Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay! Many People Think of Pirates in the Waters of the Caribbean

Maggie’s Activity Pack

Name ______

Date ______

Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay! Many people think of pirates in the waters of the Caribbean. But many pirates traveled all over. Many sailed along the east coast of America. Ships coming in and out of the Chesapeake Bay could easily be attacked. This is why many pirates chose to sail in the Bay. William Claiborne was an early pirate of the Chesapeake Bay. He lived on an island in the Bay called Kent Island. Claiborne named it after his hometown in England. But Lord Baltimore claimed that Kent Island did not belong to Claiborne. He was mad so he began attacking ships. Finally, Claiborne had to give up his land and all of his treasure. Three pirate captains that worked together in the Chesapeake Bay were Davis, Wafer, and Hinson. These men attacked ships for five years. Then they decided to quit the life of piracy. They wanted to retire in Virginia. But they were captured and put in jail. The treasure that was taken away from them was used to start the College of William and Mary in Virginia. William Kidd, a Scottish pirate in the late 1600s, was first hired to hunt down pirates! However, in trying to keep his crew happy, he became a pirate himself. He sailed many waters including the Chesapeake Bay. It is said that William Kidd buried a treasure somewhere around the Bay. These are just some of the many pirates who sailed the Chesapeake Bay long ago. Today, many places along the Bay use pirate themes. Museums and even restaurants tell the tales of those who used the waters of the Bay for their own gain.

Thinking About Key Details

1. Make a list of the pirates in the text. Tell about each pirate’s importance in history.

2. What detail from the text did you find most interesting?

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3. Below is a photo of a pirate reenactor. Write a caption for the photo.

Dear Colleague, What better way to get children interested in history and geography than to let them discover how pirates contributed to the development of an area? Who knew these fascinating facts about those who sailed the Chesapeake Bay? And I might add, this activity is personal as my son gives programs on the pirates of the Bay and our Executive Producer’s son attends William and Mary! There is a plethora of information about the pirates of the Bay, more than we could fit into our traditional one page text format. Below, we share more stories about individual pirates. You may want to display the paragraphs about all pirates and have children compare and contrast, write a travel brochure that explains how these pirates impacted the Bay, or even have them practice public speaking by pretending to be a pirate and telling about their life. Happy teaching, Dr. Kathy

More Pirate information: Probably the most famous pirate that sailed in the Chesapeake Bay was Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard would try and scare other ships so that they would give up. He was known for lighting fuses in his hair and beard on fire to try and look like a monster. After stealing a lot of money as a pirate, Blackbeard decided to retire in North Carolina in 1718. However, Governor Spotswood of Virginia wanted him punished and sentenced him to death. Richard Worley was a captain of a small boat and wanted to sail from New York down the coast of America. But Worley did not think he could make it with his small ship. He began attacking small fishing boats and taking their cargo. He then attacked and captured a bigger ship called a ‘sloop’ in the waters of Philadelphia and became known as a pirate. Worley kept on attacking ships, including those in the Chesapeake Bay. It eventually took four naval ships to capture Worley.

Answer Key: Pirates in the article include: William Claiborne, Davis, Wafer, and Hinson, and William Kidd. Answers to other questions will vary.

Goals: Students will read an informational article about pirates of the Chesapeake bay. They will use the information to find key details and demonstrate an understanding of what these pirates did during their time on the Bay. This WAP is available on the intermediate, primary, and emergent levels. It is aligned with RI – Key Ideas and Details of Common Core and with the Time, Continuity, and Change Standard of the National Social Studies Standards.