HarperCollins In the early eighteenth century a number of the great pirate captains. including Edward Blackbeard Teach and Black Sam Bellamy. joined forces This infamous Flying Gang was more. than simply a thieving band of brothers. Many of its members had come to piracy as a revolt against conditions in the merchant fleet and in the cities and plantations in the Old and New Worlds. Inspired by notions of self-government. they established a crude but distinctive form of democracy in the Bahamas. carving out their own zone of freedom in which indentured servants were released and leaders chosen or deposed by a vote. They were ultimately overcome by their archnemesis. Captain Woodes Rogers-a merchant fleet owner and former privateer - and the brief but glorious Republic of Pirates came to an end.