When someone mentions Captain Kidd, what's your first thought? - - pirate! Right? If that was your first thought, you are wrong. Zacks has done some fantastic research on Kidd which shows him to be a pawn in the greater scheme of things during the late 17th century.
Pirates were a real problem during this time period. The East India Company, which controlled most of the commercial shipping out of England, complained bitterly to the English government something had to be done to stop the piracy.
England was about to go to war again so sending a war ship was not high on the priority of things that needed to be done. Many of the members of the Commons and House of Lords, especially, had a stake in the success of the East India Company so the next best thing was to commission a private individual to seek out the pirates and destroy them. This meant the government was giving it's permission to attack the pirates in it's name. William Kidd obtained such a commission and went to sea in the adventure Galley, a ship that he had built to his own specification.
Kidd had just gotten married to widowed woman of means, and had everything to loose by going to sea to hunt pirates, but he was restless and decided that this would be good for his reputation. He loved the sea as well, and was a very good commanding a ship.
A private ship of this nature was very democratic institution. Captain Kidd always put to a vote such things as to where they should go to find pirates. In fact, this ship was more democratic that of the English government. Of course, in those days, that's not saying much.
As things turned out months later, Kidd's crew mutinyed after several ships that they had stopped turned out not to be pirates but legitimate commercial vessels, but the crew wanted to take them anyway. Kidd said no to them all and wound up without a crew because of those decesions.
It just happened that there was real pirates in the area that were taking every ship that came along, torturing and raping the passengers as well as stealing the cargo. William Kidd got blamed for many of these atrocities. The word spread fast and he became a hunted man.
William Kidd spent several years talking to anyone that would listen to him in every port that was available to him, but most ports were closed to him as the Royal Navy was out to get him now that they thought he has turned pirate. His government commission didn't protect him as the rumor had it that he had turned pirate instead of pirate hunter. The real pirates had it made as most everything they did was blamed on Kidd. Many of kidd's former crew members that mutinyed and joined pirate ship falsely testified against him later to protect themselves.
Captain Kidd was convinced that he had to go back to New York where he sailed from in the beginning to clear his name so he could live a normal life. Unfortunately for him, his reputation as a pirate had proceeded him, as well as the rumors of tons of gold, silver and coins, pieces of eight, he had hidden some place.
Upon his arrival he was greeted with guarantees for his safety so he could explain how he has been wrongly accused of piracy. But greed for the treasure of Captain Kidd was to strong for the local official that held his guarantee of safety from arrest. After some testimony before the city council members, the chief official decided he needed to find out where Kidd had hidden his loot and baring that, get Kidd back to England to be tried as a pirate to curry favor with the King.
Kidd was arrested and eventually shipped back to England. After a year in solitary confinement without any visitors, he was allowed his young servant that he had on his ship that spoke no English and a local woman, but no lawyer. They took all of his money and documents when they arrested him in New York, and when it came time to defend himself against the charge of murder and piracy, he had nothing to prove his innocence. The government wanted it that way as there were four members of parliament that had back Kidd when he left New York three years earlier to go pirate hunting. It was the last thing that they want for Kidd to tell all he knew.
The sad part was Kidd didn't even know who the parliament members were as the commission only had their signatures, he had never met them. All that Kidd wanted was to clear his name and rejoin his wife and daughter back in New York. It was not to be.
His former shipmates accused him of killing the ring leader of the mutiny. According to testimony of other members of the crew, Kidd killed the man by accident during a heated debate over who should run the ship.With the judge and five lawyers arrayed against him, he had no chance.
It was over before it started. Kidd was given access to court paid lawyers, but soon lost them as the case looked hopeless and he had no money or friends that could help him.
With over-whelming evidence against him from other captured pirates, that later went free, he was sentenced to hang for his crimes. William kidd held fast to his claim of innocence even until the day they hanged him, May 23, 1701.
They hung him at low tide by the river Thames, where they let him ride out three tides at the end of the rope. After this they took his body and placed it in a cage for all to see that traveled that river.
Captain Kidd remain in that cage for years as a sign for all to see the consequences of piracy.
Get this book, you will love it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment