Blackbeard's Greed

Blackbeard
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction” (Erich Fromm). Pirates are a prime example of greed, they steal from ships and are never satisfied with their loot. They don’t stop because they’ve taken enough. They keep on stealing until someone stops them. The last 300 years people have been studying Edward Teach (more commonly known as Blackbeard), even though his pirating career was minuscule in length.
Most people seem to know the basic facts, but never the background. Although little is known about Edward Teach, experts believe that he was born in Britain before 1690. “Blackbeard and his crew of pirates terrorized terrorized sailors on the Atlantic

“He (the governor of Virginia, Alexander Spotswood) decided that the time had come to stop Blackbeard once and for all. He spent several weeks planning Blackbeard’s capture” (Kirkpatrick). Kirkpatrick explains Blackbeard's capture; Spotswood sent two sloops, commanded by Lieutenant Robert Maynard of the Royal Navy. Once they saw the navy's sails, Blackbeard knew he was trapped. Only sandbars lay between them and the navy. By morning, the tide would rise, and the Navy would clear sandbars, and the attack the pirate ship. In the morning Blackbeard didn't try to outrun the navy sloops. Instead he waited at his ship's wheel... Finally, when Maynard's sloops started moving toward the pirates, Blackbeard ordered his crew to set sail. He seemed to be steering the ship directly toward the beach. But then Blackbeard eased the pirate ship through a narrow channel between the beach and a barely visible sandbar. Chasing the pirates, the navy sloops crashed into the sandbar. The pirates blasted the stranded sloops with cannons. Thundering explosions shook the waters. Then the pirate ship lurched backward—and became stuck on a sandbar. One navy ship lay destroyed. Maynard's sloop was battered. Maynard ordered his men to hide below decks with pistols and swords ready. Blackbeard's men hurled grenades onto the seemingly deserted navy sloop. The pirates boarded the ship easily. Suddenly, Maynard's men rushed the