Black Beard. The Man, the Myth, the Legend.

Pirate Black Beard is known by many, but not everyone knows of his true name Edward Thatch. Well known for his smoking beard and ways of savagery on the high seas, he was also known for his victorious corsair. His most famous ship and the victories he experienced because of this ship was named Queen Anne's Revenge. 

The ship was acquired by Blackbeard in 1717.                       

Originally a slave ship owned by the French, Black Beard saw this ship as a perfect addition to his crew.
And right he was. The year he a claimed this ship as his own, Blackbeard won several battles and many riches.

Interestingly enough, this ship has been archaeologically
preserved. Sometime in 1718 the infamous ship ended up and the bottom of the Beaufort Inlet off the coast of North Carolina. Miraculously, the remains were discovered hundreds of years later and were added to the U.S National Register of Historic Places.

Dozens of artifacts were extracted from the ship wreck and were preserved and studied by the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Some items recovered from the shipwreck were gold, two 2000 pound cannons, a 12 foot-long anchor and 22 guns. The archaeological team at NCDCR assured that the conservation of these items remained intact. Queen Anne's Revenge remains as a part of the National Registry of Historic Places and is owned by the state of North Carolina.

https://www.qaronline.org/conservation
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/8/110829-blackbeard-shipwreck-pirates-archaeology-science/

Pirates Who Misbehave

  

 

The death penalty has been around since BC. And the practice of killing people as a result of committing crimes is still used to this day. So it's no surprise that pirates adopted and encouraged this form of punishment amongst each other. What does surprise me is the fact that people view pirates as villains or cruel because they used this form of punishment. 

For centuries this was considered normal amongst civilizations. Of course it's a harsh and savage way to punish a human being, but this form of discipline had been passed down from past generations. So, of course pirates also used this method of penalty.

It's no secret that pirates were ruthless, violent, savages. But when it comes to the act of death by penalty, they aren't quite different from any other civilization who practices the same execution techniques. One of the earliest recordings of execution were death by hanging, nearly 2,500 years ago. Execution by hanging-also known as lynching was one of the most commonly used forms of criminal punishment for most countries. 

As humanity evolved, so did the form of permanent punishment. Crimes that were deemed punishable by death have become solidified in modern legal systems throughout the world. But now it's known as Capital Punishment. Hanging criminals evolved into death by electrocution. And not long after death by electrocution became the new norm, death by lethal injection took its place. 

Another way pirates would punish one another - or anyone who crossed them for that matter - was by torture. Drowning, burning, starvation, the list goes on and on. And believe it or not, one of these ways of punishment from the days of piracy still continues to be used today. Water boarding is a common tactic used by American federal law enforcement when dealing with terroristic threats. Although pirates are well known for their use of violent punishment, it isn't unique to piracy. 

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-lynching/

http://www.ipsos-mori-generations.com/Death-Penalty