- Hornigold's crew deposes him for his refusal to attack English ships; but one man, Edward Thatch, remains loyal. Pirate raids on British slaves provokes outrage.
- Jennings seeks refuge in Nassau, which Hornigold grants under the Pirate charter. But Jennings and Hornigold represent 2 power bases on the Island. Bellamy and Paulsgrave are now part of Hornigold's "Flying Gang". Jennings and Hornigold realize that they both need the Pirate Republic to succeed and make a volatile alliance. Many of Hornigold's crew are dissatisfied with Hornigold for passing up English loot and want to join Bellamy, who has no such qualms.
For a 100 years pirates had attacked England's enemies, the Spanish or the Portuguese. 1715/16 was the first time when the English pirates engaged the English ships. The new British King is George I, a German, who doesn't even speak English. Hornigold is English and refuses to attack any ships under the British flag, while Bellamy has no such issues. Anne Bonny is a Catholic Irish and has her own issues with the Protestant oppressors of her homeland.
Hornigold says that he only wants to get rich and return to England. He says even though he loves Nassau, but one day the British military will come to claim the Island. Bellamy successfully attacks a British merchant ship. His success undermines Hornigold in the eyes of his crew. The crew holds democratic vote organized by Edward Thatch. The men vote to install Bellamy as their captain. Paulsgrave will be his Quarter Master. Hornigold is no long leader of the pirate fleet and is asked to stand down.
Edward Thatch himself sticks to Hornigold. Hornigold finds comfort and sex with Anne Bonny. Anne's father hid Anne from his wife by making her dress up as a clerk in his law firm. When his wife found out, Anne's father abandoned her and came to America with Anne and her mother. Anne's father made even more money in America and bought an estate. Anne was the mistress of the estate, after the death of her mother. Anne's father then sexually assaulted his own daughter. Anne saw James as a means to escape and start a new life.
Bellamy is now known as "Black Sam" due to his raven-colored hair. He is fearless and his legend is growing. Mary is now the mother of his child. Mary hides the baby from society as it is born out of wedlock. But Mary reads about Bellamy's piracy exploits in the Boston Newsletter. For Bellamy, piracy was also a social rebellion, about driving equality and justice in society. He gives the crews he captures, the opportunity to join him. He explains the charter of piracy to them. Recruits flocked to join him crew. One of the recruits is John King (Alexander Nikolov) who considers Bellamy to be nothing less that Robin Hood of the seas.
Bellamy is becoming a rich man at the expense of English trade with America. Governor Alexander Spotswood (Stephen Schreiber) of Virginia is concerned that the pirate nest is growing and becoming a destabilizing danger to the Empire. Virginia produces tobacco and whole economy of Chesapeake Bay depends of safely delivering the tobacco to England. Soon, Bellamy targets the slave trade, which makes the entire British Empire tick.
At Nassau, Anne Bonny takes Edward Thatch as a lover. Edward is a Latin speaking scholar. Edward is helping Hornigold rebuild his pirate fleet. Edward was a strategist and was very good at commanding men. Hornigold assigns Edward his own ship.
The slave trader includes taking slaves from Africa to the Caribbean and from there to the American colonies. The slaves were needed to work the sugar plantations in the American colonies such as Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba and so on. Sugar plantations was back breaking work and caused the loss of life. Slaves were kept in chains, crowded below decks, carrying well beyond a ship's capacity in inhumane conditions. They could not even sit upright. They were covered in feces, urine and vomit, which led to rampant disease. 20% of slaves died on the way from Africa to the Americas. The slave trade is worth billions of pounds every year. Slave ships had to pass the pirate infested waters of the Caribbean, and there was no way around them. The circulation was being cut off. The merchant profits take a big hit. The merchants start engaging armed ships to protect their slave trade.
Humphrey Morice (Jared Morgan) is a leading slave trader in London is 1717. Morice was a Member of Parliament and a Governor of the Bank of England. He was also a merchant and commissioned the building of a ship called Whydah. Whydah was a slave ship that was fast and carried 28 guns. It could carry 500 slaves in 3 decks. The ship cost 20,000 Pounds. Lawrence Prince (Alexander Scott) is the captain of the Whydah.
Bellamy has captured the Sultana back in the Caribbean. The captain tells Bellamy that the Royal Navy is after him. The Sultana allows Bellamy to take piracy to yet another level. The British Navy sinks a pirate boat near St. Croix. They were looking for Bellamy. The pirates had attacked a slave ship and Bellamy inducts the 40 surviving slaves as pirates. For slaves, this was a much better life as free men.
Meanwhile, Mary is struggling with the baby in Cape Cod. The baby died. Mary was suspected of killing the child herself and is arrested. Whydah arrives in Port Royal. It sells a cargo of slaves and now has a cargo of treasure to take back to England. Bellamy chases the Whyday with the Sultana. The chase lasts for 3 days and 300 miles before the Whydah is in cannon range. Bellamy pulls the naked terror tactic again. Lawrence Prince surrenders without a fight. Bellamy finds the hold full of Gold.
Morice declares war on the pirates. Morice assigns Captain Woodes Rogers (Kevin Howarth) to hunt the pirates. Woodes wants revenge against the pirates.
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