Charleston

"Set topsails and clear up this mess."

This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.
Please follow the article standards laid out in the Layout Guide and the Manual of Style and complete this article to the highest level of quality before continuing on other articles. Remove this message when finished.

"It's not a bad look, really. Eh?"

This article would greatly benefit from the addition of one or more new images.
Please upload a relevant image and place it here. Once finished, this notice may be removed.

"I took a very nice schooner that was carrying fabric bound for Charleston, and then a flute loaded with tea and spices."

―Esmeralda to Jack Sparrow^[src]

Charleston was a city in South Carolina, founded by the English as Charles Town, in honor of King Charles II. The city lied just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean formed by the confluence of the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando rivers. The settlement of the British Empire was first established at Charles Towne Landing on the west bank of the Ashley River, but it was relocated to a more permanent site, declared the port of entry for the colony, and grew to become one of the largest cities in North America.

History[]

After King Charles II was restored to the English throne following Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate, he granted the chartered Carolina territory to eight of his loyal friends, known as the Lords Proprietors, in 1663. Seven years later, a settlement called Charles Town was built.^{[citation needed]}

The community was established by English settlers from Bermuda on the west bank of the Ashley River. In a year, the colonists from the prosperous but overcrowded British colony of Barbados, also settled in Charles Town. The first Charles Town was unhealthy and vulnerable to attack from natives and the Spanish, so the colonists moved to the peninsula where they set up a new walled town.^{[citation needed]}

Soon, the new Charles Town became a prosperous trading center.^{[citation needed]} In 1718, the town was besieged by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, who anchored his fleet at the mouth of the Charleston harbor.^[2]^[1] For a week, all ships coming in or out of the port were captured and looted. The pirates departed only after the citizens gave Blackbeard a chest of medicines. On December 10, 1718, the pirate captain Stede Bonnet was hanged in Charleston.^{[citation needed]}

At some point when Jack Sparrow was an honest captain of the merchant vessel Wicked Wench for the East India Trading Company, Lady Esmeralda, the pirate captain of the Venganza, took a "very nice schooner" that was carrying fabric bound for Charleston, and then a flute loaded with tea and spices.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

"He did attack Charleston, South Carolina, and forced the mayor to give him all sorts of stuff."

―David Cordingly^[src]

Charleston was first mentioned in the souvenir book for Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.^[2] Maritime historian David Cordingly mentioned Blackbeard's attack on Charleston, South Carolina in the bonus feature "Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates" originally included in the DVD releases for the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.^[4] The first in-universe mention of Charleston was in A. C. Crispin's 2011 novel Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom.^[3]

Appearances[]

The Price of Freedom (First mentioned)

Sources[]

External links[]

Charleston, South Carolina on Wikipedia

Notes and references[]

[TCotBP_Below_Deck-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates

[WDPOTC_souvenir-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World, p. 13

[The_Price_of_Freedom-3] 3.0 ^3.1 The Price of Freedom

[4] Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: "Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates"

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]