BC Cook
“I AM in hell!” With those words Fletcher Christian, second in command of theBounty, justified his act of piracy, taking control of the ship, seizing his captain, William Bligh, and those loyal to him and casting them adrift in a tiny lifeboat in the expanse of the Pacific. It is the most famous mutiny in history. How did it come to this? And how have we chosen to remember this event? The mutiny on the Bounty captures our imaginations with romance, intrigue, betrayal, exotic locations, strong-willed characters, high stakes, and long odds. The real-life drama is more gripping than anything in the movies or television. It is hard to believe this incredible chapter in history revolved around breadfruit.
The British Admiralty and the Royal Society in 1789 entrusted Bligh to sail around the world to deliver breadfruit trees from Tahiti to the islands of the Caribbean. They hoped that breadfruit would provide a stable, nutritious source of food for the slaves working the plantations there. Bligh led his crew to the beautiful island in the southern Pacific, populated with stunning women eager to seduce the sailors. Since the plants were not ready for transport, Bligh made the biggest mistake of his illustrious career. He chose to stay at Tahiti for six months and allowed his crew to live among the inhabitants, unburdened by a taxing work schedule. At the time it seemed the humane thing to do but the sailors formed relationships, and families, with the islanders.
When the time came to head for the horizon, many of Bligh’s crew did not want to leave. Some deserted but were found and disciplined. Others, like Christian, tried to carry on with the mission but their hearts overpowered their minds. Several days out from Tahiti, Christian and about half of the crew took control of the ship, setting Bligh and those loyal to him adrift in the ship’s small launch. Christian and the other mutineers returned to Tahiti, gathered their wives and a few others and eventually settled on isolated Pitcairn island. Over the next few years the mutineers turned on each other in a revenge-fueled murder spree. Mainly, the men killed each other for possession of the few women. As for Bligh, the incredible tale of how he and eighteen others sailed a 23-foot boat some 3,600 miles of open ocean to save themselves will have to wait for another time.
To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, rebellion is never a legal right, but is a moral right if used toward a moral purpose. Were Fletcher Christian’s motives moral? Hardly. As a sailor in the British navy, he swore to protect the interests of his country and do his duty as given by his orders and his captain. He turned his back on both. He abandoned that oath in order to extend his stay in what was understandably a gorgeous place, with someone he loved. It may be romantic, but I judge Christian by a simple standard: If I was a captain, would I want Christian on my ship? Would you?
And what of William Bligh? Did his actions justify mutiny? Again, hardly. The ships’ records and the testimony of the crew agree that Bligh was humane to a fault. He resorted to physical punishment much less frequently than other captains on voyages of similar duration. In testimony at the trial of the mutineers the sailors most frequently complained that Bligh forced them to dance. Dance! Hardly the brute of Hollywood films, Bligh learned from Captain James Cook that a crew performed best when it was happy, not when it lived in constant fear. It seems that Bligh “spared the rod and spoiled the child.”
So why does popular culture remember the Mutiny on the Bounty very differently? In books and movies Christian is a romantic hero, brutalized by his tyrannical master, and therefore justified in his betrayal. Bligh becomes sadistic, demonic, obsessive, and irrational. Why the gulf between fact and fantasy? In journalism there is a saying: “Dog bites man is not news, man bites dog is news.” Who would spend eight dollars to watch a movie about a group of sailors who commit an unjustified crime of mutiny against a competent captain, and being punished for it?
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over 30 years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org)
