How did Blackbeard get his name?

Answer 1

There were a number of things which made blackbeard famous. His life as a pirate was relatively short, lasting only 2 years, however he left a lasting impression on the world.

He was an incredibly tall man for the time, standing well over 6 feet when the average height was somewhere around 5' 4" - 5' 8". He was also incredibly smart, his standard method of attacking his victims revolved around intimidation and scare tactics. It's rumoured that until his final battle, Blackbeard had never killed a single man. He wore lit fuses under his hat, and weaved into his beard to create the illusion that he was on fire which perpetuated rumours that he was the devil. Word quickly spread that if you encountered him, he would let you live so long as you gave in without a fight.

Another major contributing factor is that Blackbeard captained quite a large ship for a pirate. Pirate ships were often small sloops designed to get in and out of shallow areas where their pursuers which often captained navy ships with a much larger draft couldn't follow. Blackbeards most famous ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, was a 200 - 300 ton ship outfitted with over 20 cannons. This was the ship he used to blockade the entire port of Charleston in South Carolina, sacking any ship that tried to leave and ransoming the nobility for food, medicine, and anything of value.

During his final battle it is rumoured that it took over 20 stab wounds, and 3 gunshot wounds to finally bring him down. Reports from that day claimed that after blackbeards head was severed, his decapitated body jumped overboard and swam three laps around the ship before dying. That is quite obviously a myth.

Answer 2

He had a long black beard that he lit with fuzes to make him look like a devil from the underworld. This was to mess with his prisoners.

Answer 3

He was called black beard because he had a black beard.

Answer 4

no