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Pirates: A Coastal South Carolina Legacy

The Pirate Era is a coastal legacy in South Carolina. Piracy along the Carolina coast began soon after the first settlements were established and grew along with the prosperity of the colonial seaports. By the 1700’s pirates were capturing British ships with a frequency that threatened English commerce. Charleston SC, as one of the busiest American ports, was plagued by some of the fiercest pirates in history. They used small, fast vessels to seize the larger, slower merchant ships - then they would escape into the coastal shallow areas where heavy warships could not follow. The shallow creeks and inlets along the coast made ideal haunts for pirates. Many tales have been told of pirates hiding treasures and never returning to claim their bounty. Many were killed in sea battles or captured and hanged in Charleston or other port cities.

Stories about pirates have been handed down as part of South Carolina's history. Pirates came from all walks of life - some were well-educated, others were illiterate, and some just "ne're do wells" who just wanted to make a fast buck from their ships. They usually hung gruesome flags that were designed to invoke fear and used intimidating aliases. While most were cruel and heartless, one pirate did not fit that stereotype - a well-educated wealthy plantation owner from the Bahamas given the nickname "Gentleman Pirate," as he bought his first ship and paid his crew wages instead of compensating them by sharing the booty. This was Major Stede Bonnet, alias Captain Thomas - credited with the invention of "Walking the Plank". He raided the Carolina coastal areas for several years, but was finally hanged in Charleston while holding firmly to a flower bouquet given to him by a lady friend.

A famous woman pirate, Anne Bonny, called Charleston, her home. Born in Ireland, she had come with her father to the colony of South Carolina as a child - where her father was a lawyer and successful merchant. Anne developed a reputation for being a spitfire - and against her father's wishes, she married a young sailor and went with him to The Bahamas. In Nassau, she abandoned her husband and took up with a colorful pirate captain known as Calico Jack Rackam. Joining the pirate's crew, she participated in the "sweet trade" - fighting alongside the male crew members. Off the coast of Jamaica, she and the crew were captured by a British royal sloop, taken to Jamaica in chains, and all sentenced to be hanged. Her father, however, had influential business friends who managed to obtain a pardon for Anne, and she returned to her father's South Carolina plantation and disappeared from the pages of history.

Of all the pirates that haunted the Carolina coasts, Captain Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, was the most bloodthirsty and feared. With his forty cannon ship Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard and his crew  preyed on coastal trade. In June 1718, he captured a succession of nine ships, and held a group of passengers hostage in exchange for medicines for his crew. In a message to South Carolina's Governor Robert Johnson, Blackbeard threatened to kill all of his captives and burn Charleston if his demands were not met. Not surprisingly they were, and he sailed northward - later to be killed in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

The Golden Era (~1690-1720) of piracy soon came to an end - but it remains an intriguing and often romanticized part of South Carolina's history.