The earliest known documented appearance of Edward Thatch as a pirate places him in the company of the notorious pirate Benjamin Hornigold. Merchant mariner Henry Timberlake wrote that, whilst commanding the merchant vessel Lamb, he was boarded by Hornigold and his men who began looting the ship. At this time, another ship drew up, captained by Thatch. Smaller boats were sent from this ship to board the merchant ship and join the looting. This suggests that, although Thatch was not his subordinate, he and Hornigold were working alongside each other in piracy.

Edward Teach captured a large slaving vessel, La Concorde, from the French near the coast of the Caribbean island of Martinique in November 1717, marking it as his flagship and renaming it Queen Anne’s Revenge. It was a slave ship carrying 455 enslaved Africans (the ship had embarked with 516 captives, 61 died in transit), and had been sailing from the West African coast. Blackbeard and his crew removed the ship’s crew and “passengers” to take it for their own. 
The ship was heavily armed with roughly 40 cannon and converted to suit the needs of one of history’s most notorious pirates. During the next seven months, Teach sailed the Caribbean and the North American coast, taking other vessels and building his fleet to around five vessels. The pirates shadowed merchant ships, intimidating them with overwhelming force until they stopped, before boarding, rounding up the merchant captains and crew members, and robbing the ship of everything of value.

In May 1718, Edward Teach devised a plan, a twist on the usual pirate practice of attacking and looting a town. Instead, he made the decision to create a blockade, anchoring ships along the mouth of Charles Town and waiting for approaching merchant ships to intercept and ransack them. The pirates also took prisoners, selecting men from the ships and holding them hostage. With these hostages, Teach made a demand of the local colonial authorities: a chest of medicines. Disease was creeping into the crew after months at sea and what good was plunder when there was nobody left to claim it? Around 9 ships were intercepted and plundered in the week that the blockade lasted.

On the 10th June 1718 Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground. Whilst attempting to enter Topsail Inlet, North Carolina, the infamous vessel struck the ground in shallow water and was immovable. Blackbeard’s quartermaster, Israel Hands, sailed another ship, Adventure, towards the flagship to assist in salvaging, however Adventure too became stuck. 
Subsequently and quickly, Blackbeard selected a few dozen of his fittest men and fled on a smaller sloop. Some historians believe this grounding was not merely an accident but that Teach in fact orchestrated the incident to break up his large company.
The new crew headed to the administrative centre of Bath Town, where Teach sought the King’s Pardon, which King George I was offering as an Act of Grace, allowing pirates back into lawful society without having to face the hangman’s noose. The act was an attempt to suppress piracy with minimal use of force. Edward Teach was granted the pardon he sought from Charles Eden, governor of North Carolina.

However, his story continued, and not lawfully. Teach armed the Spanish Sloop he had arrived in Bath Town upon, with eight mounted cannons and renamed it Adventure, after his lost vessel, before leaving to re-embark on a life of piracy.

On 23 August 1718, the pirates encountered two French merchant ships, Rose Emelye and La Toison d’Or. They were returning to Europe from American plantations, carrying sugar and cocoa. The new Adventure was small and navigated the shallow waters surrounding North Carolina effectively. After first approaching Rose Emelye, which was both armed and ready to defend against attack, Adventure changed course and headed directly for the unarmed La Toison d’Or. The men seized the unarmed ship, with half of the company rapidly boarding it. Under their control, it then headed towards Rose Emelye, accompanied by Adventure. Cannons and muskets fired. Rose Emelye surrendered. Blackbeard and his crew boarded and ransacked the second ship. 

Blackbeard and his crew continued to haunt North Carolina, especially near the coast of Ocracoke, robbing merchant vessels along the shallow waters.

In November 1718, Alexander Spotswood, governor of Virginia, decided that now was the time to act. He tasked Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard with capturing Blackbeard, providing him with 57 naval personnel and two small civilian sloops that, like Adventure, were ideal for navigating shallow waters.
They found him on the evening of the 22nd. Adventure was anchored at the Ocracake Inlet, many of the pirate crew were ashore, with only a small force left upon the ship. Maynard’s force anchored their own ships and waited, watching, overnight. 
At daybreak, the attack began. Maynard’s two vessels advanced on adventure, slowly over the shoals, sometimes struggling in the shallow, unknown waters. Blackbeard soon saw the approaching ships and realised what was happening. He called his men to arms and, as the hunters drew near, drank to Maynard. He drank to his damnation and to the damnation of his men, he proclaimed them cowardly puppies and swore he would neither give mercy, nor expect it. With that, he opened fire. Teach opened fire with his guns, killing six of Maynard’s men and wounding ten. The damage left the second sloop effectively out of the fight. Hyde was killed, and his men were catastrophically injured, leaving Maynard to continue towards Teach’s vessel alone. The sloop fell a-stern with no man able to command her. Maynard’s ship was left to battle Teach alone, but this did not deter the lieutenant. He opened fire upon Teach, forcing the pirate ship ashore. As Maynard approached Teach’s grounded ship, he sent the larger part of his own force below deck. This act of deception convinced Teach and his crew that the battle was won. As Maynard’s sloop drew alongside Adventure, Teach and his remaining men threw grappling hooks across, drawing the ships together. Explosives were thrown across and the men followed. Smoke clouded the deck as pirate feet stomped along the boards. Teach himself led the final attack. Then Maynard gave an order. His hidden men thundered up from below, pouring Teach found himself in the thick of the battle. Bullets flew all around him, some striking him, but he did not falter. Through flashing steel, he fought on. Taking blows in his stride, laughing maniacally. 
Teach and Maynard found each other amid the chaos. Maynard thrust his sword forward, catching Teach’s ammunition box. Teach then countered with a resounding blow, smashing through Maynard’s sword hilt and slicing deep into his fingers. Maynard jumped back, casting his sword aside and drawing his pistol, he shot Teach. But Teach did not fall, he continued forward. One of Maynard’s men, Abraham Demelt, stepped between them and slashed Teach across the face. Another of Maynard’s men, a highlander from Scotland stepped in and sliced Teach’s neck. Teach laughed and scoffed “Well done, lad”, the highlander replied “If it be not well done, I’ll do it better” before striking again. This time the cut was harder, the sword penetrated deep into Teach’s neck, severing his head. His head hung down to his shoulder. Maynard and his men then proceeded to cut off Edward Teach’s head. Through sinew and muscle they sliced. Teach’s body was thrown overboard and his severed head was mounted on the bowsprit of Maynard’s vessel. His great black beard proud at the prow.