Queen Anne's revenge : a systems analysis of Blackbeard's flagship

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the life history of the pirate flagship Queen Anne's Revenge using a functional systems approach to observe how the ship affected and was affected by the macrosystems operating around her and the microsystems operating within her. To this end, I examined the archaeological and historical records relating to the ship and divided her life history into four categories: privateer, slave transport, pirate ship, and shipwreck. For each category, I observed or inferred the natural and human-directed changes that the ship experienced and assessed their impact on the internal functionality of the ship and on the wider cultural systems with which she interacted. Using this approach, I was able to improve my understanding of the ship herself and the culture of the period in which she operated. I am now able to draw inferences and form hypotheses regarding the unknown original construction of the ship that became Queen Anne's Revenge and the cultural factors that led to the rise and prevalence of piracy during her use-life (ca. 1690-1720). I hope to expand upon this study and test these hypotheses in my future research.