Summary
- Black Sails includes a blend of historical figures and original characters, but historical accuracy is not its primary objective.
- The show takes liberties with the deaths of real pirates Charles Vane, Edward "Blackbeard" Teach, Benjamin Hornigold, and the interactions between Charles Vane and Ned Low.
- Black Sails inaccurately portrays the lives of Anne Bonny and Calico Jack Rackham, including the timeline of their relationship.
Black Sails also includes historical pirates, distancing itself further from the novel throughout its four-season run.
With that in mind, Black Sails' cast ends up being a solid mix of historical figures and original characters. It impressively manages to blend some of the historical events from the real characters' lives with the fictional story that it tells, but historical accuracy is not exactly its primary objective. The majority of the show's plot is fictional, but the way it blends with historical events makes it worth examining the 10 most notable changes to history that Black Sails makes.
Season |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|---|---|
1 |
65% |
2 |
100% |
3 |
86% |
4 |
80% |
Black Sails: What Is Careening & Why Is It So Dangerous?
Season 1 of Black Sails incorporated careening into one of its major plot points. Here's what that is and why it is incredibly dangerous.
10 Black Sails' Guthrie Family Is More Involved With Pirates Than The Real Scottish Merchants
There Is No Historical Eleanor Guthrie
Black Sails does a great job of mixing historical fact with fictional events, and a key way it does this is with the introduction of entirely fictional characters, such as Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New). Black Sails that doesn't quite line up with historical facts is the Guthrie family, though as Eleanor is the most significant in the household, she's the most prominent example when it comes to the show's fictional characters. There was also no character of the same name in Treasure Island.
While there was a significant merchant family of the same name in the area, none of their activities in the show are historical.
Led by Eleanor for most of Black Sails, the Guthries are a prominent merchant family living in Nassau. Eleanor becomes heavily involved with Charles Vane, James Flint, and other pirates in the area. While there was a prominent family with the same name in the 18th century in real life, the Guthries were a Scottish clan of merchants who had little to do with pirates, though they did live near Nassau. So, while there was a significant merchant family of the same name in the area, none of their activities in the show are historical.
9 The Real Charles Vane Was Hanged In Port Royal
Black Sails Has Vane Executed In Nassau
Unlike Eleanor Guthrie, Chales Vane (Zach McGowan) was a real historical figure, and a prominent pirate during the final years of the Golden Age of Piracy in the 18th century. However, the show does change a few significant details of his life —especially when it comes to how he eventually died. While Black Sails' Charles Vane is one of the most prominent characters that's based on a real pirate, it took several creative liberties with his portrayal.
Most notably, the death of Charles Vane in Black Sails differs significantly. In real life, Charles Vane was marooned on an uncharted island before being found by a British ship, which carried him to Port Royal, where he was hanged in 1721. In Black Sails, Vane is captured by Woodes Rogers and hanged in Nassau, marking a major departure from true events.
8 Black Sails' Edward "Blackbeard" Teach Is Killed By Woodes Rogers Instead Of The British Navy
The Real Blackbeard Was Cornered On Ocracoke Island
Probably the most famous historical pirate to appear in Black Sails is Edward "Blackbeard" Teach. Few historical pirates are as famous as Blackbeard, and he's been portrayed in several different movies and TV shows, all of which put their own spin on his legend — and Black Sails is no exception (despite having a somewhat more accurate portrayal of Edward Teach than most).
Though Blackbeard did operate in the Bahamas in the 18th century, when Black Sails takes place, the show gets the iconic pirate's death all wrong. Black Sails opts to have Blackbeard keelhauled by Woodes Rogers several times, and when the brutal execution style fails to kill him, Rogers shoots him in the head. The real Blackbeard was ambushed and killed by a British Lieutenant named Robert Maynard on Ocracoke Island in 1718. Maynard then infamously mounted the pirate's head on a pole at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.
7 Black Sails' Benjamin Hornigold Is Killed By James Flint Instead Of A Hurricane
Captain Benjamin Hornigold Died Working For The British
A recurring theme when it comes to historically innacurate moments in Black Sails is with the deaths of its real-life pirates. Black Sails differs from history once again in the way it depicts the demise of Captain Benjamin Hornigold. In the show, Hornigold is killed by Captain James Flint, who shoots Hornigold in the chest with a musket after luring him into a trap on Maroon Island. James Flint was himself fictional, and is one of the characters Black Sails pulls from Rober Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
While this marks a major discrepancy between the life of Hornigold and Black Sails, the show paints a fairly accurate picture of him before his death.
Unlike Captain Flint, Benjamin Hornigold was a real pirate active between 1713 and 1718. While having him meet his end at the hands of James Flint made for a dramatic moment in Black Sails, in real life, Hornigold died in a shipwreck after running afoul of a hurricane somewhere between New Providence and New Spain. While this marks a major discrepancy between the life of Hornigold and Black Sails, the show paints a fairly accurate picture of him before his death.
6 Charles Vane Didn't Kill Ned Low Like He Does In Black Sails Season 2
The Real Charles Vane Died Before Low
Charles Vane is connected to several historically innacurate moments in Black Sails, including his murder of Edward "Ned" Low, another real-life pirate. Charles Vane's murder of Ned Low in Black Sails season 2 is another moment in the show that is ahistorical. Both characters are based on real pirates; however, the real Ned Low died under mysterious circumstances in 1724, three years after Charles Vane was hanged in Port Royal.
That obviously means Vane could not have killed Low like he did in Black Sails. However, Low was infamous for his cruelty, which is well-displayed in the show. Given the s of how ruthless the real Ned Low was, it doesn't seem unlikely that he was killed by a fellow pirate. There are conflicting reports about his death, with many theories ranging from being shipwrecked, to being hanged by the French, to being murdered during a mutiny. So, while the events of Low's life aren't accurately portrayed, what's known of his personality is translated well by Black Sails.
5 Calico Jack Rackham Survives Black Sails But Was Hanged In Real Life
Calico Jack Was Hanged In Port Royal In 1720
One of the few characters to survive through the end of Black Sails is Calico Jack Rackham. Of all the real-life pirates in Black Sails, Calico Jack had perhaps the shortest career, with his only notable acts of piracy being between around 1718-1720. The fictional Rackham (played by Toby Schmitz) ends up continuing the pirate life with his lover, Anne Bonny, after Black Sails' series finale.
However, in real life, he was captured by the British Navy and hanged in Port Royal in 1720. Rackham begins the show as a member of Charles Vane's crew, which is how the real Calico Jack began his career as a pirate as well, but the show pays little heed to the historical facts of this infamous pirate's life beyond that point. It's also interesting to note that the real Calico Jack served on the same ship as Charles Vane earlier in his pirate career.
4 The Real Anne Bonny Didn't Work For Charles Vane As She Does In Black Sails
Bonny Probably Never Met Vane
The link between Calico Jack and Charles Vane led to another historically inaccurate element of Black Sails - the connection between Anne Bonny and Charles Vane. Anne Bonny is one of Black Sails' most interesting characters, and while her story arc on the show is fascinating, it also takes some of the most liberties compared to real events.
Bonny was a real pirate — one of the few female historical pirates of the time — and she was known to have sailed on Calico Jack Rackham's crew as his lover and close advisor.
Bonny was a real pirate — one of the few female historical pirates of the time — and she was known to have sailed on Calico Jack Rackham's crew as his lover and close advisor. Black Sails importantly depicts the romance between Rackham and Bonny, but it gets little else about her life right. Most notably, the show wrongly portrays Bonny as a member of Charles Vane's crew, but these two hardened pirates had no known interactions in real life.
3 The Real Calico Jack Met Anne Bonny After He Had Already Become A Captain
The Real Jack Rackham Stole Bonny From Her Abusive Husband
Although Black Sails accurately depicts the romantic relationship between Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny, it gets the timeline of their lives all wrong. If anything, this is alsio one aspect of Black Sails that is perhaps less dramatic than the true story. The real Rackham is known to have deposed Charles Vane as the captain of the Ranger, and it was years after this that he and Bonny met and began their relationship.
Black Sails depicts them as two struggling pirates finding solace in each other's company, which does not reflect the facts
This dramatically changes the dynamic between the two, considering Rackham was already in a position of power when he and Bonny met. Black Sails depicts them as two struggling pirates finding solace in each other's company, which does not reflect the facts. The real couple met when Bonny had an affair with Rackham, and her abusive husband — Sailor James Bonny — found out, which subsequently led to Bonny being tried for adultery. Calico Jack and Anne Bonny then stole a boat and fled Nassau together.
Black Sails: The True Story Of Captain Henry Avery
Black Sails offered insight into the lives of many pirates in history. One pirate often referenced across the show was Captain Henry Avery.
2 The Real Woodes Rogers Cleared The Pirates Out Of Nassau
The Real Rogers Served Two Stints As Governor Of The Bahamas
It's not only many of the pirates in Black Sails that are based on real historical figures, as the governer of Nassau, Woodes Rogers, was also a real individual. One of the most important ending points of Black Sails is the resolution of the Nassau conflict, which ends with Max taking control of the port city and Woodes Rogers being captured and humiliated.
While the fate of Governer Rogers was a fitting end to Black Sails given his position in the show as an antagonist, it's also completely fictional. However, the real Woodes Rogers is known to have cleared the pirates out of Nassau, leaving the city in British control after his death in 1732. Rogers did spend a short time imprisoned in England for debt he accrued earlier in his life, but he would return to Nassau as the Governor of the Bahamas upon his release, making the finale of Black Sails historically inaccurate.
1 Black Sails Sunk Vane's Ranger Ship Instead Of Giving It To Calico Jack
The Real Calico Jack Deposed Vane And Took His Ship
Another historical moment from the real Golden Age of Piracy in the 18th century that is perhaps more dramatic than the fictional events in Black Sails was the final moments of Calico Jack's tenure as one of Charles Vane's crewmen aboard the Ranger. In Black Sails season 1, a misguided attempt by James Flint to capture a Spanish Man O' War sees Charles Vane's iconic ship, Ranger, hit with a barrage of canon fire that sinks the ship with all hands.
Of all the historically inaccurate moments in Black Sails, this one is perhaps the most surprising, as a final confrontation between Vane and Calico Jack could have been an incredibly dramatic narrative arc for the show.
According to historical records, however, Ranger was actually taken from Vane by Jack Rackham, who deposed Vane to become captain of the famous pirate ship. This important historical event is left out of Black Sails entirely, marking another significant departure from historical facts. Of all the historically inaccurate moments in Black Sails, this one is perhaps the most surprising, as a final confrontation between Vane and Calico Jack could have been an incredibly dramatic narrative arc for the show.
Black Sails
- Release Date
- 2014 - 2017-00-00
- Cast
- Jessica Parker Kennedy, Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Zach McGowan, Luke Arnold, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Tom Hopper
- Showrunner
- Michael Bay
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu, Dis
