[waves splashing]
[narrator] July 1715.
A 12-year war against England leaves Spain broke.
[cannon fire echoing]
[narrator] A Spanish fleet sets sail from Cuba,
laden with enough gold and silver to bail out the bankrupt superpower.
[wind howling, thunder rumbling]
[narrator] But it never arrives.
Spain's wealth lies scattered on the sea bed off Florida.
The windfall attracts hordes of rogues, privateers and buccaneers
along the Eastern Seaboard of the Americas.
These pirates of the Caribbean gorge on treasure.
They make merry…
and they change the world.
They liberate slaves…
You are no longer slaves. You are now subject to the laws of piracy.
[narrator] Create their own democratic republic…
[all] Aye!
-Nassau, the new Pirate Republic. -[pirates] Nassau!
[narrator] And pave the way for the American revolution.
[dramatic swashbuckling music]
[narrator] The biggest winner from the Spanish bonanza
is the pirate town of Nassau in the Bahamas.
There had been other pirate settlements in different places,
but none of them had worked quite the same way that Nassau did.
-[wind blowing] -[dogs barking]
There was a fort there. People stayed, they built a community on the land,
and that's more or less unique in pirate history.
[light rock music]
[narrator] Fat on the Spanish bullion, Nassau becomes a boomtown.
Larger and larger numbers
of pirate-minded people were showing up there
and starting to develop an economy around themselves.
A lot more demand for people working in taverns,
as well as a lot more sex workers.
[women moaning]
We are talking a pretty serious boom in prostitution.
[narrator] But pirates are not the stuff of fiction.
They are real people.
Men like Edward Thatch, later known as Blackbeard,
his sidekick, Black Caesar, a former slave,
and the pied pirate that led them all there,
Captain Benjamin Hornigold.
Hornigold sees himself a bit as the Godfather of the whole scene
and this was his ideas that have led to the formation of Nassau.
[prostitute moaning]
[narrator] It seems that every rogue, sailor, and adventurer in the Americas
is being drawn to his pirate haven.
Nassau was a place that existed outside of the law.
You could leave your old life behind and become sort of who you wanted to be
if you had the courage
and the determination to make your own way.
[woman laughing]
[jaunty Celtic music]
[narrator] Some come to Nassau just to be themselves.
Anne Bonny is just 16,
but she's had a tough upbringing in Ireland.
Her father was a very successful lawyer in Cork,
and her mother was the maid that he was having an affair with.
For a while, to try to cover up that affair,
he actually dressed her as a boy
and tried to pass her off as a legal clerk.
[narrator] She is tainted from birth, an outsider.
Growing up for Anne, as a bastard,
she'd be called a bastard from a baby.
People would look down on her.
[distant woman laughing]
Who can tell us about fishing the wrecks?
-My husband here is eager for work. -You need to speak to Captain Hornigold.
Anne Bonny was a young woman who must have loved adventure.
She moved from place to place.
She moved from man to man.
She had a reputation as being a bit of a hellcat.
[narrator] Anne Bonny has come to Nassau with her wannabe pirate husband.
James Bonny, as far as we can tell,
was just someone interested in making money
and didn't particularly care where it came from.
He married Anne, possibly for her money,
and then Anne was disinherited, so that didn't pan out.
[screams]
[Cale] This is a pirate haven.
Other women would have been horrified,
but Anne really seems to have come into her own.
[squeals]
You disrespect me, and I'll cut your stinking moneymaker.
[narrator] Captain Hornigold holds the key to Anne's future.
He controls the pirate business, alongside his trusted lieutenants.
They didn't have any authority, but other pirates naturally looked up to them
because they were successful.
[male pirate] Mr. Hornigold.
-What? -[pirate at door] It's Jennings.
[lock clicks]
-[Hornigold] What? -He's taken your ship sir.
[narrator] Hornigold's reputation has been damaged by Captain Henry Jennings,
a highfalutin privateer…
Fuck!
[narrator] …and his arch enemy.
Hornigold is unaware of murmurings in his own camp.
I hear that Jennings stole his ship from right underneath his nose.
[scoffs]
Apparently, he was asleep on watch.
Makes me wonder, though…
what kind of protection
is he gonna offer us?
Well, if you wanna be taken as governor,
you better be up to the job.
And I'm not the only one to be asking questions.
[light, tense music]
[narrator] Captain Jennings has been getting rich robbing the Spanish.
When he drops anchor in Port Royal
with a hull bulging with Spanish gold,
he expects Jamaica's governor, Lord Hamilton,
to be a happy man.
Secure this. Take that to the store.
Yes, sir.
[narrator] But it turns out that now the war between Spain and England is over,
attacking the Spanish is no longer legitimate.
[hushed] Henry, you damn fool.
What were you thinking of?
I have received a letter of complaint from the Spanish,
and your name is mentioned.
You were contracted to hunt pirates.
Really?
I understood there was a fair amount left unwritten between the lines.
If some of this stolen treasure falls into our hands…?
Well, I see no act against the Spanish in that,
and between ourselves, well, who's to say where the treasure was taken.
[sinister music]
[narrator] So, Jennings went ahead and helped himself to the Spanish booty.
-[Jennings] On your feet. -[men clamoring]
-[kicks] -[body thuds]
[choking wetly]
Men, take everything.
Leave nothing.
[neck snaps]
Gracias.
[in Spanish] Yes.
[in Spanish] It's war.
[Woodward] To actually attack the Spanish soldiers
and their admiral at their base and take their treasure from them
was something that the Spanish government couldn't ignore.
They responded by demanding his arrest,
demanding the arrest of all of his men…
And they're demanding my head on a plate
and the return of their silver?
The question is,
how do we respond?
[scoffs, hushed] There is no we, God damn you.
You haven't whipped a cabin boy, Jennings, you have committed an act of fucking war.
Yes, I see what you mean.
I'll tell you what I'll do, for an old friend.
I'll pop off back to sea while all this blows over.
Then you can tell them I've been expelled
and stand a fighting chance of saving your reputation.
My reputation? How dare you?
It's a deal then. See you when the Spaniards have calmed down.
[Fox] Hamilton's reputation was in tatters.
He had potentially brought the wrath
of the Spanish empire down on Jamaica, and that was too much for people.
[narrator] Leaving Hamilton to smooth things out with the Spanish,
Jennings and his crew returned to sea
hell-bent on attacking Hornigold's pirate ships
operating out of Nassau.
[cannon fire echoing]
[narrator] Just of the coast of Southern Florida,
Paulsgrave Williams, a silversmith on the make,
and his hired skipper, Samuel Bellamy,
are hunting down the Spanish wrecks without any luck so far.
[sighs] This blasted coast.
-Goes on forever. -Blessed wrecks must be here somewhere.
Maybe we should be searching the inlets more thoroughly.
[narrator] Bellamy's crew are rapidly burning through Williams' cash.
The crew need paying,
and my funds are running perilously low.
-I swore to the men they'd be well paid. -Yeah.
[narrator] Paulsgrave Williams sees the Spanish wrecks
as a chance to get rich quick,
but Sam Bellamy's quest is driven by his love for a woman.
You're not worthy of my daughter!
[narrator] A woman, by all accounts, worth dying for.
Bellamy wants the money, so he can go back to his sweetheart
and woo her and convince her parents that he's a good bet.
[gulls crying]
[fire crackling]
[narrator] But Sam Bellamy has left his beloved Mary with more than a promise.
[sniffling]
[narrator] And if a sailor's life is tough,
it's as nothing…
to an unmarried woman with child.
[panting]
[Cale] This was a very strict religious society
and this is not a society that has any kind of tolerance
for anything like premarital sex.
[narrator] Mary's father has kicked her out.
If Bellamy doesn't make good on his promise,
his new family are doomed to a life of poverty.
[hull creaking]
Pass me your scope.
[action music]
[Williams] It's a merchant ship.
Sam, tell me again,
what are your thoughts on merchant captains?
They treat their crew worse than the Navy.
They've taken more of my crewmates than the Spanish, French and Dutch combined.
Merchants captains.
[spits]
This merchant ship
is flying an English flag.
Take a look.
[narrator] It's a choice most sailors face after the end of the war.
Die poor or live rich as a pirate.
Are you ready to hoist the black flag?
Or would you let the rights of rich English merchants
stand between you and your Mary?
To hell with it.
Hoist the black flag!
[narrator] And so naval seaman Sam Bellamy becomes Black Sam Bellamy,
the raven-haired pirate,
and history will record that one of his very first victims
is an English merchant vessel.
[grappling hook clatters]
[men shouting]
Where's your captain?
[suspenseful music]
[distant clamor of battle]
[gunshots echo]
[clamor of battle continues above deck]
-[men grunting] -[Williams] Pull your strike!
That's enough. I said take him alive!
[clamor of battle continues]
[coins clinking]
Well, what have we got here?
[thuds]
Get out, or I'll have you whipped!
I think you're a bit late for that.
Search the ship!
Your manifest.
-Be quick about it. -[scoffs]
I've often wondered what causes a man to risk hanging…
Think of me as a, uh, Robin Hood.
Redistributing wealth from those that owed the debt
to those that owe a debt.
[coins clinking]
People like me.
Bellamy saw himself as fighting a social rebellion
on behalf of the oppressed underclass of merchant sailors.
[sinister music]
[narrator] Enter Jennings and his gang.
Officially, they're on the hunt for pirates looting Spanish silver.
[sailor] Pirates starboard side!
[narrator] But they run into Bellamy and Williams looting an English merchant.
Ethical question for you, Vane.
If you take a pirate's bounty,
does it still belong to the English merchants they took it from?
Or is it somehow absolved,
purged,
cleansed
by its passage through the bowels of a pirate's sloop?
If it's accepted by an innkeeper
or a whore,
what's the difference?
Captain Bellamy, we have company.
[narrator] Jennings is spotted.
Who is it?
[sailor] No idea, Captain.
Prepare to cast loose.
Cast loose!
Captain, seems like it's your lucky day.
Your support's arriving.
They'll hang you for this.
I'll be back.
[dramatic, suspenseful music]
[ship hull creaking]
He advocates the sense of justice and fairness
and tirades against Church, Government and State.
Yet, he's a thieving bastard, right?
And then steals a phenomenal amount of wealth for himself.
[narrator] Bellamy has no idea he's up against Jennings.
He assumes they're English gunships.
Black Sam and Paulsgrave just go, "Ugh!"
And they scarper as quickly as possible. Run away.
[narrator] Captain Bellamy uses all his skills to fly like the wind.
[narrator] Before Jennings has time to change course,
Bellamy is out of range of his cannon.
[waves plashing]
[Jennings] They've outrun us.
Stand down.
[sailor] Aye-aye, Captain.
Goodbye, whoever you are.
You deserve a drink, Captain.
[dramatic music]
[narrator] And then, a few hours later…
[sailor] Ship ahead, portside.
My God.
[narrator] Further south in the Florida Straits, just off the coast of Cuba,
Jennings happens upon an even bigger prize than catching Bellamy.
[Lawrence] He notices a French merchant ship with cannon.
Presumably, where there is cannon, there is gold.
Jennings, deep in his soul, is a pirate
and so he thinks, "I might get that ship."
Get the captains.
[narrator] Since the peace of 1714,
the French are no longer enemies of the British,
but Jennings is no respecter of the peace.
Now, he needs to get the captains of his fleet on-side.
Gentlemen.
Just a few hundred yards across that bay
sits temptation.
A gift.
I suggest we take it.
That is a merchant vessel, not a pirate.
So, what do you propose? Get this far and sit with our hands in our pockets?
-I've seen-- -She's French, for fuck's sake!
Our enemy for centuries.
We're not at war.
Fair game, I say.
I'm setting sail for Port Royal.
Au revoir.
To practicalities.
Our prize packs 32 guns and a crew of 100 men.
To launch a direct attack while it's still light would be suicide.
So, we wait.
[waves splashing]
[narrator] And while Jennings waits,
his enemy, Hornigold, is having trouble in his pirate republic.
The honest people of Nassau
have taken it upon themselves to fight back.
[Woodward] By early 1716, the situation for
people who saw themselves as respectable members of the old order on the Bahamas
started getting increasingly untenable.
[man] Where's Hornigold?
I'm here to arrest him.
[narrator] Thomas Walker fears the taking of Spanish silver
will provoke Spain to wreak vengeance
against his hometown.
You'll get us all killed.
[narrator] Truth be told, Walker is uneasy sharing Nassau
with a bunch of pirates.
Hornigold! Draw black!
-Show yourself! -[narrator] Walker has a problem.
Once the war ends, Britain loses interest in the Caribbean.
Show yourself!
Walker and the other legitimate colonists were essentially helpless.
Um, there was nobody who they could turn to.
[somber music]
-[gulls crying] -[bell tolling]
[narrator] The biggest threat to Hornigold isn't from Walker, but from within.
[women laughing]
[Hornigold] Lads.
We have a problem needs dealing with.
I would strongly suggest that last haul be made scarce and quick.
There may be moves against us.
Thomas Walker, that puffed up pigeon, is on the prowl.
But it's not just Walker, though, is it?
Because Jennings is out there patrolling the sea,
hunting down pirates
and he is doing all of that in your ship.
Now, when a captain loses his ship,
well,
we start to wonder if he's still gonna be in charge in the morning.
Leadership was a charismatic affair
and you had to win over your men
and keep their respect and trust.
Uncertainty truly is the enemy of enterprise.
I think we need some more certainty!
[narrator] Hornigold's been wounded by Jennings,
and Thomas Barrow can smell blood.
If you're a pirate captain, and you want to remain a pirate captain,
the only way to do that, really, is to be successful.
-As I was saying… -[pint clinks]
Make that last haul scarce.
We're going out.
[man] Yeah, too right.
Time to trim that bastard Jennings' sails
and take back what is
wrongfully mine.
Will you be joining us, Mr. Barrow?
We could use a mouth such as yours.
If for nothing better than to pleasure the crew before they go to sleep.
[guffaws and snickering]
No?
[chugging]
Well, it looks like we'll have to complete this mission without the…
gentle aid of Mr. Thomas Barrow.
Round up the crew.
Men only.
[somber music]
[narrator] Hornigold doesn't have to look far to find Jennings.
He's just off the coast of Cuba,
waiting to seize the French ship, the St. Marie.
What Jennings doesn't know
is that he's being watched by Bellamy and Williams.
[Williams] They fly the English flag
but they're not behaving like Navy.
What if they're up to no good?
Pirates.
Perhaps they could do with two ambitious young coves like us.
-[indistinct sailors' chatter] -[hull creaking]
Any sign of movement in the last hour?
No.
[Jennings] What the fuck's that?
[wind blowing]
[narrator] This will be the first time
that Jennings has ever set eyes on Bellamy and Williams.
[Bellamy] Paulsgrave Williams and Samuel Bellamy.
We wish you no harm.
We're here to talk.
I think you'll want to take that vessel, worried about how you're gonna do it
without getting smashed to smithereens. Well, I'll tell you how we're gonna do it.
[Bellamy] How about we take that ship for you?
[narrator] Their offer is too good to be true.
'Tis they who risk their lives.
See how things play out?
Mm.
Certainly there's no appetite
to risk our ship against the French cannon.
And, I must be honest,
I'm rather intrigued to see your work.
Very well.
But…
let's be clear.
Play me…
and he'll cut you to ribbons.
[sinister music]
Right, lads, let's see what these French sailors are made of.
Bellamy and Williams use an interesting tactic
in their assault on the St. Marie.
[metal clinking]
What the…?
[Vane chuckles softly]
[chuckles softly]
Bellamy and Williams strip themselves naked,
you know, adorn themselves in guns and pistols
to make the most terrifying image you can, like,
psychopathic naked pirates.
[ship hull creaking]
[suspenseful music]
[grappling hook whooshes, clatters]
[gunpowder roaring]
[men shouting]
[musket fire echoing]
[narrator] A new weapon is about to be unleashed on the French ship.
[cannon fire echoing]
[narrator] Naked terror.
What are they meant to think? Maybe they're possessed,
maybe had too much rum, what on Earth is going on?
[Bellamy] Stop.
You're purpose on this ship is not to cause harm, but to get rich.
Never forget that, sailor.
[Conniff] Through the drama and the theater
and the fear that they've then caused,
they've got the entire ship to surrender.
This must be such a formative moment for Bellamy.
[narrator] But then Jennings takes control.
Because the French captain is keeping schtum.
It's very simple.
This is your ship's inventory,
half of which is not on board your ship.
So, I ask again.
What other vessels are you traveling with?
Ah, gentlemen, join us.
Captain.
It's your choice.
This poor man's misery can end.
You just have to tell me where I might find the rest of the consignment.
[pained grunt]
Oh dear.
[panicked breathing]
Vane.
Captain.
You need me?
Jennings was quite willing to torture people
if he felt that they were hiding something from him.
See if you can teach our French friends the value of communication.
[sinister music]
[metal clinks]
[panicked breathing]
[Vane] This one?
-[prisoner grunts] -Or this one?
What we see on this ship appalls Samuel Bellamy.
[mumbling] No. No. Stop.
[prisoner screams]
What are you doing? Stop!
[prisoner's screams stop]
-[metal clicks] -[screaming]
Stop, the second ship, the second ship, Marianne.
Thirty miles to the north.
You do care about your crew after all.
Vane, stand down.
[narrator] There is a second ship, the Marianne.
The world probably became quite stark in its contrast
and from that point forward, you see Bellamy
not use those same methods at all.
Captain Jennings, leave the Marianne to us.
[sinister music]
[action music]
[narrator] Bellamy and Williams set out along the Cuban coast
to take the Marianne.
But someone has beaten them to it.
[Bellamy] That small sloop, she's flying the black.
[narrator] A pirate.
But not just any old pirate.
It's the Benjamin.
That's Hornigold's sloop.
[chuckles softly]
[narrator] Hornigold inspired Williams and Bellamy to become pirates,
and now their hero stands in their way.
The two men move in for a closer look.
[dramatic music]
[narrator] Thirty miles back around the coast at Bahia Honda,
Captain Jennings is dreaming of the fortune
Williams and Bellamy will soon deliver to him from the Marianne.
Who'd have thought a French merchant could acquire so much wealth?
I mean, the French.
[laughs]
We are going to be so rich.
We lost it.
So, this heavily-laden hulk outran you?
No. A pirate ship beat us to her.
Did you happen to notice a name?
It was dark.
The Benjamin.
Ugh! Hornigold!
Get after the bastard!
[sailor] Sail portside, Captain!
Right.
[action music]
Ben Hornigold, his enemy,
the lowlife sailor who's turned pirate.
[narrator] The two toughest pirates in the Caribbean
are on a collision course.
[action music]
[sailor] Ship ahead, portside!
They see a ship on the horizon, and it's in fact two ships.
The Benjamin.
Get after the fucker!
Vane.
When we catch him, he's all yours.
You two, get back to the St. Marie. Wait for us there.
[sailors shouting indistinctly]
[narrator] Jennings goes in for the kill.
[dramatic music]
Come on!
[action music]
He sails straight for Hornigold. He's gonna capture that ship.
Leaving Bellamy and Paulsgrave aboard the St. Marie.
Well, good luck to him, catching the Flying Gang.
The luck is all ours today.
-Our just desserts. -[chuckles softly]
He's outrun us.
[victorious music]
Stand down.
I'll get you in Nassau, you fucker.
Set course for the St. Marie.
Get out of the way.
It's an absolute nightmare. He's frustrated.
He's annoyed, so he turns back and he rejoins the St. Marie.
[waves splashing]
[suspenseful music]
[narrator] But there's no sign of Williams, nor of Bellamy.
[steps creaking]
Quartermaster?
[quartermaster grunts]
[quartermaster, muffled] Over here.
They've taken everything, sir.
[narrator] Jennings has been seriously played.
[exhales harshly]
Bastard.
All of his treasure has been taken.
He's been tricked by Black Sam and Paulsgrave Williams.
[spits]
[narrator] But things are about to get worse for Jennings and his crew.
Much, much worse.
[talking indistinctly]
[narrator] Spain has finally forced the King
to deal with Jennings' paymaster,
Lord Hamilton, Governor of Jamaica.
My Lord, I have a warrant for your arrest.
On whose authority?
Your king's, sir. You are to be returned to England for trial.
[sighs]
[narrator] And as Jennings arrives in Nassau to confront Hornigold,
he discovers Lord Hamilton's name isn't the only one on the arrest warrant.
[Jennings] Hornigold!
[man snickering]
-Where's Hornigold? -[man] Haven't you heard?
Your lord and protector's been arrested.
[laughs]
He's on his way to London in chains.
And now they're looking for you. [laughs]
[somber music]
[Woodward] For Jennings, it resulted in a royal proclamation from the King
declaring Jennings and his men to be wanted pirates
who were to be captured and brought home for execution.
[narrator] In that moment, the world turns upside down
for Jennings and his crew.
Now, Jennings found himself
with the surfs above him.
People like Ben Hornigold, a man of no birth at all,
dictating what he was and wasn't allowed to do.
[gulls crying]
[indistinct pirate chatter]
[hornpipe music]
[narrator] There is only one place for these outlaws to seek refuge.
The pirate lair of their enemy, Benjamin Hornigold.
[sinister music]
Jennings' gang is cornered,
making them more dangerous than ever.
It's all set to end bloodily.
Very bloodily.
Until…
Hornigold diffuses the tension
with an earth-shattering speech.
Lads.
Hornigold has this very interesting idea that changes the course of history.
At sea, you'll be treated decently enough.
And by that, I mean our takings.
Pirates got to choose their own rules.
They got to choose what was important them to them.
These sets of rules, or "articles" as they called them,
contained clauses about the… the division of their profits,
their plunder.
Small bonus for the captain.
And I mean small.
And the rest will be distributed equally.
One set of articles even guarantees
that every man will have a vote in affairs of the moment,
and so there's a sense of democracy, and of collective decision making.
No sailor can get punished without the agreement of the crew,
and that goes for the captain, too.
If you think he's on the take,
or too quick with the lash,
then together…
you can vote him off his ship…
and name his replacement.
[narrator] Hornigold's declaration is revolutionary,
taking the democratic rules of a ship to create a republic on land.
[Woodward] He was intentionally egalitarian
and this is all occurring many decades before the American Revolution
or the Storming of the Bastille.
[narrator] Jennings has no riposte to Hornigold's bold vision…
for now.
So, can we all drink to that?
[victorious music]
-[pirates] Aye! -Nassau!
-The new Pirate Republic. -[all] Nassau.
[narrator] The Golden Age of Piracy is about to begin.
[dramatic swashbuckling music]