleston, South Carolina and served as the colonial chief justice from 1703 until 1719. He came from a prosperous English family; his grandfather Perient Trott having been a husband of the Somers Isles Company and his uncle Sir Nicholas Trott served as the governor of the Bahamas. Like his nephew, the governor was involved in dealings with pirates, and so, to avoid confusion, is often referred to as Nicholas the Elder.
The Battle of Cape Fear River, or the Battle of the Sandbars, was fought in September 1718 between a British naval expedition from the Province of South Carolina against the pirate ships of Stede Bonnet. British forces defeated the pirates in the Cape Fear River estuary which led to Bonnet's eventual death by hanging in Charleston.
David Herriot was a ship’s master and pirate best known for serving under Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet.
The Flying Gang was an 18th-century group of pirates who established themselves in Nassau, New Providence in the Bahamas after the destruction of Port Royal in Jamaica. The gang consisted of the most notorious and cunning pirates of the time, and they terrorized and pillaged the Caribbean until the Royal Navy and infighting brought them to justice. They achieved great fame and wealth by raiding salvagers attempting to recover gold from the sunken Spanish treasure fleet. They established their own codes and governed themselves independent from any of the colonial powers of the time. Nassau was deemed the Republic of Pirates as it attracted many former privateers looking for work to its shores. The Governor of Bermuda stated that there were over 1,000 pirates in Nassau at that time and that they outnumbered the mere hundred inhabitants in the town.
Charles Yeats was a pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known for sailing alongside and then abandoning Charles Vane.
Lieutenant Richards was a pirate active in the Caribbean and off the Carolinas. He is best known for sailing alongside Blackbeard.
John Cole was a pirate active off the American eastern seaboard. His brief career is associated with Richard Worley and William Moody. He is known more for the unusual cargo of his pirate ship than for his piracy.
Francis Demont was a pirate active in the Caribbean. His trial was important in establishing Admiralty law in South Carolina.
Richard Tookerman was born on 16 May 1691 in Devon, Cornwall, England. He was the son of Josias Tookerman, a clergyman, and younger brother of Josias Tookerman II, a clergyman sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) to Jamaica. He married Katherine Grant, widow of John Grant of Charleston, South Carolina by 1717. As a pirate, smuggler, and trader active in the Caribbean and the Carolinas, he became best known for involvement with pirates Stede Bonnet and Bartholomew Roberts.
Daniel Porter was a pirate and trader active in the Caribbean. He is best known for his associations with Benjamin Hornigold and Bartholomew Roberts.
The Proclamation for Suppressing of Pirates was issued by George I of Great Britain on 5 September 1717. It promised a royal pardon for acts of piracy committed before the following 5 January to those pirates who surrendered themselves to the correct authority before a deadline. Originally, the surrender had to occur on or before 5 September 1718; this was later extended by a second proclamation to 1 July 1719.
