Shift #33 - Research and Outline
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 | 8:30-10 pm CST/9:30-11 pm EST (1 hr 30 min)
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Michelle Hurt, student/intern
Jennifer Gonzalez, practicum supervisor
This is a screenshot of my research plan. Having created this has been very helpful as I begin my outline to head into writing!
Tonight, I started jotting down some notes for my outline and continued some more research. My supervisor told me that it would behoove me to read about Stede Bonnet as a good example on how to craft my outline and eventual blog post. Thankfully I had begun reading about Bonnet already so I was able to start at the point where I left off last. In my research, I learned that Nicholas Trott was the judge overseeing Bonnet's trial, and he became "known for shaping the legal definition of piracy". The book in the LoC's collection "The Tryals of Major Stede Bonnet" was a trial transcript and a critical document; it became the bedrock for piracy trials and legal processes. The document specifically defines piracy as "[A] Robbery committed upon the sea, and a Pirate is a Sea-Thief" (p. 3). Bonnet's trial had 23 jurors and the prosecution did a lot of research about laws about piracy. They also did a complete investigation on Bonnet's crimes since there was a lot of pressure felt by the prosecution to get things right. Bonnet and his crew were indicted by the jurors as Billa vera (or, "a true bill"). This means that the jurors felt that the prosecution's case was strong and full of evidence. Most of Bonnet's crew did not plead guilty except for three men and no one was given an attorney to defend them, they each had to defend themselves during trial - every person had to plead their own case. At the end, only four of his crew were found not guilty and set free from imprisonment while everyone else was found guilty and sentenced to execution by hanging.
Bonnet faced his own first trial (regarding the attack on the sloop Francis) after his crew was sentenced. It is noteworthy to mention that the prosecution found Bonnet as the mastermind for the piracy his crew did. They especially noted that he enticed people less fortunate than himself into becoming pirates and his actions led to their being executed for their crimes. There were some testimonies regarding Bonnet's leadership and exact words/actions as it related to the taking of two ships. Bonnet was allowed to question the witnesses and was allowed to have witnesses on his behalf. He deflected any responsibility for attacking the ships and plundering them and instead pointed to his crew and Blackbeard (who we know abandoned him previously). Seeing a bleak outcome for his second trial, Bonnet changed his plea to guilty to the second charge of the sloop Fortune. He was sentenced to death by hanging, like his crew. He tried to have his sentence reduced to a lesser one but was denied and on December 10, 1718 he was executed. His body, along with the bodies of his crew members, were put on display along the shore, perhaps as a deterrent to would-be pirates.
The Golden Age of Piracy ended with Bonnet's execution, as well as Blackbeard's death a month before. However, privateering was big business, especially during times of war like in the American Revolution (between 1765 and 1783). After the war, privateers became pirates again so the government passed new laws to prosecute criminals to the fullest extent.
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