About Registration required on the PWPL website As England, France and Spain contested Europe and the New World, a legion of men and women expert in sailing cut off the powers from their Caribbean holdings. Blackbeard, Calico Jack, Anne Bonny, Mary Read and a cast of thousands established the first Democratic Republic in the New World, reveling in their freedom and ability to wage warfare as professional thieves. Presenter is historian Ed Moore of the Maritime Museum in Newport News.