Blackbeard was a nasty and wicked pirate. He was active from 1716-18. He was born in 1680 in Bristol, England and stayed there until he became a pirate. He became a privateer, which were legal pirates, during Queen Anne’s war. Once the war was over, many men were left with no jobs and some became pirates, including Edward. He became the captain of a pirate ship called Queen Anne’s revenge and sailed in the Caribbean. He was a very cruel captain and once he even shot someone in the legs! To make himself look scary, he had lots of guns and burned fuses in his hair to create a cloud of smoke. Because he burned his hair, it was black, so he got the name Blackbeard. He died when he and his crew got in a fight with Lieutenant Robert Maynard. Maynard