Scheduled events include a pirate invasion, living history exhibits, tavern games, pirate skits, Skalawag School for kids, and more.
If you live on the island, or nearby, mark your calendar now. This will be an exciting opportunity leading up to the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard's demise coming up in 2018!
Hope to see you at the pirate encampment later this month.
Click here to visit the Jamboree's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ocracoke-Hattaras-Blackbeards-Pirate-Jamboree/186552064811019...and their web site: http://piratejamboree.com/.
There is more information here and here.
For a complete schedule of events click here.
Our most recent Ocracoke Newsletter is a compilation of humorous stories told by or about islanders. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news092113.htm.
According to some "information" on a web site, Blackbeard in 1718 was in cahoots with the then Gov. of North Carolina. Gov. Eden pardoned Blackbeard, then worked out a deal of "loot for protection." If the British Navy captured Blackbeard, was it necessary to behead him? Apparently for "proof" , to claim the Bounty? The Royal Navy paid bounty to it's ranks?? If this is true and Blackbeard had been pardoned why go after him? Why was there not a trial? Was the Gov charged with any crime? It seems to me this legend has lived on because it was a government with blood on its hands. Honestly, why all this glamorizing of pirates. Are there any records of the Navy personnel that captured Blackbeard ? how many did it take and what did they use to behead him? I would hope your readers would ask them selves these questions and investigate. If you do not know the answers-- I just thought these questions would be frequently asked by visitors to your island. Thank You
ReplyDeleteGov. Eden did not pardon Blackbeard. However, Blackbeard accepted the terms of the king's "Act of Grace" from Gov. Eden who was a close personal friend. Virginia's Gov. Spotswood sent Lt. Robt. Maynard after Blackbeard because he was suspected of committing piracy after accepting the Act of Grace. The reasons for Spotswood's accusations, the legality (or illegality) of his actions, Blackbeard's connection to Gov. Eden, and other details of Blackbeard's last battle are presented in "Blackbeard the Pirate, A Reappraisal of His Life and Times" by Robert E. Lee, 1974..."The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate" by Kevin P. Duffus, 2008...and other books. These should answer your questions.
ReplyDeleteMaybe my comment was not exactly accurate. I received this clarification from Kevin Duffus:
ReplyDelete"While Gov. Eden pardoned Blackbeard and his men, the pardon was invalid and illegal due to numerous acts of piracy committed after the pardon's expiration date of Jan. 5, 1718/19, including the burning of the Boston ship Protestant Caesar and the blockade of the port of Charleston. By issuing the pardon to Blackbeard and his men, Gov. Eden became an accessory to acts of piracy, the penalty for which was execution. However, much to Edward Moseley's displeasure, no evidence was ever found to convict Eden.
"Even though Blackbeard and his men had received an invalid pardon from Eden, they would have been eligible for the second pardon from George I--the same one that saved William Howard's life. In addition to extending the deadline for pirates to surrender to July 1, 1719, the terms further stipulated that: “Every such pirate...shall have Our Gracious Pardon for such Piracies, Committed before such time as they shall have received Notice of this Our Royal Proclamation.” Unfortunately for Blackbeard and his fellow pirates aboard the sloop Adventure, they fired upon the King's colors at Ocracoke after being offered the opportunity to surrender by Lt. Maynard, thus committing treason. Therefore, those pirates who survived the battle were executed in Virginia, not as pirates but as traitors to the crown."