How a Pirate Party Led to Blackbeard's Death
(Stock photos surprisingly didn’t have pirate party pictures)
In 1718 a lot happened in the pirate world, famed and feared pirate Blackbeard took the Charles Town port hostage in a daring move, then he applied for a pardon that was being given by the King, then the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood, sent Captain Maynard to kill Blackbeard in secret.
But why couldn’t Alexander Spotswood leave well enough alone? Why wouldn’t you trust a pirate who is supposedly now a privateer, stole a few French ships, and had a meeting with another famous, wanted, and dangerous pirate known for murdering?
Oh I see it now.
Today we’re looking at the events immediately before and after the events of Blackbeard’s last stand. If you want to hear about the actual final battle of Blackbeard’s life, check out our previous article Captain Blackbeard’s Last Stand.
Pirate Pardon
The Act of Grace was the name or the document granting a pardon to all pirates that turned themselves in during 1718. Since the pardon came from the king and a lot of piracy was done in the colonies, pirates weren’t expected to travel to the king and instead could turn themselves in to the local governors.
Blackbeard chose to get his pardon from rumored friend and business partner Charles Eden, the governor of North Carolina. Many colonists and other high ranking individuals believed Eden’s friendship with Blackbeard is the reason Eden wasn’t tougher against pirates. One of these high ranking individuals was Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Alexander Spotswood.
He raised his eyebrow toward the pardon especially since Eden received part of Blackbeard's booty from the pardon. Booty as in treasure, minds out of the gutter.
And there was even a rumor that Eden presided over Blackbeard’s wedding after he was pardoned. Rumors also swirled around the friendship between Blackbeard and Tobias Knight, the secretary of the government council directly under Eden. So it’s looking like one pretty high level conspiracy between the government of North Carolina and Blackbeard.
Suspicions and Proof
Unlike the hollow earth theory, this one actually makes sense and Spotswood definitely thought so too. He believed Blackbeard was faking his life as a privateer but he needed proof.
His proof almost came when word got to him that Blackbeard had stolen two French ships but Blackbeard claimed he found the ships abandoned. Since the person who had to pass judgement was Eden, there was nothing Spotswood could do about it.
Enter William Howard, the former quartermaster of Blackbeard’s crew who had vowed to never return to piracy. At the time he was living in Virginia and Spotswood decided to skirt the rules in order to catch the big prize.
He had Howard arrested and placed him on trial. Now it’s believed Spotswood was well aware the trial wouldn’t work since he couldn’t override a king’s pardon but what he could do is threaten Howard and get information.
And he got exactly what he wanted, Blackbeard’s location, nestled up in Ocracoke island. Now all Spotswood would have to do is keep a close eye on Blackbeard, just waiting for the moment he would slip up.
Pirate Meeting
Unfortunately for Blackbeard, Spotswood had a very loose definition for a slip up. At some point between June 1718 and November 1718 he received word of a meeting Blackbeard had with another famed pirate Captain Charles Vane, a ruthless pirate that was known for his propensity to violence and seriously bad luck but will get to that in another other article. This one The Ruthless Captain Charles Vane
Along with those two was another soon to be famous pirate, Calico Jack and many of their men.
Were the Pirate Captains planning an attack? Deciding who to rob from next? Well no, turns out the men were all together in Ocracoke island having a week long party. Something pirates were pretty well known to do.
Sure it was suspicious Blackbeard had other pirates join him for a party but how do we know it wasn’t a retirement party? He was a pirate, what other friends would he have?
Either way this was enough for Alexander Spotswood to assume Blackbeard was planning something big so he offered Captain Robert Maynard a reward to gather some ships and put an end to Blackbeard.
And as long as a reward was being offered, Captain Maynard had no reason to say no. Of course, Spotswood would need approval to send out the attack. Approval he didn’t wait for or even ask Governor Eden about.
After the Death of Blackbeard
Once Captain Maynard returned with Blackbeard’s head hanging from his ship he requested his reward and also brought along a letter Blackbeard had on his person.
The letter was from Tobias Knight who was now Chief Justice of North Carolina, it warned Blackbeard he was being watched. Turns out Knight really was pretty good friends with Blackbeard. Tobias was also found to have some of the stolen property that Blackbeard stole from some ships earlier that year.
To top it all off some of the surviving members of Blackbeard’s crew and slaves testified that Tobias Knight was helping Blackbeard in his pirate ways. Quickly the killing of Blackbeard turned into a huge “Yea but what about what you did” game between adults.
Round and Round We Go
Captain Maynard was reprimanded for going after Blackbeard without approval from the council of Virginia. His response was “Yea but Spotswood offered me a reward.”
Spotswood then distanced himself from the action of sending Maynard and tried to turn the attention on Charles Eden. Bringing up other letters that were found on Blackbeard, specifically one from Eden requesting a meeting.
Charles Eden countered by calling Spotswood a loose cannon who had no jurisdiction or right to go after Blackbeard in Ocracoke island since it’s part of North Carolina.
Spotswood responded by sending the testimony from Blackbeard’s crew to Eden and requesting the extradition of Tobias Knight from North Carolina to Virginia.
Knight responded with accusations that the testimony was made out of duress after the crew and slaves were beaten and tortured by Maynard.
Captain Maynard responded with, “Hey where’s my reward?”
Charles Eden also responded by refusing to extradite Tobias Knight but agreed to put him on trial in North Carolina and found him not guilty. To which I assume Spotswood responded with an “of course you did.”
And somewhere in the distance Captain Maynard’s voice was probably heard saying, “Hey, umm about that reward?”
Aftermath
Tobias Knight died in 1719, a year later, from illness. Governor Alexander Spotswood continued his political career although he didn’t get the boost he hoped to get for killing Blackbeard and in 1722 was stripped from his position for causing a lot of friction between other leaders in the colonies and England.
Charles Eden died of yellow fever in 1722. Robert Maynard didn’t get his reward until 1722, a full 4 years after killing Blackbeard and he had to split it with another ship that was never even involved in the battle.
He was also found to have stolen some of Blackbeard’s treasure after killing him, so in the end wasn’t he the real pirate all along?
