- English authorities tap Woodes Rogers to put a stop to the pirate attacks. Black Sam Bellamy suffers a cruel fate at the height of his success.
- Morice and Woodes know that the pirates are decimating trade. They were threatening the economy and the security of the colonies themselves. There was just no way of avoiding the pirates. Woodes says that the Whydah was captured with the assistance of freed slaves. Nassau is becoming a safe haven for slaves. The colonies were also afraid that stories of slave freedom could cause the slave populations in the colonies to rise up against their masters. The slaves outnumbered the Europeans by many to one in all colonies. Hope was a dangerous thing in these places.
Woodes is an experienced seaman. He was one of the few people to have circumnavigated the globe. He was a man who had seen danger. He was a privateer and was shot in the face with a musket. Woodes lost a few teeth and swallowed his own jawbone.
Woodes's plan was to drive the pirates out of Bahamas and install himself as the Governor. Hornigold changes tactics and calls open season on English shipping. Hornigold's decision is a game changer, and he quickly captures a large English ship called the Bonnet and makes it his flagship. Together, Hornigold and Edward capture another large English ship. Hornigold agonizes over this betrayal to the English crown.
Meanwhile, the Whydah has made Bellamy unstoppable. In March 1717, Bellamy and Paulsgrave capture a sloop captained by a man named Beer off North Carolina. Beer is a decent fellow, and Bellamy wanted to return the ship to Beer after looting it. But his crew disagreed. The ship is burned at sea. Bellamy is not happy with his authority being superseded by a vote and decides that it is time visit Mary. Bellamy did not know that Mary had been arrested by the police.
Mary is accused of infanticide. She is flogged at the stake as punishment by puritan preacher Cotton Mather (Thomas Mailand). Mary curses Bellamy for not coming to rescue her. She is driven out of town. Mary goes insane and is known as the Witch of Eastham.
Apr 26th, 1717. Bellamy's fleet is engulfed by the fog. Sailors are superstitious and fear the weather the most. Under the cover of fog, a terrible storm approached. The Whydah is being pushed by the strong winds towards the shores of Cape Cod. The ship crashed on the shores of Cape Cod. Of the 160 souls on board only 2 survived the crash. Bellamy was not among the survivors, and he was only 28 years old. He was the richest pirate in history.
The 8 survivors from the Marianne arrive in town at Boston and are arrested. Hornigold learns a few weeks later about the fate of the Whydah and the Marianne. Paulsgrave survived as his ship missed the storm and made it back to Nassau. Jennings informs Hornigold that the 8 survivors from the Marianne are being held in Boston and will be executed by hanging.
Cotton Mather tortures the 2 survivors at Cape Cod. All the survivors are hanged at Boston (Cape Cod and Boston are not far from each other), in the largest hanging of pirates in history. Edward plans his revenge on Boston, but he needs more firepower. Stede Bonnet (Christopher Keegan) arrives in Boston. Bonnet came with his own ship, The Revenge. He came from a wealthy family. Bonnet was looking for a Captain for his large ship and Edward was looking for a ship. It was an ideal match.
Edward captains the Revenge and wreaks havoc on all ships sailing out of Boston. He runs his ship as a democracy and takes care of all his crew members, even the ones who were formerly slaves. He treats them all equally. Edward had Syphilis. Edward had captured Dr John Howell (Robert Ryan) on one of the Boston ships and makes him provide treatment. Syphilis is brutal and eats at the soft tissues of the body. There was no cure, and most victims went mad before dying. Edward continues to terrorize British shipping and creates an existential crisis for the Empire. The Royal Navy was now outgunned by the pirates.
Woodes proposes a private company well-armed with ships, under his command, to hunt for pirates. Woodes also plans to pardon the pirates when captured. The pardon would have created a sense of confusion among the pirates. This was meant to divide the pirates. The news is huge in Nassau as many pirates had chosen that path of out desperation. Jennings understands the play and meets Hornigold for a parley.
Edward starts going mad with the syphilis and his eccentricities earn him the name Blackbeard. He became a terrifying vision of hell and fury.
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