"Under the Banner of King Death": The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates, 1716 to 1726 Author(s): Marcus Rediker Reviewed work(s): Source: The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Apr., 1981), pp. 203-227 Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918775 . Accessed: 14/08/2012 10:53 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The William and Mary Quarterly. http://www.jstor.org "Under the Banner of King Death": The Social World of Anglo-American Pirates, I7i6 to I726 Marcus Rediker Wr RITING to the Board of Trade in I724, Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia lamented his lack of "some safe opportu- nity to get home" to London. He insisted that he would travel only in a well-armed man-of-war. Your Lordships will easily conceive my Meaning when you reflect on the Vigorous part I've acted to suppress Pirates: and if those bar- barous Wretches can be moved to cut off the Nose & Ears of a Master for but correcting his own Sailors, what inhuman treatment must I expect, should I fall within their power, who have been markt as the principle object of their vengeance, for cutting off their arch Pirate Thatch [Teach, also known as Blackbeard], with all his grand Designs, & making so many of their Fraternity to swing in the open air of Virginia.