Who was the greatest Pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy?

Who was the Greatest Pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy?

  • "Blackbeard" Edward Teach

    Votes: 21 43.8%
  • Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts

    Votes: 15 31.3%
  • Stede Bonnet

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sameul "Black Sam" Bellamy

    Votes: 2 4.2%
  • John "Calico Jack" Rackham

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • William "Captain" Kidd

    Votes: 3 6.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 6 12.5%

  • Total voters
    48
Blackbeard may not have performed as well as Black Bart, but he had the image. Unless Black Bart had burning fuses braided into his beard whenever he boarded a ship...

Unlike Blackbeard, who went out of his way to portray himself to the world as the Devil made man and lived mostly on that fabricated reputation, Black Bart was more of a fop.

It was Black Bart's preference to dress in the finest clothes. By all accounts his manner of dress consisted of scarlet breeches, waist sash and overcoat. He wore a tricorn with a red feather in its band on his head and around his neck hung a diamond encrusted cross on a gold chain that was claimed to have been made for the King of Portugal. His brace of pistols dangled from his shoulder on a silk sash of scarlet.

He had no trouble standing out in the crowd and unlike Blackbeard, who intimidated men into submission with his appearance, Black Bart made men fear his name through his actions not hype (though that as well, in time, did contribute to his success).

He may not have had the same image of Blackbeard but he nevertheless did have an image that made him stand out from everyone else.

As I said before in this thread the only reason that Blackbeard has the notoriety he does is because of Hollywood's preference for him. While Blackbeard was made the superstar of the pirate world by the powerful America entertainment industry other more successful and accomplished pirates like Black Bart and Henry Morgan were ignored, in fact Black Bart is often confused for some late 1800's highwayman in California.

Again the point was that Blackbeard had the image and the hype to be a great pirate but little else while Black Bart had the image, the hype and all the talent to be a great pirate and he was.

It is telling that the man who commanded the ship that brought an end to Black Bart short but terrifying career was the only man ever knighted for killing one pirate while the man who commanded the ship that brought an end to Blackbeard career was not even recognized for his feat on the European side of the Atlantic, in fact he was barely recognized for it outside of the Carolina's and Virginia.
 
None of these

Actually this was before the golden age but I will opt for Sir Francis Drake who not only amassed vast fortunes but also was the first European to circumnavigate the globe in command of an expedition. Magellan was killed around 2/3 the way round and Delcano finished the job

There is a thing line seperating pirates from privateers. Privateers were issued with writs of marque to plunder ships of countries that the issuer was at war with. Drake began his career of loot and pillage before Britain was at war with Spain along with Sir John Hawkins who also became the first Englishman to engage in the transatlantic slave trade. Drake's round the world voyage was shrouded in secrecy and was the source of rifts within the privy council between a pro accomodation with Spain faction and supporters of the protestant revolutionaries in the Netherlands and the Doughty affair may have reflected this

Drake is referred to as El Draque the Pirate in the Spanish speaking world
Sir Henry Morgan was a privateer and remained within the law and later helped hunt Ned Teach. Captain Kidd was arguably not a pirate and was allegedly granted immunity by backers who denied it. Ned Teach was a thug like present day pirates

The Golden age largely began as a form of peace dividend after the Treaty of Utrecht removed legitmate takings from privateers who began to indulge in piracy to earn a living apart from those who had made their fortune Sir Henry Morgan?

What about the Barbary pirates? Maybe one of them would qualify?
 
I wrote a song about Blackbeard, so I'll have to give him my vote, hands down. :cool:

**sings "Personal combat on Maynard's boat...."**
 
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