[dramatic swashbuckling music]
-[pirates cheering] -Nassau, the new Pirate Republic.
[pirates cheer]
[narrator] The Pirate Republic of Nassau,
founded by Benjamin Hornigold, gets fat…
[shot echoes]
…attacking trade between Britain and the Americas.
She looks loaded, lads.
[pirates cheer]
[cannon fire echoing]
[narrator] But its foundations are rocked
by the death of the most successful pirate who ever lived.
Black Sam Bellamy, washed up on a New England beach…
[screaming madly]
…with his ill-gotten fortune at the bottom of the Atlantic.
But Edward Thatch reinvents himself…
[in unhinged voice] Do you know who I am? I'm Edward Thatch.
[narrator] …and becomes the most devilish pirate of all.
My name is Blackbeard!
[cannon fire echoing]
Faster, faster!
[narrator] The Crown turns a blind eye to piracy
so long as it feeds off foreign ships,
but when the pirates seize British slave vessels,
that gets London's attention.
And when news get back that in Nassau,
freed slaves enjoy the same freedom as the white man,
that is the final straw.
White men consorting with savages.
I will give you everything you need, Rogers,
but you must stamp this cancer out.
[narrator] So, ruthless pirate hunter Woodes Rogers
comes up with a plan.
We're going to ask the King to pardon them.
-Vane! -What is it?
Go and get Hornigold. Now. Tell him we need to parley.
[dramatic swashbuckling music]
[narrator] Any pirate who refuses the pardon
will face the might of the Royal Navy.
[dramatic swashbuckling music]
[suspenseful music]
[narrator] For more than two years,
the pirates of Nassau have been terrorizing shipping in the Caribbean.
Now, in a shock move,
the British Crown has offered to pardon them.
Captain Jennings, may I introduce Jack Rackham.
[dramatic music]
Where is Hornigold?
[forced laugh]
They call him Calico Jack, 'cause he wears--
"Calico"?
Where is Hornigold?
[Rackham] What's the king thinking? A pardon?
Does he believe we're so easily bought?
Perhaps you could explain to your new companion the delicate calculations,
the complex issues at play here.
I fear he's a little lost.
The pardon was the first stage in pacifying the pirates of Nassau.
[Woodward] Suddenly, there was a choice.
Do you want to come back into civilization,
and you can keep all the plunder you took and be absolved of your past crimes?
Or do you want to continue in this uprising?
Now where the fuck is Hornigold?
-I don't-- -[Hornigold] Captain Jennings?
Your nightmare is over.
Looks like you're free to go back to Jamaica.
[Lawrence] Jennings knew it meant he could return to legitimacy.
He had a couple of plantations.
He was an owner of slaves. He was a gentlemen.
You're not seriously considering taking this?
Poor Vane.
An ape in the body of a man. The world must be utterly bewildering.
My advice?
Enjoy what little delights this godforsaken place has to offer
while you still can.
[somber music]
[Lawrence] Charles Vane couldn't have felt anything other than betrayed
because here was his old mentor not giving him a moment's thought.
He's just a common sailor, no education,
no status,
and that's what he would have to return to should he accept the pardon.
The question is,
what does poor Captain Hornigold do
now he has to give his kingdom back to the Crown?
[laughs]
Well,
truth is,
I've grown rather fond of this old place.
If the Crown sees an honest future for Nassau,
they'll need good men to help realize that.
[tense music]
[narrator] Having made peace with his old enemy…
[Jennings] Gentlemen.
…Jennings sails to Bermuda,
where he is pardoned and retires from a life of piracy.
[indistinct tavern chatter]
[somber music]
[Vane screams angrily]
Drink?
This is all your fucking pardon's worth.
[foreboding music]
[Fox] Hornigold wanted to return to legitimate society.
That relied on other people accepting the pardon as well,
not causing a fuss, not bringing the authorities down on Nassau
as a place where the pirates were unrepentant.
[wind blowing]
[somber music]
[narrator] The British send a mission led by Captain Vincent Pearse
into the heart of the pirate lair
to follow up on the King's offer of a pardon.
Jesus.
[ship creaking]
[Woodward] This is a very tense moment. A moment of brinksmanship.
Right, you have a Royal Navy vessel for the first time
coming right into the lion's mouth of Nassau harbor.
Steady, men. Steady.
[indistinct sailors' chatter]
[tense music]
I'm Captain Vincent Pearse of His Majesty's Royal Navy.
I am here to deliver King George's proclamation for suppressing pirates.
We read that. Captain Benjamin Hornigold.
So, you accept?
In the main.
There are complications.
What do you mean?
Pirate politics requires delicate politicking.
But as fate would have it, I'll be at your service.
So, you're in charge?
[Hornigold] Charge? No.
This is a republic.
But I speak for most.
[Lunsford] Hornigold has an opportunity to advance himself
if he plays this just right.
He knew that they couldn't hold Nassau,
that eventually this pirate republic that they had there
couldn't last forever, it had to end.
I will need food and lodgings for my men.
Officer, disembark.
The last thing I want is to put down a rebellion here.
And he knew that the best way of ending it on good terms
would be for as many pirates as possible to accept the pardon.
[somber music]
[narrator] But not everyone is going to give up
the lucrative pirate life so easily.
[gulls crying]
[indistinct sailors' chatter]
[chuckling]
Mmm.
What are they saying?
-You won't believe it. -[Blackbeard] Try me.
A message from your king.
He's offering a pardon.
On what terms?
All debts canceled. We can keep whatever we have.
Freedom with no strings.
[sinister music]
[Woodward] Blackbeard, true to form, took news of the pardon
and made his decisions in a strategic sense.
You can see how he was chess-playing.
How he was planning many moves ahead in everything he did.
[sinister music]
[indistinct chatter]
[narrator] In Nassau, Vane is rising as the leader
of the pirates against the pardon.
[Woodward] Charles Vane had no interest in taking amnesty from the King
or from leaving piracy at all.
His reactions were not only defiant but violently defiant.
This…
pardon…
says we're off the hook, yes?
That you can keep your booty… and wipe the slate clean.
Okay.
So, that's good…
if you've been raiding…
if you've been busy.
But not every one of us here have been trousering the same level of reward.
And what we have left from drinking and whoring isn't worth a damn.
And now His Majesty's ship has arrived.
Did he send ships
to feed us when we were hungry?
Did he? Fuck no!
He sends ships to demand we give up our republic for nothing!
[scoffs] And here's the best bit.
If we do it,
they'll forgive us.
So much for what this pardon says.
Here's what I say--
Charles Vane, you're under arrest.
Just him.
[dramatic music]
This is Hornigold's doing!
[narrator] With Vane in jail, the rebellion looks like it's over.
[men shouting]
[narrator] But Blackbeard continues to bring terror to the high seas.
[growling]
[cannon fire echoing]
[male pirate] Slave trader! Starboard.
Just a sparkly, boys.
[dramatic music]
We got another fat rat to catch.
[narrator] He's playing havoc with Britain's big money slave trade.
[people groaning]
It's impossible to overstate the… the horror of a slave vessel.
-[cannon fire echoing] -[people groaning]
[man sobbing]
[Walker] They spend months at sea in unbelievably cramped quarters…
[door creaks]
To have been boarded by a group of pirates would have been
yet another confusing moment in an already confusing time.
You are no longer slaves!
You are now subject to the laws of piracy.
On a vessel where all men receive fair treatment!
[chains clinking]
[Walker] For someone like Black Caesar, who himself had been enslaved,
he could understand and relate to the experience of these captives.
[chains clinking]
[emotional music]
[in African dialect] What awaits you at the end of this journey
is a lifetime of hardship, of bondage.
We offer freedom and equality.
We won't harm you.
[solemn music]
[in English] These men are savages.
Are you mad?
[Blackbeard scoffs]
Ah.
[unsettling music]
Mad?
Why, I'm Blackbeard.
Of course I'm mad.
I'm as mad as a fox.
All hands on deck!
[footsteps retreating]
Mad as a fox.
Tell your friends.
[somber music]
[narrator] Blackbeard's disruption of the slave trade
is vexing Britain's colonial elite.
Men like Alexander Spotswood, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
[approaching footsteps]
Governor.
Damn them.
Pirates?
Blackbeard gets bolder by the day.
The sight of any ship on the horizon,
merchant captains are returning to port.
Without fresh slaves,
our economy stagnates.
I ask for gunships,
they send a pardon.
I've been warning them for months.
If London will do nothing, we must help ourselves.
[waves splashing]
[narrator] In Nassau, the jailed Charles Vane
has become a figurehead
for pirates opposed to the British offer of a pardon.
-[Hornigold talking indistinctly] -Was it you?
-What's happened? -You've been talking with Pearse.
-You were seen. -What has happened?
How much did he promise you?
The captain clearly doesn't know what you're talking about.
Help him out.
They've arrested Vane.
[narrator] The news threatens to undermine Hornigold's plan to promote the pardon.
What power has the King's pardon
if on taking it in good faith
you still find yourself dancing at the end of a rope?
How can honest men be asked to turn their back on lawlessness
if they cannot trust the King's word?
[Woodward] When Vincent Pearse captured Charles Vane and his crew,
this presented a problem.
There was a possibility that all of the trust would be lost.
If a number of the pirates were being arrested at the very moment
that a pardon was being offered, could you trust the Crown?
Could you trust the Royal Navy and the authorities not to double-cross them?
[narrator] Benjamin Hornigold's influence is waning
as younger pirates like Anne Bonny question him.
Anne Bonny.
Jack Rackham.
[foreboding music]
[waves splashing]
Gently but briskly, men. Bring it up.
[indistinct sailors' chatter]
You arrested Vane.
Best way to deal with a cancer is to cut it out before it spreads.
You bloody fool.
This is Nassau, not a Royal Navy frigate.
The only thing that holds this place together is trust.
Honor amongst thieves?
The one thing standing between a pirate captain and death is his word.
No courts, no army,
just his word.
Military support from England is months away, and believe me,
if this lot see an injustice, they don't tend to think that far ahead.
Hang Vane… and you're never gonna leave this island.
Let met me speak to him.
I'll get you a declaration.
A public renouncement of villainy
and a commitment to an honest future.
Justice is seen to be done,
and we can get on with transforming Nassau
into a valuable trading post for king and country.
I have your word?
My future depends on it.
[somber music]
[crickets chirping]
[flies buzzing]
[lock rattles, door opens]
[sighs]
Well, I'll not pretend otherwise,
I couldn't care if you hang or not,
but in interest of harmony,
I've spoken with Captain Pearse
and you have a route to freedom.
Take the pardon,
get the others to follow,
and you'll be free.
Free to do what, exactly?
Free not to choke at the end of a rope.
Oh, back to servitude?
To meager pickings? With Charlie Vane, the whipping boy?
[laughs] Not anymore.
From where I stand,
hanging is my only route to freedom.
Charles Vane. Born a dog, died a dog.
Is that to be the total of it?
Nothing is written, piracy or no.
Nah, I've already seen the end of my story.
Eleven years old, I was, Wapping Docks.
I watched a man who fought for his country, and hung for his efforts.
It was at that moment, I knew
I'd go out like that man.
Like Captain Kidd.
You saw Kidd hang?
-What's it to you? -I knew him.
[Lawrence] Paulsgrave Williams' family is related to Captain Kidd,
and here's Charles Vane, who as a boy from Wapping,
saw the execution of this hero.
-[crowd clamoring] -[slow drumming]
[narrator] Captain William Kidd was one of the early pirate legends.
His execution was a major public event.
[man] The way of transgressors is hard.
Amen.
God bless Captain Kidd.
[crowd] Here, here! God bless Captain Kidd.
[Kidd choking]
[somber music]
[Lawrence] Even though they come from enemy camps,
they're drawn together by this shared history.
How did he hold himself on the gallows?
Be honest.
He died a hero.
Course he did.
When Kidd hanged,
he stood alone.
But if you hang,
the others will follow you.
Follow me?
[Williams] Did you not realize?
Charles Vane,
you command quite the following.
You, I dare say,
are the leader of the anti-pardon faction.
[scoffs lightly]
[chuckles softly]
What, I'm the leader of a…
A faction?
A faction ready to do your bidding.
[Woodward] Many people on the island realize that
if you wanted to get behind somebody who was going to go all the way
and keep attacking the Empire, Vane was definitely your man.
If you turn down the pardon, they will follow you to the gallows.
But if I sign the pardon, I'll be a sell-out.
What kind of leader would I be then of my "faction"?
-A smart one. -[scoffs]
A strategist.
-A politician. -A politician?
Play the system.
Take the pardon, bide your time,
and live to fight another day.
As Kidd would have done.
No doubting it.
Don't give Pearse what he wants.
Carry your men with you.
And when the King loses interest in Nassau, as he surely will,
you'll have a loyal crew ready to take from the Spanish traders
the wealth that is rightfully yours.
In a tactical moment, every once in a while you need to
retreat a step or two into a defensive position.
This was one of those times where Vane allowed himself
to take a breath and pause so he could fight again another day.
Jailer, tell Captain Pearse
that the leader of the anti-pardon faction
has accepted terms.
[thunder cracks]
[narrator] Charles Vane may have succumbed for now,
but not all the up-and-coming pirates want the pardon.
[Duncombe] Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham shared a love at first sight.
I think they both sort of represented a novelty to each other.
You've got Jack, who's this dashing man in fancy clothes,
and then you have Anne, who is this fiery woman.
What about Anne?
Is there more to you than a bonny face?
It makes sense that they were drawn to one another.
Anne Bonny is done with men that promise her the earth
and give her dirt.
[somber violin music]
And what would Anne Bonny do if she were this man?
If Anne Bonny were dashing Calico Jack,
he would say…
[soft laugh]
He would say
that the pardon has come too soon.
That England is a long, long way from the Caribbean,
and that while the sun is shining,
he will make hay.
[narrator] As Anne Bonny and Calico Jack conspire against the pardon,
Blackbeard is sailing up the coast of mainland America.
With 700 men at his command, no ship or settlement is safe,
but when he heads to Charleston, he isn't looking for gold.
He's desperate for a particular medicine.
[somber music]
Blackbeard is hiding a dirty secret.
Syphilis.
[unsettling music]
Mercury was a thing which basically kills everything, including humans.
It's a very toxic element.
[foreboding music]
[Lawrence] They'd put the mercury in a large syringe,
and that was inserted
straight into the penis.
And they would inject the liquid metal of mercury
into the penis and through to the bladder.
[foreboding music]
How bad must the pain of syphilis have to be,
that this was the cure that Blackbeard was desperate for?
[tense music]
[waves splashing]
[narrator] Back in the Bahamas,
Hornigold is negotiating with Captain Pearse
about the future of Nassau…
Thank you, my love.
[narrator] …once the pardon is accepted.
The fort is key.
The King may think he's at peace with Spain,
but they're as busy against us as they've ever been.
We need housing, farms,
and it's been a long while since we had a proper seat of governance.
So, the governor's house needs renovating, and then
a town hall and a court house in due course.
It must have felt quite good to go from being
kind of in an outlaw capacity
to being recognized as almost an equal
by the representative of the King of England.
[narrator] But politics is never plain sailing in Nassau.
Captain Pearse, Charles Vane and his men are gone.
[foreboding music]
Tell your men to guard the port.
If they're not taking a sloop, they'll be heading to the jungle and I can--
Shut up!
-[Hornigold] I-- -Shut up!
[somber music]
[hits table]
[Lawrence] Pearse must have looked at Hornigold and thought,
"Who is this man? Is he really who he says he is?"
Immediately, Ben Hornigold's standing in Pearse's eyes drops.
[narrator] Vane is an outlaw again, but now he's captain of his own ship.
[Vane] The seas here are rich with fat traders
hauling their fortunes from the Americas to Europe.
[crew cheering]
So, let's take our shark navy into the shoals and gorge ourselves.
Let's get fat, boys.
[crew] Yeah!
Fatter than any London merchant. Fatter than our German king.
[crew] Yeah!
[pirate] Merchant sail on the horizon!
Hoist the black!
We have prey.
[Woodward] Charles Vane, at this point, could have gone anywhere,
but he sticks around preying on the shipping
coming back and forth to Nassau.
He's doing his best to punch the new regime in the face
over and over again.
It was now Charles Vane unbound, so to speak.
[clamor of battle above deck]
Search the hold.
I want every barrel, box, crate,
chest, man, woman searched
for every valuable this shit-box ship is carrying,
and if anyone gives you any trouble…
kill them.
[woman cries softly]
[woman cries louder]
[sobs]
[whimpers, thuds]
[sound of ransacking]
[indistinct pirates' chatter]
[Woodward] Charles Vane is now his own captain.
He's not serving under Henry Jennings. The lid is off, so to speak.
He becomes less and less restrained.
More and more violent.
[shouting] Is this all? Is this it?
[coins clatter]
He starts sadistically torturing the captives.
No, no, no. No!
-Hold him. -[man groans]
-[Vane] Keep him still. -[man screams]
[continues screaming]
You can't speak to somebody at length about Charles Vane
without the word psychopath.
[inaudible taunts, jeering]
Hold him.
[Conniff] This isn't just a pirate brand designed to create fear,
this is a man in obviously an extreme mindset
inflicting extreme violence.
[somber music]
[narrator] As word of Vane's rampage hits Nassau,
Captain Pearse flees to the safety of New York,
his mission in tatters.
[gulls crying]
In London, pirate-hunter Woodes Rogers
is preparing to bring Nassau to heel…
[soldier] Sir?
…once and for all.
We'll need more ordnance.
Let us plan for a protracted siege,
though if God is just, the pardon will have done its worst.
-Very good, sir. -Carry on.
Rogers would have known that many of them would have accepted the pardon,
and that made his life a lot easier by reducing the pirate ranks.
But it also introduced an element of confusion and infighting
amongst the pirates in the Bahamas.
That may have been part of the plan. Divide and conquer.
You there, are they the pamphlets I ordered?
[narrator] Rogers will lead the largest force
ever unleashed on the pirates
and he's confident he has God on his side.
[soldier] Sir.
Do your duty, gentlemen.
[somber music]
[waves splashing]
[narrator] The Pirate Republic is more ungodly than ever
under the new management of Charles Vane.
[women moaning]
[laughter]
-[men] Come here! Get in! -[captive] Please!
[pirates] Captain.
[Vane] Look at me.
Look at me. Where's Hornigold?
Where's the turncoat? Look at me when I'm talking to you!
[narrator] Benjamin Hornigold knows what Vane is capable of…
[man choking, screaming]
…and has gone into hiding.
Go.
[chokes, screams]
-[shot echoes] -[body thuds]
[man gasps final breath]
[Vane laughs]
[kissing]
[tavern silent]
[Vane] Gentleman Thatch.
Or is it the ferocious Blackbeard? [laughs jeeringly]
Come, sit with me. We have a lot to discuss.
[narrator] Vane sees Blackbeard's return as an opportunity.
[Fox] Vane must have thought that this was an answer to a prayer.
This was exactly what they needed to re-enforce the island.
To resist the authorities when they eventually arrived.
With Blackbeard and his fleet there, they could hold out perhaps indefinitely.
Jennings has fled.
Hornigold has betrayed us.
But we prevail.
Work for me.
Your ships under my ultimate command.
We could turn Nassau into a formidable base against the Crown.
With my fleet and my men?
Of course.
Sounds like the Crown have got a problem on their hands.
They will.
Nah, I've got more important business.
[pint clinks]
[tense music]
You're not seriously thinking about staying with that lunatic?
Don't worry,
I'm not long for Nassau.
I set sail soon.
Sail with me.
I've got plans for a new Nassau.
This time with the protection of a governor.
Thank you, Thatch,
but my future lies in Madagascar.
As far away from this place as I can sail.
[somber, mournful music]
Good luck, my friend.
You, too.
[narrator] Paulsgrave Williams never returns to Nassau.
Blackbeard also sees his future elsewhere.
In mainland North America.
[somber music]
We'll be making our way down here.
North Carolina.
[narrator] Blackbeard has struck a deal with their governor, Charles Eden,
to take the pardon and carry on his piracy.
[Woodward] It was a sort of bastard colony at the time.
There were very few European settlers there.
This colony in this precarious situation
needed Blackbeard and his core supporters.
They have a lack of investment, a lack of militia.
We're going to bring it to them.
[narrator] Unlike their other colonies in America,
the British Crown doesn't govern North Carolina.
Crown colonies all report back to the Crown.
They're under very tight government control,
but proprietary colonies are run by groups of investors.
So, they are much less interested in law and order,
and much more interested in profit.
We can give that to them.
Once we've done that,
we're presented with this.
A pardon.
For us and all of our men.
[Fox] He hand-picked the people that traveled with him.
The majority of that crew were Black former slaves.
Everything worked out absolutely perfectly for him.
Helmsman,
set a course for Bath,
North Carolina.
[narrator] And with that,
Blackbeard sets course for the dirtiest double-cross
in pirate history.
[indistinct chatter]
[door opens]
Governor Eden.
I can grant you that pardon.
For you and your crew.
I do, however, require a down payment.
A gesture of goodwill to seal our partnership.
Don't worry, you'll be handsomely paid.
[narrator] Blackbeard has a commodity more valuable than gold.
[somber music]
[Walker] By the time he ends up in North Carolina,
he has a clear sense of how to turn these people into money.
[chains rattling]
[Fox] Blackbeard didn't have great ideas of racial equality.
To him, they were slaves, and they always were slaves.
[men grunting]
In many ways it seems like a betrayal of his loyalty to them.
-[chains rattling] -[men groaning]
[narrator] Blackbeard goes from liberating slaves…
[men grunting]
…to selling them.
[somber music]
[narrator] The ideals of the Pirate Republic are falling apart.
It's capital, Nassau, is on the brink.
[waves splashing]
[rushing footsteps approaching]
[panting] There are ships off Nassau.
An armada.
It looks like Royal Navy.
[somber music]
Can you write?
Yeah.
-[ships creaking] -[waves splashing]
[narrator] It'll take more than a letter to appease Woodes Rogers.
The pirate-hunter means business.
We have them outnumbered,
outgunned,
and trapped.
Gentlemen,
let us rid this port
once and for all
of the godless scum that infest it.
[dramatic swashbuckling music]