Sir Francis Drake and Blackbeard: Comparative

By the 17^th century, New Spain had supplied the fuel for a powerful Spain to rise out of Europe. No other nation could match the wealth and glory of Spain. The gold from Spain's royal extension in America was the envy of a mercantilist Europe and the prize of a Catholic nation. England, however, had yet to own any powerful distant empire to fuel her home economy. It was time to even the score and Queen Elizabeth had a card up her sleeve to help her do so-Sir Francis Drake. Under her license, he would pick off Spanish vessels and rob Spanish settlements of the very blood that kept Spain going. By steeling gold from the rich Spanish and giving it to the poor English, Drake was a Robin Hood in his own time and a hero to his country. By being a natural thief, he not only pumped English moral, but also happened to circumnavigate the globe while he was at it. He was the first Englishman to do so.

Moving forward to 18^th century New England, the Atlantic was full of merchant ships involved in trading back and forth between mother country and colony. Ships made haste to reach their port of destination, because such trips where quite unbearable for all but the most experienced seamen. The vast sea was hard to police, however, and lay open to criminal cunning and any ambitious sailor that willed to break the ominous cycle of sea-life. He could do this by piracy. A well-noted pirate is Blackbeard, or Captain Edward Teach. He struck fear in the hearts of any who sailed in the waters of the middle colonies and rightly so, for he prized rum, women, and money to fuel his personal economy, and got it by thievery. He stole and hijacked ships as Drake had done years before him, but this time the deed would lead to his untimely death. Therefore, it is necessary to compare two known seamen, Captain Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Sir Francis Drake, and thus prove how similar these two men were, and how differently a Colonial Europe viewed these men of virtually the same trade-piracy.

When we think of a pirate, we immediately think of a man with a sword drawn and knife in mouth raiding a ship for treasure. He or (very seldom) she speaks with a unique marine language of his or her own, and dresses quite differently compared to that of a landsman (Lemisch 372). Along with that, we envision an old pirate map which leads to an "X" marking a buried treasure on some deserted island in the middle of the Caribbean. We draw these images from movies and literature, and of them only specks of truth litter the scripts and pages.

A pirate, then, is "...someone who robs and plunders on the sea" (Cordingly xvii). They lived a life free from the rules of a regular law abiding subject, and they more than likely lived a very crude life. They had a slim-to-none chance of living out a long, prosperous, career of piracy, and often were ruled by captains with more evil in mind than their own crew (Cordingly 243-244). Alfred Sternbeck notes that pirates were sought after and actively hunted down because the interruptions upon trade caused by them would no longer be acceptable to the maturing mercantilist colonies (Sternbeck 184). Violet Barbour remarks, "...the imperative demand for security in trade brought about gradually a systematic and adequate policing of the seas" (Barbour 566). The annoyance they caused inhibited travel and terrorized everyone who set sail. The following was a description used to paint a mental picture of Blackbeard given by his contemporary Captain Charles Johnson.

"This [His] beard was black, which he suffered to grow of an extravagant length; as to breadth it came up to his eyes. He was accustomed to twist it with ribbons, in small tails, after the manner of our ramilies wigs, and turn them about his ears. In time of action, he wore a sling over his shoulders with three brace of pistols hanging in holsters like bandaliers, and stuck lighted matches under his hat, which, appearing on each side of his face, his eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made altogether such a figure, that imagination cannot find an idea of a fury, from hell, to look more frightful" (Johnson 60).

The above description gives us a glimpse of what kind of person it takes to maintain a successful leadership position over an aggressive pirate crew. It also has given us a sort of template of what to imagine when someone speaks of a common pirate, and has been the stereotypical model for terror on the high seas for years (Cordingly 13).

With the above descriptions of a pirate, or thief, in mind, we should now look at Sir Francis Drake, who got his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth on the 4^th of April, 1581. Though the Spanish wanted him eliminated due to his victories against them, he would be celebrated by his country (Wood 148). James Williamson says that Drake was different from a pirate because he was "levying war in the character of a privateer and was morally not a pirate" (Williamson 121). Was Drake biased against Spain due to duty or due to some form of deep hatred? Drake did not simply turn into the vengeful anti-Catholic and Spanish raiding knight by the result of a days' thought or even a decades' thought-he desired vengeance from the summer of 1553, when a Catholic princess ruled England and smashed his dreams of being in the navy (Corbett 4-5). Edmund Drake, the father of Francis, was the Reader of Prayers to the Royal Navy at Chatham Reach, at the dockyard. It was here that the sea called to Drake and set him on his chosen track to be a sailor. But with the Catholic rule of England, Edmund was out of work as a Protestant preacher and could hardly afford to support his sons (Corbett 6). Therefore, young Francis Drake set out on his own. Julian Corbett describes the arena of hardship that he must have endured during this period of hard times.

"Francis was apprenticed to the skipper of a small craft that traded to France and Holland. It was a poor end to his brighter expectations. The hardships of a ship-boy on board a Channel Coaster in those days are to us unconceivable. In danger, privatation, and exposure, the lad was molded into the man, and even as his frame was being rudely forged...into his manhood, so was his spirit being tempered...He was plunged into the most violent religious passion..." (Corbett 6).

Drake would take this as the stealing of his future and opportunities and would spend his life in private vengeance toward Spain and Catholicism. He wanted retribution (Sternbeck 31). Violet Barbour offers an observation that shows that Drake would not have been the only one on a personal crusade against the Spanish, but other angry Protestants as well sought retribution among any random Spanish (and therefore Catholic) ship due to "religious and patriotic zeal" (Barbour 529-566).

Being a known or discovered Catholic in the midst of a Protestant crew would probably have led to horrible torture and discrimination. Having your identity revealed when that very fact determines a successful career or a nightmarish and most likely fateful journey, Captain Edward Teach had the misfortune of popularity lurking about him at every turn. It is common sense that the best way to successfully attack anyone, for any reason, is to use surprise and anonymity. Both of these vital handicaps could not be found in his arsenal, for everyone coming into and leaving New England feared a Blackbeard among hundreds of possible small time pirates that sought plunder on the seas. Alfred Sternbeck points out that the North American Colonials of early 18^th century New England where used to hearing about piracy, but since Blackbeard had a reputation due to a successful career in his trade, his identity became tied to that form of terrorism (Sternbeck 187).

Blackbeard was the name that he had called himself only after choosing to become a pirate. This occurred when he went to the West Indies. There, the man formally known as Drummond changed his name to Teach (Sternbeck 185). England was at war during this title change, and this is when he began privateering under Captain Hornygold. Hornygold saw that Teach was excellent at the corsair business, and wisely decided to get him off his ship, and onto a prize French Guinea trader, which Captain Teach armed with 40 guns and named Queen Anne's Revenge. (Sternbeck 185). Unfortunately, the war had ended, and privateering was no longer needed legally. He therefore went to Hondorus Bay, which "was swarming with pirates and smugglers" (Sternbeck 186). He needed to find a first-rate crew, and he did.

Blackbeard could easily give himself credit to five successful pirate attacks from the years 1716 to 1726 and with a crew from 150 to 300 (with consorts for all but the first attack), attacked areas such as Philadelphia (Oct. 1717,) and Crab Island (Dec. 1717.) The next year, he assaulted ships around the islands off Turneff (Apr. 1718,) off Providence (May. 1718,) Charlestown, and South Carolina (June 1718) (Cordingly 248). All of these attacks proved Blackbeard's ambition and ability to lead men to the plunder a pirate crew sought and required for provisions. But Blackbeard has not always been a scourge of the lowest form, and at one time had "...sailed some time out of Jamaica in privateers, in the Late French war..." and had apparently served with great "uncommon boldness" and "personal courage" (Johnson 46). Unfortunately, this outstanding service to his government molded Teach into what would become Blackbeard, the demon that we hear about today. The military had created him, and would one day hunt him down for his thief-like instincts.

Sir Francis Drake's attempt to take Nombre de Dios in 1572 and his actions during the robbery reveal his thief-like instincts and his passion for plunder (Cordingly 27). Anyone using the romantic and stereotypical definition of a pirate could easily pick out Drake as a common pirate, because he buried the freshly plundered treasure he picked up from the mule trains headed for port. He ordered his men to do this because his extraction ships were forced to move due to the patrolling Spanish flotilla, and he had to find another means to get his stolen gold and silver to his ships, and thus home to England. But since David Cordingly further points out that there are actually few cases of true pirates burying their treasure (Cordingly 179), we must look then at Francis Drake's demeanor during this event, and how closely he resembles the common "enemy of mankind," or pirate (Johnson 54).

Sir Francis Drake had the intellect of a thief, and that side of him was strong enough to lead other thieves like him into battle in a foreign land, even though none of the crew had been there before. Nombre de Dios could not escape the fingers of Queen Elizabeth, and Drake provided her with a nail sharp enough to let the blood from Spain bleed into his hands. This blood was gold, and a craving that evoked a starving wolf in him. He crept along in the darkness while leading his loyal men as if he was totally familiar with the territory. It was like he knew exactly where his goal was, and how to approach it for the best attack (Williamson 124). It is amazing that he did not perish on this raid, because at one point during the event, Drake was wounded. While bleeding down his boot in clear view of his companions, his men implored that he return to his ship and nurse his wounds, but he desired plunder so much, that he ignored them. Fortunately for Drake, his men were of right minds and dragged him back. In doing so, their fevered leader remarked that whatever man did not take advantage of the plunder available was wasting his time and out of his mind (Sternbeck 37).

William Wood describes Drake on this raid by saying that,

"he had the strength of a giant [probably seen this way because of his endurance of his wound,] the pluck of a bulldog, the spring of a tiger, and the cut of a man that is born to command. Broad browed, with steel-blue eyes and close-cropped auburn hair and beard, he was all kindliness of countenance to friends, but a very 'Dragon' to his Spanish foes" (Wood 105-106).

Hence, Sir Francis Drake was not just a vengeful Protestant, but also could be portrayed as a giant man eating tiger, a vicious bulldog, and a dragon. The inhabitants of Nombre de Dios, whether they were men, women, children, or monks, ran for their lives like any townsmen under siege from the hell described above, and as far as they were concerned, a hero was not visiting them, but a common pirate.

Blackbeard was actually nothing more than an ordinary pirate, and had no real care in life except for proving to his shipmates that he was their strongest man, and thus, their rightful captain. Marcus Rediker says that pirates adhered to a different social order than any regulated legal ship organization. Pirates relied on themselves, and collectively decided what was done, who did what, and where they were to go next. Their way of life can best be described as egalitarian, for plunder was divided evenly amongst all shipmates, and even their captain elect. The crew gave the captain power, but it was limited and could be taken away swiftly (Rediker 261-262). Edward Teach served as a skilled privateer in earlier years, so he probably found it easy to attract willing followers in the wake of his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge (Rediker 215). His men could depend on his finely honed navigation and maneuvering to skim gold, silver, "...provisions, stores, and other necessaries..." off the top of the booming market of a maturing mercantilist economy (Johnson 51).

While the colonial world grew immensely, pirates like Blackbeard flourished, but because of his continuing agitations, the idea of containing piracy grew just as steady. Bounties were declared, and government officials hunted down pirates for gold (Rediker 218). Blackbeard did turn himself in at one point, but the draw of the pirate's life pulled him back into the sea like a shark instinctually and naturally is drawn by a pool of blood. Alfred Sternbeck adds that he successfully masqueraded as a common trader to surprise men and plunder their ships. Since he could often be found half drunk, he sometimes partied with the crew that he successfully assaulted, while sometimes hounding others not so fortunate (Sternbeck 191).

Alfred Sternbeck calls alcohol the "...the banisher of all cares" (Sternbeck 191). Blackbeard consumed a lot of it, and thus became passive to the reality that people will only cower so long under the shadow of one man, and hence will arise against him eventually. He fell victim to his desires, and "alcohol was his devil" (Sternbeck 191). Captain Edward Teach was used to getting what he needed from others, and did not want that to change, because he had lived that way for a large portion of his life. He was king of his domain, and could care less about what any colonial government had to say about his own culture, because it was not their ideals Blackbeard was after, but their provisions mostly. He only needed to work enough to sustain his lifestyle, and the rest was a drunken haze until the day he died.

Sir Francis Drake could be described as a sober man, for he had a clear mind-but only clear of alcohol. His whiskey was plunder, and he would try to pull off any scheme to wrap his hands around what was not his. Drake did not circumnavigate the globe for exploratory reasons, but for the sole purpose of plundering whatever Spanish Settlement he found. Old textbooks will most likely denote Sir Francis Drake as the great navigator of foreign waters, instead of the thief he really was. Daniel Vickers has made it obvious that most exploratory activity of the high seas was done to achieve greater desires and not for the sake of mere discovery (Vickers 422-423).

In 1577, instructions where made for Captain Francis Drake to explore the world beyond the Straits of Magellan and make contact with anyone in that area, for that area was considered, by the English, "...as not being under the obedience of any Christian prince" (Williamson 169). This proves the English desire to pick at the Spanish fortune, because the English were totally ignorant of the fact that Spain had legal claims to those lands (Terra Australis Incognita, possibly the coast of Chile) for over thirty years (Williamson 170). Regardless, his originally stated missions were to make contact with good land and possibly people, and quickly return. A few senior officers, Drake, and Queen Elizabeth herself, only knew the true destination and mission-outright piracy.

During the initial stages of the voyage, and in true pirate fashion, Drake seized a Portuguese ship and added it to his fleet, and much like Blackbeard named his own ship, Drake renamed the stolen ship Mary from Christopher (Williamson 175). Further in the trip, the crew had not known the true destination, and still thought their purpose was of true exploratory fashion. But seamen are a skilled lot, and soon realized that their mission was unknown to them when they reached the Cape Verde Islands, because Drake began organizing the fleet for an attack on treasure ports along the West Coast (Williamson 177). As a pirate, Drake was not an ideal one onboard, because he would not allow the egalitarian system to emerge, and he forced all labor into a sort of common council, but under his sovereign leadership (Williamson 180). He spent the whole voyage chasing and capturing treasure ships. The capturing of the Cacafuego on March 1, 1579, filled Drake's Golden Hind to the brim with Peruvian silver (Williamson 188-189). In quick summary, then, Drake returned with the stolen plunder, while charting new maps on the way. It was indeed an account of courage, but it is a rare occurrence when a society promotes courageous villains. A superior thug does not receive such positive recognition for steeling from the innocent, regardless of his or her motives.

While Blackbeard was just trying to fuel the self-sustaining government on his ship, Drake was out to bring back gold and ships to a sly English queen. Sir Francis Drake was not seeking out provisions to keep him and his crew alive; the English government under the Queen's blessing supplied them. Pirates such as Blackbeard had to fend for themselves in the world, and no one willingly donated to them, except by surrender during a raid. Captain Charles Johnson wrote that Blackbeard once took four ships in clear view of Charles Town, Carolina, and anchored, thus halting transportation and trade there and striking fear in the hearts of the inhabitants, (Johnson 48)-- in Nombre de Dios fashion-they feared a beast in their waters. Blackbeard had in his possession a prominent member of the community among some merchantmen and negroes. He demanded medicine, a ransom, and the freedom of jailed pirates in the town, or what Captain Johnson called them, "pirate ambassadors" (Johnson 49). It was a big move for Teach, but he needed to replenish his supplies and avenge the capture of his pirate brethren.

This above act put tense pressure on the colonial government's trade economy, and thus caused it to focus on Blackbeard as their number one enemy; not the goal of any smart pirate. The town could not take restriction of trade, so they gave in to his demands. Blackbeard got his medicine and the freedom of his fellow pirates, and he released his hostages as well, but only after he relieved them of their monies and valuables at hand (Johnson 49). In this episode, Blackbeard successfully reinforced the stereotype of the revenge-seeking pirate.

In 1586, roughly some two hundred years earlier, Sir Francis Drake held San Domingo, New Spain for ransom (Wood 157-158). Being offshore, Drake sent a Cimaroon servant boy on errand to the town to give Drake's terms. Unfortunately for the boy, a Spanish officer thrust his sword through him. This gave Drake a reason to raise hell and breathe the fire that he was rhetorically rumored to naturally hold in his breath. He could now be a terrible monster, and he could vent his anger. The town successfully hid their valuables from the pirate Drake (Wood 158). Drake was a revenge seeker, and ordered the murderer hanged, and hanged he was. Then, he continued to burn the town until his ransom of twenty-five thousand ducats where paid to him, while his anti-Catholic crew took out their aggressions on the Catholic town. It was an old-fashioned plundering, and England's hero was at the head of operations.

The townsfolk, like most other peoples of the West Indies, were used to pirate attacks and yet "were always surprised and always demoralized" (Barbour 534). They were just one target of Drake's vengeance, and their destruction did not calm the fires of Drake-they only fanned them to a greater roar. There was no end to his anger His power was great, and he proved it over and over. Being well known to his enemy, like Blackbeard was well known to the colonies, was a very bad thing, and Drake realized it in his final days. Julian Corbett pictures Sir Francis Drake this way:

"Then it was that the undaunted heart began to wax cold... ...failure began to haunt him, as he recognized how the terror of his name had changed the Indies. The seas were deserted, the ports bristled with guns, and feverish wakefulness had supplanted the old dreamy security" (Corbett 206).

To Blackbeard, being known and feared meant that action against him was imminent, and thus death was in his near future. The Dragon, or Drake, being feared likewise, probably did not have any fear in his heart, because he knew his Queen would shield him from the growing anger of the Spanish. While Blackbeard did not have this protection, he simply drank to pass the days until his time arrived and was satisfied with his devious accomplishments. Francis Drake was on a royal and personal mission, in contrast, and needed to grab all the gold he could so that the evil Spanish could not only pay for excommunicating Elizabeth, but also for ruining Drakes life. Sir Francis Drake died of dysentery on the 27^th of January, (Wood 229) off the coast of Escudo de Veragua (Corbett 207) (Mosquito Gulf) with the same desire of vengeance he had since he was young, while Blackbeard, who was told that Governor Spotswood leased ships out to kill him, just drank the night away-and thus did not care what lied ahead of him. He did not know that before the end of the next day, his head would be separated from his body as a trophy on November 21, 1718 by Captain Maynerd, on commission by Governor Spotswood to find and destroy Blackbeard (Cordingly 194). Today, Sir Francis Drake is seen as a brilliant navigator that skillfully removed Colonial Spain of her morale and treasure, while Captain Edward Teach is more known by the name of Blackbeard, in as a demon that scourged the seas. Privateering equaled piracy (Reeves 541), and so Alfred Sternbeck agrees that "Drake, [Sir Henry] Morgan, and Teach illustrate a gradual scale of Deterioration. All three were pirates, but the first a hero, and the last a thief" (Sternbeck 200).

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