1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,320 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Coming up this week, we have an episode 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: involving William blythe who became infamous after being the victim 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of a mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty. We are replaying 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: our June sipisode from past hosts Katie and Sarah, so 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: that story will be a little fresher on people's minds. 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: Sarah and Deablina also put out an update to this 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: episode on December three. After the replica of the Bounty, 8 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: which was built in nine six, sank during Hurricane Sandy. 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: We're using the original version since having multiple introductions seems weird. Also, 10 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: just a heads up that this episode contains a very 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: brief mention of just generations of widespread sexual abuses that 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: were committed at Pitcairn Island. That's the island where some 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,319 Speaker 1: of the Bounty mutineers settled with Tahitian people they had 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: captured after the mutiny. Honestly, the whole thing is even 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: more horrifying that then, it seems upon hearing just that 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: scription and the episodes up, you go looking for the 17 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: resources they reference. It is pretty graphic. Otherwise, enjoy Welcome 18 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: to Stuff You missed in History Class. A production of 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy. And most of us 21 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: know a little bit about our topic for today, the 22 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: Mutiny on the Bounty, and we know there's this outraged 23 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: group of sailers and the mutiny against their captain and 24 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: two amazing stories in Sue. And the first is that 25 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: the mutineers, with a group of Tahitian women, end up 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: establishing a colony on this remote Pacific island that still 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: exists today, the island and the colony obviously. And then 28 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: the other is that the cast off captain and his 29 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: loyalists navigate thousands of miles to safety and make it 30 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: all the way back to England eventually. But that's about 31 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: all most people know well, and our understanding of the 32 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: people involved isn't quite as good as our understanding of 33 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: the basics. And that's partly due to the misleading but 34 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: entertaining film portrayals of the stories. Two leading men in 35 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,959 Speaker 1: film Captain Bligh and our mutineer, Fletcher Christian. Yeah, most 36 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: of the films depict Bligh as this hard knows bully 37 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: and Christian is a dashing hero. But those depictions aren't 38 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: necessarily correct, and times movies lie. Yeah. It turns out, 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: though that the films weren't the first to skew it 40 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: that way, with with one as the hero and one 41 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: as this mean old captain, and the two men's respective 42 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: reputations actually started to grow shortly after the mutiny itself, 43 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: when some of the participants are brought back to England 44 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: for justice and try to skew the story and save 45 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: their hides by defaming your captain. And it's the is 46 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 1: interesting back stories and others that continue centuries after the 47 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: mutiny that made our listener, Catherine in London suggests the topic. 48 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: So we're going to start our mission, all right, So 49 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: the famous mutiny happens in the Pacific Islands in seventeen 50 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: eighty nine. But before we get into that, we have 51 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: to understand why the ship was there in the first place. 52 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: It wasn't on your ordinary run of the mill mission, No, 53 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 1: it was a culinary mission. And to understand we have 54 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: to go back to seventeen sixty nine when Captain James 55 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: Cook's ship the Endeavor, discovered the bread fruit in Tahiti 56 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: and Joseph Banks, a famous botanist on board, took note. 57 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: And several years after this, England had a bit of 58 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: a food crisis, and it wasn't about feeding their own people, 59 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: but about feeding their slaves in Jamaica and the lesser Antilles. 60 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: And they were wondering, what can we feed all these 61 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: people with that's cheap and easy to grow the Caribbean 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: and uh, part of the problem here was that they 63 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: didn't have the North American colonies anymore producing loads of 64 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: food and fish to to feed these big slave populations. 65 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: So botanist Banks suggested the bread fruit. But of course 66 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: that's in Tahiti, so someone would have to go there 67 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: take saplings and cuttings and then attempt to propagate the 68 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: tree in the West Indies. And by seventy seven, at 69 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: very adamant, Banks finally convinced the King to sponsor this mission. 70 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: So who would they put in charge, Good old reliable 71 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: William Bly. And William Bly had been in the navy 72 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: for quite some time. He was born to a customs 73 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 1: officer in seventeen fifty four, probably in Plymouth, England, and 74 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,479 Speaker 1: he joined the Royal Navy as a teen and rose 75 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: pretty fast under the service of Captain Cook, who we 76 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, and BLI was even there when Cook was 77 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: bludgeoned to death by natives in what is now the 78 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: Hawaiian Islands, so that would be an unfortunate thing to witness. 79 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: But he also learned a lot from Cook, and after 80 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: returning to England and getting married and having kids, he 81 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: left the Royal Navy and became a commander of merchant ships, 82 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: which was a really good way to make a lot 83 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: of money and to have a bit of an easier 84 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: career than sailing all over the world for the Navy. Right, 85 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: but he came out of retirement to serve on this 86 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: breadfruit mission, and his vessel would be the two hundred 87 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: and fifteen ton Bethia renamed the Bounty, and he accepted 88 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: the mission. But it didn't turn out to be the prestigious, 89 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: well funded scientific expedition he'd hoped it would be. The 90 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: ship was tiny, he didn't get the title of master 91 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,680 Speaker 1: and commander, and he didn't have the security and commissioned 92 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: officers that should have come with that kind of trip. 93 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 1: But nevertheless, he's got a major trip underway, and one 94 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: of the first men he recruits is Fletcher Christian, who's 95 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 1: served him well before and has connections to his family. However, Yeah, 96 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: so we have this really bizarre mission to get the 97 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: bread fruit. Not of particularly popular mission, but nevertheless, it 98 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: sets off December, after delays of weeks because of unsuitable weather, 99 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: so a bad start almost right away. But the ship 100 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: leaves from Spithead, England, and the plan is to go 101 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: to Tahiti by way of South America, sailing around the 102 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,239 Speaker 1: Cape Horn, and they near the Cape by late March, 103 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: but the weather is so bad that they make a detour. 104 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,080 Speaker 1: And this detour is just insane. If you get tore 105 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: around the world, Yeah, if you get mad about having 106 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: to go a few blocks out of your way, take 107 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: note here. Their detour involves going around the Cape of 108 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: Good Hope, which is in Africa, obviously, and it takes 109 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: until May for them to get there. They stop at 110 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: Cape Town, refit their ship, reload their supplies, and head 111 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: on their way. And Blind may have been disappointed with 112 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: the initial expedition, but things are actually going well so far, 113 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: especially considering their bad weather and the long delay. The 114 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: men are in good health, there haven't been a lot 115 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: of injuries. He even loans money to Christian while they're 116 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: in Africa, which Bligh was a little bit of a 117 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: tight wad, so that's really saying something. And from the 118 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: cape they headed to Tasmania, which is where their troubles began. 119 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: They have a man die after a blood letting, and 120 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: some of the other men become a little insolent, but 121 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: still they press on. They get to Tahiti October, and 122 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 1: when they arrive in Tahiti, the islanders come pouring aboard 123 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: the ship, and this is a relatively happy time, perhaps 124 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: one of the last truly happy times on this mission. 125 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: Bli has been to the islands before. He really likes Tahiti. 126 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: He it's along well with the native people, and he 127 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: even calls Tahiti the paradise of the world. And he 128 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: also gets to work on his mission, which is of 129 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: course securing the bread fruit plants and the trees. So 130 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: he gets permission from the island chiefs to transplant and 131 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: builds a place to put the plants and let them grow, 132 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: and then hangs tight for about five months to see 133 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: if the plants take and to wait out the rainy season. 134 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: And his men don't seem to mind. Tahiti, of course, 135 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: is gorgeous, and they like the native women, but not 136 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: all of their tensions melt away. Three of the men 137 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: go missing with arms and ammo. They aren't found for 138 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: three weeks. Li gets grumpy, of course, to find that 139 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: his orders aren't carried out. The men are lacks about 140 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: important issues, um the spare sales, rot and mildew for examp. 141 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: Pretty major problems happening. Yeah, that's a big deal. But finally, 142 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: on April five, the bounty is ready to leave with 143 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: its one thousand, fifteen saplings. So by the eleventh of April, 144 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: the ship anchors at the rather ironically named Friendly Islands. 145 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: Because not long after they leave their Bligh and Christian 146 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,680 Speaker 1: begin to argue and not friendly, No, it's not friendly. 147 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: This is according to a later account. But things get 148 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: worse by the twenty one and that's when Christian is 149 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: hard to say, Sir, your abuse is so bad that 150 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: I cannot do my duty with any pleasure. I've been 151 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: in hell for weeks with you, And by April the 152 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,959 Speaker 1: two are fighting again. Blie is disappointed that Christian let 153 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: native men scare him, and he's furious that the watch 154 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: let a Native diver make off with a small anchor. 155 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: And that brings us to our last straw, which was 156 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: Blige's man hunt over stolen coconuts, which sounds absolutely ridiculous, 157 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: but I think you have to consider these people being 158 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: in such close quarters with each other for so long 159 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: and an already tense situation ready to go home, stolen 160 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:56,959 Speaker 1: coconuts become a really big deal. But Blige specifically implicates 161 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: Christian before imposing this ration on Yams, and it just 162 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: devastates Christian. Apparently he's seen crying and bly it's not 163 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 1: as big of a deal for him. He actually doesn't 164 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,679 Speaker 1: stay angry for long. He invites Christian to dine with 165 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: him that night. Christian uh doesn't get over it so 166 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: quickly though, because pre dawn on April, according to Bligh's account, 167 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: Christian comes in with other men, seizes him, ties him 168 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,560 Speaker 1: up and threatens to kill him, and they haul him 169 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: naked except for a shirt, onto the deck, where he's 170 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: placed on the launch vessel and joined by eighteen others 171 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: who were loyal to the captain, and they're given some 172 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: supplies rum about five days worth of food, water, some tools, 173 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: and a compass, and four cutlass is tossed in at 174 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: the last minute. Three people loyal to Bli are actually 175 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: detained on board and that'll come into play later. But 176 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: Bli is there trying to reason with Christian at the 177 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: last minute. Here he knows what's about to happen to him, 178 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: and he knows that it most likely means death and 179 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 1: death for the men on this little skiff. He tries 180 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: to remind Christian that he's held his children back in England, 181 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: that he's been his mentor this whole time, and asks 182 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: if this is proper repayment for his kindness, and Christians 183 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: says that Captain Bly, that is the thing I am 184 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: in hell, I am in Hell. So Christian is pretty 185 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: tortured by this decision to mutiny against his captain. Other 186 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: men at the trial substantiate this account, and it's possible 187 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: that Christian had considered slipping off the ship in a 188 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 1: raft alone, which would have been suicidal, but was talked 189 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: into mutiny instead. And while a movie might end there, 190 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,320 Speaker 1: our podcast will not. So first we're going to catch 191 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: up with the captain post mutiny. Things look really bleak. 192 00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: This tiny boat, lots of guys, not much food, and 193 00:11:55,760 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: they're sailing through mostly uncharted water. Certain death, yes, certain death. 194 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: It seems like um. But even though Bligh isn't the 195 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: best people person, maybe not the best captain for no 196 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: managerial skills negotiating with folks. He's a really great navigator, 197 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: and from his tiny little glimpses he's had of of 198 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 1: charted waters that the waters that actually are charted, he's 199 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: able to navigate thousands of miles back to safety. What 200 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 1: he's done is pretty fantastic, and they stop on a 201 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,720 Speaker 1: volcanic island, but when one of them was killed by natives, 202 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: Blies determined not to stop again, so to tea more 203 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: or death. As Sarah wrote in her outline, but the 204 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: problem would be that Teamore is about three thousand, six 205 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: hundred miles away. And the other thing is everyone on 206 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: the boat kind of hates each other, which is going 207 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: to be a running theme for the rest of the podcast. 208 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 1: They bicker and argue with each other the whole way, 209 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: and of course they're starving too, so they have a 210 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,680 Speaker 1: lot of good reasons to be on the B side. 211 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: Somewhat Miraculously, they reached Team Or June four nine, and 212 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: the English Chronicle calls the navigation of his little skiff 213 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: through so dangerous a see a matchless undertaking that seems 214 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: beyond the verge of probability, and from there they go 215 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: on to Jakarta and eventually find a ride all the 216 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: way back to England and Bligh is hailed as a 217 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: hero and he writes a narrative which is very popular, 218 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: and he also gets a new job. Still with the 219 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: bread fruit. You think you would be breadfruit girl, sick 220 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,839 Speaker 1: of bread fruit by this point. But um, this time around, 221 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: the mission is going to be different. He's going to 222 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: have lieutenants, he's going to have marines for security. I 223 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: think the Royal Navy has realized that a mission of 224 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: this size should have been managed better. Oh and it's 225 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: payback time. The Royal Navy also wants to hunt it 226 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: down our mutineers, if there are any mutineers left to find, 227 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: which brings us to our next question, what happened to 228 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: the mutineers? So in the Navy commissions Captain Edward Edwards 229 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: and the Pandora to find the surviving mutineers in the Pacific, 230 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: and one of the blind skiff survivors comes along to 231 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: presumably to help identify the men and to talk to 232 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: them and probably bring out their guilt a little too. 233 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: If this is the guy you tossed into a boat, 234 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: not too long ago face to face encounter. When the 235 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: ship arrives in Tahiti, three bounty mutineers swim out to 236 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: it they're so ready to go home, and they're arrested 237 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: and chained, while the other men are rounded up and 238 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: put into the prison hut on deck, which they called 239 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: Pandora's Box, which is pretty clever, and one of the 240 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: survivors tells Edwards how the men got there, and he 241 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: pieces together more from the journals of the captured men, 242 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: but the basics are that hatred and jealousy began immediately 243 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: after the mutiny, with some men thinking that Christian favored 244 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: his friends among the other mutineers. So the ship initially 245 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: anchors on a tiny island south of Titi, and because 246 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: they're pretty short unsupplies, they head back to Tahiti and 247 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: load up on livestock as well as a bunch of 248 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: Tahitian people, women, men, boys, and one girl, and then 249 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: head back to their tiny island and they try to 250 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: live there for about three months before the in fighting again. 251 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: With the infighting it gets insufferable and Christian agrees to 252 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: take some of the men back to Tahiti, and he 253 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: takes sixteen of them back, implying that he'll linger nearby 254 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: the island on the ship for about a day or 255 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: so before slipping off. That he doesn't doesn't happen. He 256 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: leaves in the middle of the night, essentially kidnapping the 257 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,400 Speaker 1: women who were on board the ship. One even jumps 258 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: overboard and swims back from beyond the coral reef when 259 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: she realizes what's happening, and sadly, of the sixteen left 260 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: in Tahiti, two are murdered. So back to our captain Edwards. 261 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,760 Speaker 1: He keeps hunting for Christian and his band of men, 262 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: but he can't find them. He eventually gives up and 263 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: starts to head home, but runs his ship aground on 264 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Thirty one of his men drowned 265 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:21,320 Speaker 1: and four prisoners die, so only ten prisoners make it 266 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: back to England, where they will be tried together, and 267 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: the prosecution rests on three points. These men didn't try 268 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: to stop the mutiny, they didn't get into the launch 269 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: with Bligh, and they didn't try to get to England 270 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: after the mutiny but hid instead. And there's still more 271 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: fighting among the defendants over who did what, because obviously 272 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: this is the time to implicate your fellows. He was 273 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: the guy with the weapon. It wasn't me. I was 274 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: dragged into the whole thing by Christian. You can imagine. 275 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: It goes on and on, and four of the men 276 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: have letters from Bli declaring them innocent, so this court 277 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: martial for them is pretty much a formality. They'll be okay. 278 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: Three are virtually assured death because they had all been 279 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 1: seen with arms. Everyone can agree that these three guys 280 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: were bearing arms, and three are kind of up in 281 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,080 Speaker 1: the air, especially one named Peter Hayward, who's the only 282 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: officer charged, and he was only fifteen at the time 283 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: of the mutiny. He's from a really well connected family though, 284 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: and says that he's young and confused at the time 285 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: of the mutiny, that he had been sleeping below decks 286 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: so hadn't been able to react until it was a 287 00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: bit too late, and he didn't want to join the 288 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: launch because it was so overloaded. But interestingly too, it's 289 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,400 Speaker 1: his testimony that kind of helps build up the legend 290 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 1: of Bligh as a sadistic, incompetent captain, something that will 291 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: help Heywood get off the hook. And he of course 292 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 1: isn't there to defend his own name. He's on bread 293 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: Fruit Mission part two, so that's the only account that 294 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: people are going by really, So ultimately one of the 295 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,120 Speaker 1: prisoners gets off on a legal technicality, two are pardoned, 296 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: including Hayward, and then three hang at Portsmouth Harbor and 297 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: their bodies are displayed for two hours in the rain. 298 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: Just a warning to other wood message to you. So 299 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: Bligh's second bread fruit mission is successful. He secures two 300 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: thousand one plants. He manages to get six hundred and 301 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: seventy eight of them to the West Indies and there 302 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,959 Speaker 1: he delivers them at St. Vincent and Jamaica. And he 303 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:31,719 Speaker 1: was delayed there by the start of the French Revolution, 304 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 1: but eventually returned and continues his up and down career. 305 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: Being gone for the trial was very unfortunate for his reputation, 306 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: since a bit of a pamphlet war started not only 307 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 1: with Hayward's claims against his character, but Christian's brother, a 308 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: law professor at Cambridge who interviews the crew members to 309 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: show problems with the command. And that's where he gets 310 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: his nickname, the Bounty Bastard, which haunts him for the 311 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,280 Speaker 1: rest of his life. But kept up with Christian and 312 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: his men. What happens to them? Captain Edwards is never 313 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: able to find them, presumably they're all dead. They don't 314 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: make it, But the second act of this story continues 315 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: in eighteen ten, when the American ship Topaz and Captain 316 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: Folger find this Englishman Alexander Smith also known as John Adams, 317 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: on Pit Karen Island in the South Pacific. So what's 318 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: he doing here? He's claiming he's a bounty survivor. He 319 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: tells how the group of mutineers, Tohitian women and male 320 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,479 Speaker 1: Tahitian servants landed there in seventeen ninety and stripped and 321 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: burned the bounty to cover their tracks. In fighting once 322 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: again kills off almost everyone, with Christian getting shot in 323 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: the neck with a pistol ball. Although other rumors do 324 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: have Christian escaping Pit Karen and returning to England, probably unlikely. 325 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: It seems like in fighting is our general trend here 326 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: and we should probably go with going at the pistol ball. 327 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: But just because most the men have killed each other 328 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 1: off doesn't mean that this island is devoid of a population. 329 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,479 Speaker 1: There has been a lot of repopulating going on at 330 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: the same time, and the island now has thirty five inhabitants, 331 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,479 Speaker 1: and Smith is their leader, and the first to be 332 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 1: born on the island is actually Christian's own son. And 333 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: so this new expedition finds a twenty year old Thursday 334 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: October Christian, the descendant of Fletcher, and the Tahitian woman, 335 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: a name we had a lot of fun with earlier. Today. 336 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,880 Speaker 1: Some of the settlers eventually immigrate to Norfolk Island, east 337 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,640 Speaker 1: of Australia, and many of them still live there today. 338 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: But others still live on Pitcairn, where they speak English 339 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: and pitt Kern, a mix of Tahitian and eighteenth century English, 340 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: which sounds pretty cool. And they trade with ships that 341 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: come by or sell their stuff online. But a few 342 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: years ago they had a scandal when numerous men were 343 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 1: arrested and charged with abusing underage girls. I'd read a 344 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: big article in Vanity Fair about it, called Trouble in Paradise, 345 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 1: which you can find online. Sarah read some other accounts. Yeah, 346 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,360 Speaker 1: an NPR story about the journalist Cathy Marks, who had 347 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: unearthed this whole history which apparently stretched back for generations, 348 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: at least three generations of abuse. That's just a side 349 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: note for us, we're going to go to the more 350 00:21:19,880 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: popular game of what went wrong? So why was there 351 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: this mutiny in the first place. That's the big popular question, 352 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: And one myth to debunk is that Bli and Christian 353 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,479 Speaker 1: had this secret, illicit relationship and that's why Christian just 354 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,880 Speaker 1: got so angry at Bli and mutinied. He was in hell. 355 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,640 Speaker 1: He was in hell? Yeah, exactly. So. The historian who 356 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: first suggested this idea retracted it later after she reassessed 357 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: the size of the ship and figured that there was 358 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:55,199 Speaker 1: no way you could have conducted a secret affair aboard 359 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: a vessels so small. And this mutiny also didn't happen 360 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: because was too strict. In his captain's log, he had 361 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: noted that he hadn't punished anyone until several months in, 362 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,879 Speaker 1: and he also noted that he'd hoped to complete the 363 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: journey without it flogging, and those types of punishment weren't 364 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: something that he relied on. That was a sign of 365 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: trouble for him. Yeah, he was really pretty light on 366 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: corporal punishment as far as other captains in the Pacific went, 367 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: He's a pretty progressive captain. According to Caroline Alexander, who 368 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: is a historian. He has written several articles in books 369 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: on the subject, and she said that especially in terms 370 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,480 Speaker 1: of food and sleep for the men, he's extremely progressive. 371 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: So it wasn't about that. It wasn't that he was 372 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:45,160 Speaker 1: this tyrannical, physically abusive captain, but he could have been 373 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: verbally and personally abusive in a way that really needled 374 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: his men. So Alexander's biggest cause of the mutiny is 375 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 1: Fletcher Christian himself, and she says that it wouldn't have 376 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,119 Speaker 1: happened without him, and that it happened because of his 377 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,199 Speaker 1: own personal breakdown. So maybe we shouldn't look to to 378 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: Blithe for our problems, but to Christian himself. So Sarah, 379 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: was this mission for bread fruit all for not? Yeah, 380 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 1: we have to catch up with the bread fruit here, 381 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: since it's the whole purpose for this story. The specimens 382 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: that arrive in Jamaica are practically too late because it 383 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: takes a while for this exotic, strange food to catch on, 384 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: and by the time it finally does catch on, slavery 385 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: has been abolished by the British today, though it's actually 386 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,360 Speaker 1: a really popular food in Jamaica, and according to the Smithsonian, 387 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,880 Speaker 1: a mature tree produces two hundred pounds of fruit a season, 388 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: which is kind of insane. And it's filled with protein 389 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 1: and calories and carbohydrates and nutrients. And you can grill 390 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 1: it and fry it and bake it and roast it. 391 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like I'm talking about shrimp and forest. Ever, 392 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: I was thinking the same thing. Bay, So much for 393 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out 394 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: of the archive, if you heard an email address or 395 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 396 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current 397 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: email address is History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 398 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: Our old health stuff works email address no longer works, 399 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: and you can find us all over social media at 400 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: missed in History. And you can subscribe to our show 401 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the I heart Radio app, 402 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff You Missed 403 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 1: in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 404 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 405 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 406 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: favorite shows.