Turning point
On September 1717, Stede Bonnet and what remained of his crew arrived in Nassau to seek refuge after a deadly battle with a Spanish man of war, a warship or a vessel “built and primary intended for combat. ” (Great Lakes Pirate Fest). Arriving at Nassau, Bonnet thought his pirate career had ended, but then Blackbeard confronted him and waged a bargain, “Blackbeard would provide new crewmembers for the Revenge. He would send over his carpenters to repair the damaged sloop and his surgeon to tend to the wounded. Blackbeard would hand over command of his own sloop to his lieutenant, Richards, and Blackbeard would assume command of the Revenge, but only until Stede recovered from his appreciable wounds. ” (Downey 39). Blackbeard helped Bonnet because the Bonnet family had a connection to Blackbeard’s family, therefore explaining why he would help (Duffus 242). Sailing away from Nassau, Blackbeard plundered twelve merchant ships while Stede Bonnet recovered from his wounds. Bonnet studied Blackbeard and learned how he did things from capturing ships to leading a crew.
After, a council meeting took place aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the name of Blackbeard’s ship, to decide where the pirates should sail next (Downey 45). “Resigned to his life as a pirate, Stede raised his voice and recounted his success over eight months prior at the busy port of Charleston. The articulate Stede enhanced the assembled pirates with his tales of the easy pickings in the waters off the walled city. The vote was unanimous, and by late May, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the Revenge, and the Adventure and the newly added supply ship were sitting off the bar of Charleston. ” (Downey 45). At Charleston, South Carolina they plundered nine more vessels, until no more vessels risked sailing out of the harbor and into the clutches of the pirates (Downey 50). The pirates then blockaded the harbor and sent a list to Governor Johnson, governor of Charleston at the time, for supplies (Downey 51). Governor Johnson sent them the supplies and the pirates left for Bath, North Carolina to receive the King’s pardon. “The proclamation offered immunity from prosecution to any pirate who surrendered himself to a government official… ” (Downey 45). While on their way to Bath, the Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground in Topsail Inlet. Blackbeard told Bonnet to go on without him and then to meet him once he got the pardon. After getting his pardon he returned to Topsail Inlet to find the Revenge empty of cargo and provisions. Blackbeard had tricked and robbed him. He never saw Blackbeard again.