Category: History
Guide Created By: Harold Arnold
Discussion Leader(s): Harold Arnold & Tiger Tom
Click here to visit the discussion

Guide Description

Background Information

There was no single book. Participants chose from a buffet of non-fiction and fiction sources. Bibliography

The idea for this discussion originated when Tiger Tom made a post on the History Book Forum relative to the Bounty mutiny incident. This resulted in an unprecedented popular response with over 100 posts on the normally slow discussion board within a few days time. In response this discussion was scheduled to study the subject matter and particularly to establish the responsibility of the principal participants and to determine the accuracy of the various fictional print and movie renditions of the historical event.

Questions

I. The Voyage of the Bounty: England to Tahiti. Purpose; Bounty Personnel Including Officers, Crew and Mission Specialists; Life in the 18th Century Royal Navy; Bligh’s Running of the Ship At Sea and Discipline of Crew; The course (England to Cape Horn, back to the Cape of Good Hope, Re-supply at Capetown, and on to Tahiti Chapter I Focus Questions

1. What was the purpose for the voyage?
2. Why was the Royal Navy involved
3. What is your impression of the character of the principal actors, Bligh, Christian, Heywood, other officers, the crew? How were they educated? What professional training had they received? How did they receive their assignment to the Bounty?
4. In particular were there signs of mental instability displayed?
5. Who were the mission specialists?
6. Would you have enjoyed participation in this voyage, the accommodations, the food, the entertainment
7. What is your opinion of Bligh's running of the ship?

II. The Tahiti Sojourn: Work and Play in a South Seas Paradise; Discipline; Relations With the Native Population. Chapter II Focus Questions

1. Contrast the lifestyle of the average Tahitian with that of the average Englishman/woman in Europe. Which society was the freest with respect to political, economic and general social controls?
2. Do you see any significant difference between the life led by Captain Bligh at Tahiti and that of Fletcher Christian and other members of the Bounty’s crew?
3. What events occurred while the Bounty was at Tahiti that in your opinion might have been a cause of the mutiny?
4. Was captain Bligh successful in maintaining friendly relation with the natives?
5. In your opinion was Tahiti permanently changed by the English visit

III. The Mutiny: Life at sea after Tahiti; The Mutiny Plot, The Taking of the Ship; Life On the Bounty After the Mutiny- The Course To Pitcairn Island. Chapter III Focus Questions

• Focus questions are not available

IV. The Course to Timor: Bligh At His Best, The Open Boat voyage To Timor and Return to England Bligh’s Court martial. Chapter IV Focus Questions

1. In your opinion were the rumblings of suspicion among the crew that Bligh was getting more than the crew justified
2. Note that while at sea several additions to their food larder occurred. They lost the fish while trying to hoist it into the boat, but several birds were captured. How did they divide these rations among the crew?
3. What were the destination options open to the crew after the hasty evacuation after the clash with the natives and the loss of Norton? How was the new destination decided upon?
4. What in your opinion was the cause of the skirmish with the Natives on the beach at Tofoa?
5. What were some of the causes of the rumblings of dissention voiced by the crew and officers including Bligh?
6. Describe the major confrontation between Purcell and Bligh at Sunday Island? What were its causes and the outcome? What was the roll of Fryer?
7. How would you grade Bligh as a Navigator and as an officer during the voyage to Timor? What was the role of Mr. Fryer and did he deserve the criticism Bligh leveled on him?

V. Completing the King’s Business- HMS Pandora Sent To The South Pacific, Bligh Gets a Second Chance To Complete His Breadfruit Mission. Chapter V Focus Questions

1. How does the Captain of HMS Pandora, Captain Edward Edwards, compare to our Captain Bligh, as a seaman/navigator? As a Royal Navy Officer?
2. Did the Admiralty provide Captain Edwards with sufficient information concerning the personnel he was to bring back to enable him to distinguish between innocent victims of the mutiny and mutineers?
3. What differences do you notice between the preparations for Bligh’s second breadfruit voyage and the first?
4. What differences do you note between Bligh’s execution of his second mission and the first?

VI. Justice: Judicial Proceedings against Mutineers Returned to England- Trial; Executions &Pardons Chapter VI Focus Questions

1. Who were the members of the Court trying Bounty personnel returned to England; had any members of the court had prior personal experience with mutiny; would some have future involvement with mutiny?
2. In your opinion did the proceeding appear fair, i.e., in your opinion did the defendants get a fair trial; were concepts such as “due Process of law” and “equal protection of the law” followed?
3. Do you consider the outcome of the trials exoneration or an accusation of Bligh far as the Bounty mutiny was concerned?
4. The Bounty mutiny was neither the first nor the last Royal Navy mutiny. Bligh was on course for at least one more and several of the officers sitting on the Court trying the Bounty defendant’s experienced later mutinies themselves. In your opinion what was the basic reasons for the many mutinies in the Royal Navy during this period?
5. Were mutinies as common during this period in other Navies such as France and the newly independent United States?

VII. The Fate of the Pitcairn Settlement Chapter VII Focus Questions

1. What was the principal; sources of the problems that by Oct 1793 left only 4 of the mutineers remaining alive?
2. How did John Adams establish himself as the only long-term survivor to become the patriarchic leader of the Pitcairn refugees?
3. Why did the Admiralty loose interest in arresting and prosecuting John Adams after they received word of the Pitcairn refuge shortly after the 1808 discovery by the American whaler Topaz and in 1814 when two British Frigates called at Pitcairn and actually interviewed him?
4. Do you give any credence to the several rumors of Christian’s appearance of in early 19th century England?
5. Does anyone remember the Coleridge, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” well enough to discuss the theory that it was written as an allegory for the Bounty Mutiny and Christians return to England?

VIII. The Aftermath- Bligh’s Post Bounty Career In the Navy and Government Service

1. The Color of the Flag- For the first time in his career Bligh is Captain of ships flying the White Ensign (i.e., the battle flag flown by Fighting Ships) and distinguishes himself in the battles of Camperdown and Copenhagen. How did the phrase, “through a blind eye” come into the English Language?
2. The “Warrior” Court Martials- up’s and down’s of Bligh's reputation in England. Why was our Captain Bligh so often answering charges before Naval Courts?
3. Bligh’s final mutiny- his troubled term as Governor of the new South Wales colony. Distinguish between the rebellion in New South Wales led by Col. George Johnson and John Macarthur and the rebellion 30 years earlier led by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and George Washington?
4. His final days. What is your final assessment of Bligh as a navigator explorer, as a naval officer, and as a person?

Links

A Brief Bounty Biography

More Books on the Bounty From Australia

Bounty Site and Illustrations

Bounty Catalog of Paintings

The Bounty Game

Bounty Chronicles:

Fantastic Reference Site

Facsimile Page of Original Bligh Account:A Voyage To The South Seas