1 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:13,000 [dramatic swashbuckling music] 2 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,680 [narrator] Pirates. The stuff of myth and legend. 3 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,680 -[man whimpering] -Hold him. 4 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,000 -[pirate] Keep him still! -[agonized screaming] 5 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,000 [narrator] Swashbuckling outlaws, 6 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,520 bringing murder and mayhem to the high seas. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,200 These wild-eyed scallywags are not a Hollywood invention. 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:33,720 They're all too real. 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,800 My name is Blackbeard! 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,160 [narrator] The Golden Age of Piracy 11 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,240 starts after a war between England and Spain. 12 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:48,920 England wins, 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,200 but the Spanish Empire is still a force to be reckoned with… 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,320 [dramatic music] 15 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,240 …until the night she loses her treasure fleet. 16 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,560 [men shouting and yelling] 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,240 [mast groans] 18 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,080 [splash echoing] 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,280 [narrator] Spain is broke, 20 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,040 her riches scattered at the bottom of the sea. 21 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:23,640 The sunken booty is a beacon for rogue sailors 22 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:28,320 who prowl the Caribbean and the East Coast of the Americas. 23 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:30,760 The Benjamin! 24 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,480 [narrator] Many of these pirates become living legends. 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,200 -[yelling] -[swords clashing] 26 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:38,520 [men cheering] 27 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,560 [narrator] Men like Benjamin Hornigold… 28 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:45,960 Time to trim that bastard Jennings' sails. 29 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:47,360 [narrator] Henry Jennings… 30 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:52,120 Which will break first? Your will or my poor knuckles? 31 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:53,880 [narrator] Black Sam Bellamy… 32 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:55,480 Hoist the black flag! 33 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,320 Right, lads, let's see what these French sailors are made of. 34 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:00,200 [narrator] And they're not all men. 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:01,520 Anne Bonny. 36 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,320 No! No! 37 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:05,200 Hold! 38 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,200 I think it's about time you let us leave. 39 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,400 [narrator] And the most famous pirate of them all, Edward Thatch, 40 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,280 better known as Blackbeard. 41 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,080 Course I'm mad. 42 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:18,400 I'm as mad as a fox. 43 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:21,560 [cannon fire echoing] 44 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:22,920 On your feet. 45 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,320 [narrator] The pirates of the Caribbean strike terror 46 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,200 into the world's most powerful empires. 47 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,360 The rich rob the poor under cover of law. 48 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,000 We plunder the rich by our own courage. 49 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,480 [narrator] These Robin Hoods of the sea changed the course of history. 50 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,560 No sailor can get punished without the agreement of the crew. 51 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,440 [narrator] They believe in equality, and liberate slaves. 52 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:53,160 You are no longer slaves! You are now subject to the laws of piracy! 53 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,640 [narrator] They even create a democratic republic. 54 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,840 -[all] Aye! -Nassau, the new Pirate Republic! 55 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,720 [narrator] They are the real forefathers of modern America. 56 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,200 [epic, dramatic music] 57 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:14,080 [action music] 58 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:15,600 [blast echoing] 59 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,000 [narrator] The pirates of the Caribbean are forged in a brutal conflict. 60 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:20,480 [cannon fire echoing] 61 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,200 For 12 long years, Europe is at war. 62 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,960 The War of Spanish Succession might be better called World War Zero. 63 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,920 [cannon fire echoing] 64 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:33,360 [narrator] It all starts 65 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,400 when Spain forms an alliance with France, 66 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,440 to create the world's largest superpower. 67 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,640 The other European powers, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians, 68 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:47,440 they considered that alliance a threat. 69 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,240 [narrator] The war quickly spreads to the Caribbean, 70 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,920 the gateway to the New World, 71 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,520 the source of Spain's incredible wealth. 72 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,880 [male historian] The islands of the Caribbean themselves were also the route 73 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:01,080 through to South America, 74 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,560 where the Spaniards were mining gold, 75 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,080 and especially lots and lots of silver. 76 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:10,840 All of that silver had to be traveled through the Caribbean, 77 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,560 back to Europe. 78 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,400 [narrator] For a long time, Spain has the Caribbean to herself. 79 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,400 Then, the English move in. 80 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,960 [Choundas] Spain discovered the New World in the person of Christopher Columbus, 81 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,320 and so the presence of other European powers, 82 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,440 be it England in Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Bahamas, 83 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,120 that presence was trespass, pure and simple, 84 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:34,600 and Spain wanted them out. 85 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:38,640 [narrator] But the English refused to budge. 86 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,000 The war is Spain's chance to kick them out. 87 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,360 Jamaica is Britain's foothold in the region. 88 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:54,000 But the crown has no money to fund the Navy halfway around the world, 89 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,520 so they unleash their own pirate force. 90 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,200 She looks loaded, lads. 91 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:00,440 [pirates] Yeah! 92 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,840 [narrator] Of course, it would be too vulgar to call them pirates. 93 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:05,760 They're given a posher title. 94 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:07,320 Privateers. 95 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:11,280 Sailors of fortune, funded by private money. 96 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,240 They then fight the Spanish under the Crown's official license, 97 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,640 known as a letter of marque. 98 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:21,640 During the Spanish War of Succession, 99 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,120 1,622 letters of marque were given 100 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,280 by the English Royal Court of Admiralty. 101 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,440 That is 1,622 pieces of paper, 102 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,760 which allowed a captain to go out and rob a Spanish vessel. 103 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:36,680 [explosion] 104 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,720 [narrator] The Crown gets a mercenary navy for nothing, 105 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,800 and the privateers make big money robbing the Spanish. 106 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,800 Then, after 12 years, the war grinds to a halt. 107 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,680 The cost of the war had reached crippling levels 108 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:56,640 for all of the participants in the war. 109 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,640 The British came out the clear winner. 110 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,880 [narrator] They win, but King George I is broke 111 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,360 and wants peace at any cost. 112 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,800 Attacks on Spanish traders must stop, 113 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:09,960 pronto. 114 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,160 [pirates talking indistinctly] 115 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,080 [Choundas] The end of the war meant that privateering commissions lost all value. 116 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,840 [somber music] 117 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,280 No enemy, no plunder, 118 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,280 and so thousands of privateers lost their livelihoods, 119 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,720 but they found themselves 120 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,320 in a sea of other unemployed able seamen. 121 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,680 The Navy scaled right back in terms of size. 122 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:40,440 It went from about 50,000 in 1712 to just 14,000. 123 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,040 [Fox] Massive unemployment, 124 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,160 but particularly, massive unemployment amongst a community of people 125 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,560 who knew nothing but sailing, fighting, and stealing. 126 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:56,080 There's been 12 years of loyal service. 127 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,560 To be tossed aside without pay off or pension, 128 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,200 it's nothing short of betrayal! 129 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:02,720 I hear you, my friend. 130 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:04,720 I hear you. 131 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,560 But it'll do you no good to go against the Crown. 132 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:09,800 Ugh! Same again. 133 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:11,800 I can't see the peace holding up. 134 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,480 Men like Benjamin Hornigold 135 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,960 really made their careers in the War of the Spanish Succession, 136 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:21,760 where he operated as a privateer. 137 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,640 We don't know much about his background 138 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,760 because it wasn't documented, mainly because he was a merchant sailor. 139 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,880 So, he was just, you know, an AB on a ship. 140 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,720 Hornigold was left marooned, effectively, by the British, 141 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,240 and told to make his own way in the world. 142 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:38,520 [man] Twelve years. 143 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,520 [Hornigold] Shh, quiet, friend. 144 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:42,800 While there's a garrison still here, 145 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,000 well, I'd keep treasonous talk to yourself. 146 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:47,240 [man] Not fair. 147 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,680 [narrator] Hornigold knows you can't trust anyone, 148 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:54,560 least of all his rival, Henry Jennings. 149 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:57,720 Jennings was from an established Bermuda family. 150 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,240 In addition to the Bermuda Holdings, 151 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,160 Jennings owned an estate in Jamaica. 152 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,960 [narrator] During the war, Henry Jennings is notorious 153 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,040 as the cruelest of privateer captains, 154 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,840 and he sees himself as a cut above rogues like Hornigold. 155 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,000 Well, well, well, here he comes, Henry Jennings. 156 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:22,160 Captain at sea, master on land, bastard on both. 157 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,320 [men laugh] 158 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:28,320 Uh! 159 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,640 Keep your fucking men under control… 160 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:37,840 or I will. 161 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:41,680 -[man groaning] -[blows landing] 162 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,920 [sinister music] 163 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,400 [Lawrence] He's grown up among the plantations, 164 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:52,320 he has seen how you treat slaves, 165 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,720 he knows how to make people do as he says pretty much through torture and fear. 166 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:03,160 [dramatic music] 167 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:13,640 You're all right, aren't you? 168 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:16,680 Let's have a drink. 169 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,120 [narrator] What irks Hornigold 170 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,960 is that, while the King forbids him from attacking the Spanish, 171 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:28,280 the old enemy continues to attack England's merchant ships. 172 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:34,880 The Spanish Guarda Costa were a legitimate force of privateers 173 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,720 employed by the Spanish government in the Caribbean, 174 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:42,640 and their job, in theory, was to protect the Spanish trade interests there, 175 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,840 but in practice, they were a menace to trade. 176 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,160 [cannon fire echoing] 177 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:52,240 At the end of hostilities, these coastal defense vessels 178 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:53,960 continued to seize English ships, 179 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,440 especially those coming back-and-forth out of Jamaica. 180 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,520 [dramatic music] 181 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,160 [Hornigold] Our problem, it's not complicated. 182 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,160 The Spanish continue to plunder our ships and get rich. 183 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,720 And while we live under the noses of the Royal Navy garrison at Port Royal, 184 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:16,720 my hands are tied. 185 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:19,600 So… 186 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,880 let's move from under the noses of the Navy. 187 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,600 Leave? Port Royal? 188 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:29,520 He's starting to get it. 189 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,120 Somewhere where we can be free to do what we do best: 190 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:34,880 get rich off Spanish trade ships. 191 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:35,920 [all chuckle] 192 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:37,800 And that place… 193 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:40,360 is right here… 194 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:44,840 in the middle of the Bahamas. 195 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,880 [Woodward] The Bahamas was an excellent choice, 196 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,360 particularly if you wanted to raid Spanish territories, 197 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,920 because it was located astride the main sea routes. 198 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,960 [narrator] The trade winds mean no cargo can head for Spain 199 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,800 without running the gauntlet of these islands. 200 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,600 [hulls creaking] 201 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:12,880 The sailors aren't the only ones losing out to the Spanish. 202 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,520 [cannon fire blasting] 203 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,120 The local merchants in Jamaica, 204 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,280 as well as the merchants in England who traded with Jamaica, 205 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,000 were unanimous in clamoring for something to be done 206 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:27,680 to deal with the Guarda Costas. 207 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,640 [narrator] So, they lobby the Governor of Jamaica, 208 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:33,680 Lord Archibald Hamilton. 209 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:35,600 Does the King know 210 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,920 that he is the only one pursuing the peace? 211 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,440 I assure you, I have raised the issue with His Majesty, 212 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,320 and he is not for turning. 213 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:49,160 Does he know that the Spanish are still taking our vessels? 214 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,880 [narrator] For Captain Henry Jennings, it's an opportunity too good to miss. 215 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:57,760 They're right, my lord. 216 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,440 The so-called Spanish Coastguard are nothing but pirates. 217 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,920 Our cargoes were safer during the war, for God's sake! 218 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,160 We're all plantation owners, 219 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,040 and we have the means to do something about it. 220 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,440 [narrator] Jennings needs two things: 221 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:18,280 a good sized fleet, 222 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:20,720 and a letter of marque from the Crown. 223 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:22,760 What say you all to this? 224 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,000 No one has cut more Spanish ears than you, Henry. 225 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,240 Now, I propose a fleet of gunships, with you at the helm. 226 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,560 A kind of defense force, if you will. 227 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:36,680 Well, 228 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,480 it would be an honor, my lord. 229 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:45,400 Jennings was an ideal person to be employed by Archibald Hamilton, 230 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,120 um, not only because of his experience of privateering, 231 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:54,440 but also because he was a member of the upper echelons of Jamaican society. 232 00:12:56,200 --> 00:13:01,080 [narrator] Jennings has command of a fleet funded by the island's merchants, 233 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:06,160 but with no letter of marque, he can't attack Spanish ships. 234 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:10,240 [dramatic music] 235 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,040 [narrator] Hornigold needs no official endorsement 236 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,840 as he arrives in the Bahamas with his gang of out-of-work privateers. 237 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,760 This archipelago of hundreds of uncharted islands 238 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,120 with uncharted and unmarked reefs in between them, 239 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,960 and 1,000 hiding places that a vessel could sneak into 240 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,920 and remain unmolested and undetected. 241 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,440 [narrator] Hornigold identifies the perfect base: 242 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:43,120 the town of Nassau on the island of New Providence. 243 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,000 [jaunty pirate music playing] 244 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,800 Gentlemen, welcome to New Providence, 245 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:00,080 and our new home, Nassau. 246 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:08,760 Nassau was less a town than just a collection of huts and hovels. 247 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:16,040 [narrator] During the war, the Spanish had laid waste to Nassau. 248 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,040 The Crown had turned its back on the shanty town years before. 249 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,120 But for starving sailors, it is a paradise, 250 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,360 a safe Caribbean home. 251 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:29,800 There's fresh water here, 252 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,440 and Hog Island yonder, that's got meat aplenty. 253 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:36,240 [narrator] In better times, 254 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,320 these could be privateers with commissions. 255 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,000 It's very simple math. 256 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,320 Privateers minus commissions equals pirates. 257 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,680 -[grunting] -[blades clanking] 258 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:02,000 [birds calling peacefully] 259 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,640 [narrator] But the old Colonial settlers who stayed in Nassau 260 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:11,200 don't take kindly to this invasion of uncouth Jamaican pirates. 261 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:13,880 Thomas Walker was a Colonial official, 262 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,200 and, in fact, he was the only Colonial official left. 263 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:18,600 [Walker] Excuse me, sir. 264 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,560 Tell me, what is your business in Nassau? 265 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:25,480 To make it our home. 266 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,840 Allow me to introduce you to your new neighbors. 267 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,320 And what would that business be, sir? 268 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,320 Patriots, sir. 269 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,040 Patriots doing our duty to the Crown 270 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,320 by doing to Spanish shipping what they are doing to ours. 271 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:41,640 Are you mad? 272 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,840 The Spanish need no excuse to attack us, sir, 273 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,800 and your business will provoke them even further! 274 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,440 I reckon they'll think twice about returning to Nassau, now. 275 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:53,880 You think of us as security. 276 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,120 You'll get us all killed! 277 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:01,920 You haven't heard the last of this! 278 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:04,920 Cheerio. 279 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,160 [flames crackling] 280 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,320 [narrator] As Hornigold and his band of pirates fall for Nassau, 281 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:14,320 1,200 miles north, 282 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:19,080 a future legend of the pirate world, young Samuel Bellamy, 283 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:20,960 is falling in love. 284 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,320 Like hundreds of other English sailors after the war, 285 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,240 he's been dumped by the Navy in America. 286 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,520 Now, he's unemployed and broke. 287 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,400 [somber hornpipe music] 288 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:49,400 Somehow or another, he winds up in Eastern Massachusetts 289 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,400 and then legend takes over. 290 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,600 [romantic music] 291 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:07,400 He met our heroine, our wonderful Mary Hallett. 292 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:13,480 Sam Bellamy took one look at her, fell in love, 293 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:15,960 but he is a poor, impoverished sailor. 294 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:19,160 [romantic music continues] 295 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:27,120 Please. 296 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:28,760 [softly] Mary. 297 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,920 No, Sam Bellamy. 298 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,640 My love, you have been hurt. 299 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:41,880 [screaming] 300 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:44,240 [narrator] Mary is falling in love 301 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:47,560 with a man from the wrong side of the tracks. 302 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,000 [thunder rumbling, whip cracking] 303 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:52,440 Sometimes it's better to be in jail than on board a ship. 304 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:55,720 -[groans] -[whip cracking] 305 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,640 The brutality and the bullying 306 00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:00,080 and the predation of many of the captains that are known. 307 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,160 [thunder rumbling] 308 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:06,480 This is a culture of horrendous violence. 309 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,840 Now, men could be beaten, sometimes to death, 310 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:11,400 for minor indiscretions. 311 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,000 [whip cracking] 312 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:15,680 Ah! 313 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:18,160 Do they repulse you? 314 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:20,520 Not at all. 315 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:26,840 I'm pleased to hear that… 316 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,760 because women rarely marry men they find repulsive. 317 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:36,160 [soft laugh] 318 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,920 [narrator] Sam Bellamy's forbidden love for Mary 319 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,040 will drive this honest sailor 320 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:45,120 to become one of the most effective pirates of all time, 321 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,160 but not yet. 322 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,680 [dramatic music] 323 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:56,520 [narrator] From their new home, 324 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:00,400 Hornigold's men are making short work of Spanish traders. 325 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,360 [light, suspenseful music] 326 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,120 [cannon fire echoing] 327 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,040 Hornigold, operating out of the Bahamas, 328 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,120 continued trading up, getting stronger and stronger vessels. 329 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:29,320 [Hornigold] Don't thank me, gentlemen. I'll make you all rich before long. 330 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:31,920 Good days work for a fair share, right? 331 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:36,160 What will the Spanish do with all that money anyway? 332 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,000 [narrator] The pirates are making a mint, 333 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,840 but the old Nassau colonists are freaking out. 334 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,640 Thomas Walker was extremely concerned that the pirates' actions, 335 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:52,720 the raiding of Spanish vessels, 336 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,560 were going to elicit a military response from Spain. 337 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:00,160 He started sending letters to ask for help 338 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,760 from authorities elsewhere and from London. 339 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,040 [narrator] Walker's complaints are also picked up by the press. 340 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,960 [Choundas] Pretty soon, Hornigold was finding himself 341 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,520 on the pages of the only newspaper in North America, 342 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,160 a newspaper called The Boston News-Letter. 343 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,640 [narrator] Walker wants to draw the attention of the Crown 344 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:23,560 to Hornigold's piracy, 345 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,000 but it backfires. 346 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,480 Tales of men getting rich on sunken treasure 347 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,360 are an open invitation to any would-be pirate. 348 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,160 Inspired by the exploits of Hornigold, 349 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,080 Paulsgrave Williams, our next player, 350 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,640 is a businessman in need of a skipper. 351 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:48,000 Ahem. 352 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,160 You look in need of a drink. 353 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:52,760 You're telling me. 354 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,520 Paulsgrave Williams was the son of Rhode Island's attorney general, 355 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:59,480 and his mother was descended from the Plantagenet kings of England. 356 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,720 Bellamy was a trained sailor and probably a trained combatant, 357 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:09,120 and Williams was looking for somebody who could handle themselves under sail. 358 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,520 I have problems, too. I thought we might share them. 359 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,840 For a drink, I'll talk to anyone. 360 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:19,880 Sam Bellamy, ex-Navy, 361 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,040 in love with the most beautiful girl in Cape Cod. 362 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,280 Paulsgrave Williams. 363 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,000 Neither seem like a problem to me. 364 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,000 Ah, the girl has a father, 365 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:34,400 and he won't give up his daughter to "a penniless, no-prospect bum" like me. 366 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:39,840 Well, then, I might have a solution. 367 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:47,200 On April 5th, Benjamin Hornigold took a Spanish ship 368 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:50,000 with a cargo of silk, rum and sugar, 369 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:56,120 and money, estimated at 52,700 pieces of eight. 370 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:57,240 Just 371 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,240 took it. 372 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,320 Now, I'm a shrewd businessman, a silversmith, 373 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,320 and I can tell fool's gold from real and silver from pewter, 374 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:10,040 so when I see a return like this for a single day's work? 375 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,120 Well, I recognize an industry worth exploring, hmm? 376 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,840 So, here's my problem. 377 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,640 -I'm an islander who can't sail. -[chuckles] 378 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,200 Who knew such a creature existed? 379 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,840 I've the money to fund an expedition to disrupt trade. 380 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,960 English, Spanish, what the fuck do we Scots care? 381 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:36,440 -But I need a good captain. -Mm. 382 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,720 Well, if you're half as good a sailor as your reputation suggests, 383 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,680 then it seems to me we have two problems 384 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:44,360 with a single solution. 385 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:50,280 [sighs] 386 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,040 I'm not just a good sailor, 387 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,120 I'm a great sailor. 388 00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:56,400 [Williams laughs] 389 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:57,440 But… 390 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,280 if Mary's father won't let her marry a bum, 391 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,480 my Mary would never marry a criminal. 392 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,440 Thanks for the drink, and the offer, 393 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:08,640 but I'm afraid 394 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,240 I still have my problem, 395 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:11,960 and you yours. 396 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,880 [somber music] 397 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,360 [narrator] And so the richest partnership in pirate history 398 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,080 seems destined to be stillborn. 399 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:38,320 [thunder rumbling] 400 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:43,360 Until a single event turns the Caribbean upside down. 401 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:47,360 July 23rd, 1715. 402 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,800 The most valuable flotilla in history leaves Havana for Spain. 403 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,480 The so-called Plate Fleet is laden with gold and silver, 404 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,600 mined in Spanish colonies in South America. 405 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,520 Spain relied on this fleet for hard currency, 406 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,520 for treasure, for revenue. 407 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,440 It was the most obvious way 408 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,960 for Spain to shore up its adventurism around the world, 409 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:16,400 but also its maintenance and its operations at home. 410 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,920 [narrator] War and weather prevent the fleet from sailing for over a decade, 411 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,480 but now Spain needs the money. 412 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,000 Spain is almost bankrupt by the end of the Spanish War of Succession. 413 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,120 It's desperate. 414 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:36,400 That treasure aboard those 11 ships constituted about 14 million pesos, 415 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,120 which is hundreds of millions of dollars in current US currency. 416 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,080 [narrator] The cargo is the most valuable ever to set sail across the Atlantic, 417 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,720 but the Spanish know they're taking a major gamble with the weather. 418 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,160 This is hurricane season. 419 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,200 As the fleet made its way up the coast of Florida, 420 00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,560 the worst anticipated happened. 421 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,160 [ropes creaking] 422 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,720 [narrator] The treasure fleet heads straight into the eye of a storm. 423 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:09,960 Imagine the fear of the Spanish fleet when it sees the sky begin to darken. 424 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:14,000 -[thunder cracks] -[crew shouting] 425 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,200 They are facing 40, 50-foot waves. 426 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,840 [dramatic music] 427 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,360 These things are crashing down on them. 428 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,760 [crew shouting] 429 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,680 It's not so much the waves that are the problem, it's the wind. 430 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:31,960 [wind howling] 431 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,760 The ships were being pushed further and further by the storm 432 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,160 against the beaches 433 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,880 -[thunder crashing] -[men shouting] 434 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:44,760 If you don't get your rigging down in time, your mast will snap. 435 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,320 [wood groaning, mast crashing] 436 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:48,640 [crew groaning] 437 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,400 One by one the ships begin to crack. 438 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:52,280 [wood creaking] 439 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,200 [crew screaming] 440 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,200 [echoing splash] 441 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,200 A thousand men are drowned. 442 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,160 [narrator] Eleven Spanish galleons are wrecked, 443 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:13,520 scattering a fortune in gold and silver just off Vero Beach in Florida. 444 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,720 [somber music] 445 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,080 More money than you could earn in ten lifetimes 446 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:28,240 are in these boats. 447 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:32,640 [narrator] News of the wrecks spreads faster than the plague. 448 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,480 This is like discovering oil on another level. 449 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,600 [narrator] And the man best placed to cash in? 450 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,600 Benjamin Hornigold. 451 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,040 He's one of the first Englishmen to reach the Spanish treasure, 452 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:52,440 and a quick fortune. 453 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,480 [laughs] 454 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,000 [gold clinking] 455 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,760 [narrator] It isn't long before the news of Hornigold's windfall 456 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,120 hits Port Royal in Jamaica. 457 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,440 Governor Hamilton, when he hears word 458 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,960 that the Spanish treasure fleet has been wrecked on Florida, 459 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:16,080 his first reaction is actually to get in on the action. 460 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:17,960 This is getting ridiculous. 461 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:19,320 [Jennings] Lord Hamilton! 462 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:22,400 You wanted me. 463 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,280 The Spanish treasure. 464 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:29,200 You have a well-armed fleet sitting in port. 465 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,800 Should the investors sit by while pirates get rich? 466 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,680 [narrator] The temptation is so great 467 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,880 it needs some official skullduggery. 468 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:50,120 Let me be clear you know exactly what you're asking. 469 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,520 The Spanish have declared the treasure protected. 470 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:57,560 Any scavenging will be seen as an act of aggression. 471 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,680 But let's say the Commission isn't to… [laughs] 472 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:06,040 …isn't to scavenge Spanish ships, 473 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,960 but to, uh, catch pirates drawn to the treasure. 474 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,200 [narrator] Jennings' defense fleet has one purpose: 475 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,040 to rob the pirates who'd robbed the Spaniards. 476 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:24,280 And if some of this stolen treasure falls into our hands? 477 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:28,280 Well, I see no act against the Spanish in that. 478 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:32,400 [narrator] A deal is struck. 479 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,040 Jennings has his letter of marque and is off the leash. 480 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,800 It's a decision Hamilton will live to regret. 481 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,440 [sinister music] 482 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,840 [narrator] Jennings sets off on his treasure hunt, 483 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,840 but weeks pass with no sign of the Spanish wrecks. 484 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,560 He grows frustrated. 485 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,400 But then a Spanish mail ship crosses his path. 486 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,680 It's one of life's mysteries. 487 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:10,120 Hornigold's navigator can take him straight to the Spanish wrecks, 488 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,520 while mine flails up and down the coast 489 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,560 like a blinded bat! 490 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,040 Luckily, I have you… 491 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,080 my very own Spanish captain, 492 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:28,880 to take me to the treasure. 493 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,920 Now, I'm going to take your early reticence 494 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:35,520 as a passing phase. 495 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:39,440 You will tell me. 496 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,320 The question is, 497 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:43,120 which will break first? 498 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:45,200 Your will 499 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:48,040 or my poor knuckles? 500 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,760 [narrator] Amongst Jennings's hardcore crew is… 501 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,360 With your permission, sir. 502 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,280 [narrator] …a vicious thug who gives pirates a bad name. 503 00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,880 Who the fuck are you? 504 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:08,920 Charles Vane. 505 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,080 Sir. 506 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:11,720 At your service. 507 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:18,880 Very well. 508 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,040 [sinister music] 509 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,400 [inhaling deeply] 510 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:50,880 [Conniff] Charles Vane is born in London, Wapping, 511 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,080 and London is an incredibly tough and brutal existence at the time. 512 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,440 [gulls crying] 513 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,040 [narrator] Little is known about Vane's early life 514 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,400 in London's crime-ridden streets. 515 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,760 As the sinner's choking agony reaches your ears, 516 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:07,440 behold… 517 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:11,360 [Conniff] Try to imagine what it's like, a boy growing up 518 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:13,160 on the roughness of those streets. 519 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,400 Death, violence, the public execution is public entertainment… 520 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,000 [suspenseful music] 521 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,120 -[clunk] -[man grunts] 522 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,840 [narrator] No surprises then, that when society so brutalizes a child, 523 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,560 it spawns a brutal monster, 524 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,720 and, in Vane's case, everybody's worst nightmare. 525 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:44,960 [Spanish captain] No. No. No. 526 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,280 -No? -[Spanish captain] No! 527 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:48,880 -Sí. Sí. -No! 528 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,560 [Spanish captain] No! No! No! 529 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,080 -[Vane laughs] -[in Spanish] There is a camp. 530 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,560 -[in English] Anyone here speak gibberish? -[Spanish captain] No! 531 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:00,560 [speaking Spanish] 532 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,400 [Spanish captain whimpering] No! No! No! No! 533 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:07,960 [in Spanish] They have the gold. 534 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,520 [Vane laughs] 535 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:14,160 [in English] Your witness, Captain. 536 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:17,240 Charles Vane. 537 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,800 [narrator] With Vane's powers of persuasion, 538 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:26,480 Jennings learns something more valuable than the location of the wrecks. 539 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,960 He discovered that a lot of treasure had already been retrieved, 540 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,480 and was being stored in a camp on the shore. 541 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,720 [narrator] As Jennings sets sail in a quest for Spanish treasure, 542 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:43,200 young Sam Bellamy appears to have struck gold with Mary Hallett. 543 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,400 [panting softly] 544 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,960 Her parents were not in favor of any kind of union between them. 545 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,920 They were wealthy farmers, and they didn't think that 546 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:01,360 he would be able to provide for Mary in the way that she was used to. 547 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,720 No way is she going to marry this horrible man, 548 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:06,520 according to her parents. 549 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,320 However, she has another idea. 550 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,360 [panting softly] 551 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,840 [Cale] This was a very strict religious society. 552 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,000 This is not a society that has any kind of tolerance 553 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,120 for anything like premarital sex. 554 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:28,720 [older man] Mary? 555 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:30,800 [Mary panting] 556 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,200 -[older man] Slut! -Keep your hands off her. 557 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:39,080 If I hear you touched a hair on her head, I'll come back, I'll set you straight. 558 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,080 -You're not worthy of my daughter! -Stop it. Stop shouting. 559 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:43,080 [Samuel] Mary? 560 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,080 I'll be back. I swear. 561 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,280 I'll be back with more than enough means to satisfy your father. 562 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,480 And you, you don't lay a finger on her. 563 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,440 [shouting] Leave my property, now! 564 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:00,720 [narrator] And so the Spanish treasure becomes Bellamy's only hope… 565 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:02,880 [indistinct tavern chatter] 566 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,280 …and Paulsgrave Williams has the means to get it. 567 00:34:09,240 --> 00:34:10,760 With every passing day 568 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:14,760 this Hornigold character impresses me more. 569 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:19,600 Picking a fortune from the Florida sands under the noses of the Spanish themselves. 570 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:20,760 God. [laughs]. 571 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:23,320 [slams pint down] 572 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,080 Breaks my heart, but what a nerve, huh? 573 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,280 [tavern patrons] Yeah! Yeah. 574 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,200 I'll have that drink you owe me, Paulsgrave. 575 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,600 Decided that the bachelor life is for you after all, eh, Sam? 576 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,080 My Mary won't marry a villain, 577 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,480 but I don't think there's a law against scavenging. 578 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,920 Bellamy wants the money, so he can go back home to his sweetheart 579 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,400 and convince her parents that he's a good bet. 580 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,360 Get Captain Bellamy a drink. 581 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,640 [dramatic music] 582 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,440 Captain? Captain Jennings? 583 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:28,680 There they are. 584 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,400 [narrator] The Spanish gold is being guarded 585 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,160 by a paltry crew of Spaniards. 586 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:43,240 No contest for a bunch of seasoned British privateers. 587 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,800 Under cover of darkness, he lands three detachments of soldiers. 588 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,960 Jennings definitely had a profit motive in mind. 589 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,400 There was an enormous amount of treasure there 590 00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,880 and he was beelining right to it. 591 00:35:59,960 --> 00:36:01,960 He may have felt that there was nothing immoral 592 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:04,840 about him taking treasure back from the Spanish. 593 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,560 [narrator] And they know full well they're playing with fire. 594 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,320 The Florida coast is Spanish territory. 595 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,400 [sinister music] 596 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,760 -[men shouting] -[blades clashing] 597 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:28,320 [male Spaniard] Captain! 598 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,800 On your feet. Quickly! 599 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:34,880 [grunts] 600 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,280 -[in Spanish] Is this war? -[mocking speech] 601 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,960 Admiral Salmon tried to negotiate his way out of it, 602 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,560 you know, offering them 25,000 pesos if they'd just go in peace. 603 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:53,800 They would have none of it. 604 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:55,400 [man coughing] 605 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,280 We want everything. Comprende? 606 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:00,480 [speaking Spanish] 607 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:04,400 Uh-uh. Every fucking thing. 608 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:06,480 [man on ground keeps coughing] 609 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,120 -And if you… [sighs] -[man groans] 610 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,640 I can't hear myself think. 611 00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:14,400 Vane? Could you…? 612 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:16,760 [man coughing wetly] 613 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,080 -[man chokes] -[Vane] Shh. 614 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,520 [choking and coughing] 615 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:23,960 Men? Take everything. 616 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:26,200 Leave nothing. 617 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:28,200 [man chokes softly] 618 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:30,200 Gracias. 619 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:31,880 [man keeps choking] 620 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:32,800 [bone snaps] 621 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:34,000 [silence] 622 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:36,680 [in Spanish] Yes. 623 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:38,560 [in Spanish] It's war. 624 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:48,000 Jennings and his men ended up leaving with almost £80,000 in treasure. 625 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:51,240 Spain and Britain were at peace at this point, 626 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,280 so it risked re-igniting open conflict. 627 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,600 [narrator] On the way back to Jamaica, 628 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:01,280 Jennings decides to take a detour to Nassau 629 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,560 to rub his triumph in Hornigold's face. 630 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:10,280 [Woodward] There's this archness condescension that you'd actually do that. 631 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,240 Who are you, Hornigold, with your rag-tag group of men 632 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,080 operating out of this crappy failed colony? 633 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:21,080 [narrator] But Hornigold's Flying Gang is growing by the day, 634 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:23,880 and the latest recruit is a diamond. 635 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,920 -Mr. Hornigold, sir. -Who wants him? 636 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,400 -Another fan, Captain. -[Hornigold laughs] 637 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,080 Uh, apologies. I'm Edward Thatch. 638 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:33,360 You're a legend, sir. 639 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,280 Been reading The Boston News-Letter by any chance? 640 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:38,520 -What can I do for you? -[Thatch] Um… 641 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:40,160 I'm from Jamaica. 642 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:41,720 My family own land there. 643 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:45,320 [Woodward] Thatch gave his inheritance to family members 644 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:48,360 and had been a mate on Jamaican merchant vessels. 645 00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:53,080 It suggests that he was relatively educated, 646 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:54,840 not completely penniless. 647 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:58,360 I was interested in joining your crew, you know, to learn the ropes. 648 00:38:58,440 --> 00:38:59,920 I can pay you for my own keep. 649 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:01,520 Oh. [laughs] 650 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,800 -[Hornigold laughs] Pirate's apprentice? -Yeah. 651 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:05,920 Well, I reckon I've heard it all now. 652 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:12,560 You handle a musket? 653 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:13,960 Yeah. 654 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:15,400 Lift a barrel? 655 00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:16,800 [chuckles] Yeah. 656 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,000 Neck grog and not spew your ring? 657 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:20,200 [grunts] 658 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,680 Waste your wages on women? 659 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,400 Catch a rat? Sleep with lice? 660 00:39:25,480 --> 00:39:28,600 Captain? We've trouble. 661 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,280 Jennings is in town. He's fresh from the wrecks and he's flush. 662 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,520 [Hornigold] You come as a pair, do you? 663 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:37,560 Very much so. 664 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,480 Quartermaster, set these two men to work. 665 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,720 [narrator] Hornigold doesn't welcome Jennings and his gang 666 00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:54,880 disturbing the peace of his pirate haven. 667 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,360 Oh, no, no. Mine, I think you'll find. 668 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,160 -[laughs] Whoa, feisty. -Get off! 669 00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:03,440 -[Jennings] Feisty, huh? -[woman] Get off! 670 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:05,520 -[Jennings laughs] -[woman] Stop! 671 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,480 You wanna play, you pay like everyone else, Jennings. 672 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:12,400 Fuck off, Hornigold! You jumped up powder monkey. 673 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:14,800 -[blade clinks] -This isn't Port Royal. 674 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,480 The women here need to be treated-- 675 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:19,000 [Vane tuts] 676 00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:25,200 I don't think you've met Mr. Vane. He's quite mad. 677 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:28,480 [sniffing] 678 00:40:29,120 --> 00:40:32,280 No, I mean properly, properly insane. 679 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,680 I wouldn't upset him any further if I were you. 680 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:37,680 [pistol clicks] 681 00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:48,840 [narrator] Hornigold has his own enforcer, Edward Thatch. 682 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,960 And so, battle lines are drawn 683 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,240 between two very different pirate leaders, 684 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,080 united by their greed and opportunism. 685 00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:07,680 [wind blowing] 686 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,480 [knocking at door] 687 00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:21,200 [pirate] Mr. Hornigold? 688 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:23,800 -[knocking continues] -[pirate at door] Hornigold, sir. 689 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:26,360 What? 690 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,320 [pirate] It's Jennings. 691 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:30,400 [sinister music] 692 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:42,280 [narrator] That night, Jennings sails off to Jamaica… 693 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:49,880 in Hornigold's ship. 694 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:54,200 Fuck! 695 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:57,520 [dramatic swashbuckling music]