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Piracy in The Bahamas
 Edward Teach a native of England, supposedly born in 1680 came from a wealthy family; he was well educated for a man of his time, because pirates used many aliases, its unsure if Edward Teach was his real name as there were many variations of spelling (Theach, Thatch, etc). Teach began his seaman’s career as a privateer for Queen Anne during the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1716 Captain Benjamin Hornigold put Teach in charge of a small sloop that he took in a fierce battle. The Queen’s Anne’s revenge, a well build French Man-O-War ship that was capture by the pair became Teach’s first ship in which he fitted with 40 cannons. By war's end, Teach had become an experienced seaman. He then joined a group of fierce Caribbean pirates and soon the cunning, fearless Teach became captain of his own ship, thus began the reign of the most infamous pirate in history known as Black Beard. Black Beard struck terror in everyone he met, with his image of burring hairs which he created by sticking candle wicks in hair and setting them on fire. Many stories circulated of how he died; the most probable was a battle which took place in the Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina, between Lieutenant Maynard of Virginia and himself, in which Black Beard was shot dead by the Lieutenant.
Men were not the only ones drawn to the life of Piracy. Anne Boney: born in Ireland, moved to American when her father took over a plantation in the Carolina. After meeting up with Captain John Rackham also known as “Calico Jack”, Anne was lured into the life of Piracy. In October 1720 after their ship was capture, she was jailed and sentenced to hang in Jamaica. Anne Plead “The Belly” or pregnant and as a result was never hanged. There are not records of what became of her faith after that. Mary Reed: Raised as a boy and at one point even worked as a footboy for a wealthy French Lady. Mary later she ran off and stowed away on a ship which was taken by pirates before it could reach its destination; the pirate ship was captained by none other than John Rackham. Mary then joined forces with the couple Anne Boney and John Rackham. After being captured with the pair, she was also sentence to hang, but died in prison of fever before the sentence was carried.
Bahamian waters remained infested with pirates until the arrival of Woodes Rogers, first Royal Governor who came to the Bahamas in 1718. He restored commerce and expelled pirates from the Country. Having spent his fortune Woodes Rogers left the Bahamas three years later because of administrative hardships and lack of assistance. He was replaced by Governor George Phenney, during his tenure Phenney tried to secure a meeting of an Assembly, but instead, Council meetings were held and recorded from 1718. It wasn’t until Rogers’ second term as Governor 11 years later in 1729 that a General Assembly was called, comprising of 24 elected members. The Assembly met for the first time on September 29th the same year, 12 acts was passed implementing the Bahamas’ Parliamentary History. Rogers died in 1732 worn out and disappointed that his second term didn’t go as well as planned. Despite disappointments he turned New Providence into a respectable place and had done what none of his predecessors had done.
After his death the colonist began the trade of shipwrecking and illegal trade between the French and northern Colonial ports. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, Shipwrecking became an “Industry” and it’s said that the Government even issued licenses to “Wrecking Families” who shared their findings with the Officials of New Providence. The industry Flourished until the Harbour Lighthouse in the city of Nassau was established in 1816, the first to be built in 1817 was the Imperial Lighthouse at the entrance of Nassau Harbour. To follow were the The Great Isaacs built in 1859, Cay Lobos built in 1860, Sturrup’s Cay built in 1863, Elbow Cay (Candy Striped lighthouse of the Abacos) also built in 1863, Inagua built in 1868 and Bird Rock built in 1876. There were many Bahamians who opposed the building of these light houses since it threatened livelihood of Shipwrecking.
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