Episode 955: Pirate Videos
Captain Edward Teach or Thatch, who died in 1718, was also known as the pirate Blackbeard, circa 1715. Original Publication: People Disc - HH0451 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption
Captain Edward Teach or Thatch, who died in 1718, was also known as the pirate Blackbeard, circa 1715. Original Publication: People Disc - HH0451 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThree centuries ago, the infamous pirate Blackbeard sunk one of his ships right off the coast of North Carolina. The Queen Anne's Revenge is still there, just a few feet under the water.
Today, that ship and the underwater footage a filmmaker took of it have become central in a Supreme Court fight between two powerful forces in American law: states' rights and property rights.
The case is one of many in the past few decades where the Court has tried to determine when Congress can take away states' sovereign immunity in order to protect citizens' property rights.
Music: "Black Tide Cove" and "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor."
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