Editing John Paul Jones (section)

==Early life and training==
[[File:John Paul Jones Birthplace and Home, Arbigland, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.jpg|thumb|The birthplace and original home of John Paul Jones in [[Arbigland]] in southern [[Scotland]]]]
[[File:John Paul Jones house.jpg|thumb|John Paul Jones' house in [[Fredericksburg, Virginia]], which he inherited from his brother William]]

John Paul, as he was then known, was born on the estate of [[Arbigland]] near [[Kirkbean]] in the [[Kirkcudbrightshire|Stewartry of Kirkcudbright]] on the southwest coast of Scotland. His parents had married on November 29, 1733, in [[New Abbey]], Kirkcudbrightshire. John Paul started his maritime career when he was 13, sailing out of [[Whitehaven]] in the northern English county of [[Cumberland]] as apprentice aboard ''Friendship'' under Captain Benson. Paul's older brother William Paul had married and settled in [[Fredericksburg, Virginia|Fredericksburg]], [[Colony of Virginia]]. Virginia was the destination of many of the younger Paul's voyages.

For several years, Paul worked as a sailor, sailing aboard several [[merchant ship]]s. In 1764, he became involved in the [[Atlantic slave trade]], serving as [[third mate]] onboard the [[slave ship]] ''King George''; two years later, he transferred to the crew of ''Two Friends'', a fifty-foot slave ship which operated out of [[Kingston, Jamaica]], as [[Chief mate|first mate]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jones Jp Chron |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/bios/jones-john-paul/jones-jp-chron.html |url-status=dead |website=www.history.navy.mil |access-date=October 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906191024/http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/bios/jones-john-paul/jones-jp-chron.html |archive-date=September 6, 2015}}</ref> After completing several voyages to [[West Africa]], Paul left the slave trade, which he described as an "abominable trade", in 1768. While ''Two Friends'' was docked in Kingston, Paul booked passage on a ship to Scotland.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/john-paul-jones | title=John Paul Jones }}</ref>

Paul's career was quickly and unexpectedly advanced during his next voyage aboard the [[brig]] ''John'', which sailed from port in 1768, when both the captain and a ranking mate suddenly died of [[yellow fever]]. With the crew encouraging and voting him to, Paul managed to navigate the ship back to a safe port, and in reward for this feat the vessel's grateful Scottish owners made him master of the ship and its crew, giving him ten percent of the cargo.<ref name="seacoast">[http://www.seacoastnh.com/Maritime-History/John-Paul-Jones/John-Paul-Jones-Timeline/ John Paul Jones Timeline], SeacoastNH.com</ref> He led two voyages to the West Indies before running into difficulty.

During his second voyage in 1770, John Paul had one of his crew flogged after trying to start a mutiny about early payment of wages, leading to accusations that his discipline was "unnecessarily cruel". These claims were initially dismissed, but his favorable reputation was destroyed when the sailor died a few weeks later. John Paul was arrested for his involvement in the man's death. He was imprisoned in [[Kirkcudbright Tolbooth]] but later released on bail.<ref>{{Citation|title=1770 Extract of Warrant for the arrest of John Paul (Jones)|publisher=Scottish Archive Network (SCAN)|work=Virtual Vault – Court Records|url=http://www.scan.org.uk/researchrtools/courtrecords.htm|access-date=22 October 2012}}</ref> The negative effect of this episode on his reputation is indisputable.<ref name="seacoast" /> The local governor encouraged John Paul to leave the area and change his name while on bail. The man who died of his injuries was not a usual sailor but an adventurer from a very influential Scottish family.

Leaving Scotland, John Paul commanded a London-registered vessel named ''Betsy'', a [[West Indiaman]] mounting 22 guns, engaging in commercial speculation in [[Tobago]] for about 18 months.<ref>[[#Brady|Brady, 1906]] pp. 10, 164</ref> This came to an end, however, when he killed a mutinous crew member with a sword in a dispute over wages.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography – Captain John Paul Jones|publisher=History.navy.mil|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/jones_jp_conrad.htm|access-date=2014-04-22|archive-date=June 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629114637/http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/jones_jp_conrad.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Years later, in a letter to Benjamin Franklin describing the incident, John Paul claimed that the killing was committed in self-defense, but he was not willing to wait to be tried in an [[Admiralty court|Admiral's Court]], which would have taken months to assemble, and where the family of his first victim had been influential.

He felt compelled to flee. There is an 18-month gap in Jones's history, and some biographers explore the possibility that in order to escape Tobago, he may have become a pirate. Rumors of piracy followed him, but may have been created by his detractors.<ref>Johnson, Gerald W. The First Captain, 1947 pp. 49</ref> But he eventually reappeared in Fredericksburg, Virginia, leaving his fortune behind; he also sought to arrange the affairs of his brother, who had died there without leaving any immediate family. He was granted land in Frederick County, Virginia.<ref>Paul, John. Land Grant 7 August 1760. N.p., 1760. Print. [https://lva.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01LVA_INST/altrmk/alma990008592180205756 Library of Virginia website] Retrieved 9 August 2023.</ref> About this time, John Paul assumed the surname of [[Jones (surname)|Jones]] (in addition to his original surname). There is a long-held tradition in the state of North Carolina that John Paul adopted the name "Jones" in honor of [[Willie Jones (statesman)|Willie Jones]] of [[Halifax, North Carolina]].<ref>Cotten, Elizabeth. The John Paul Jones-Willie Jones Tradition Charlotte: Heritage Printers, 1966</ref><ref name="Gordon">[https://archive.org/stream/oldhalifax00gord/oldhalifax00gord_djvu.txt Old Halifax], Ambistead C. Gordon</ref> Jones courted [[Dorothea Dandridge Henry|Dorothea Spotswood Dandridge]], the future bride of [[Patrick Henry]], and made a valuable friendship with Dr. John K. Read<ref>{{cite book| title=John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy| first=Evan| last=Thomas| publisher=Simon and Schuster| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rQSAU63pr0C&q=%22Evan+Thomas%22+%22coat+of+arms%22+%22Father+of+the+American+Navy%22&pg=PA92| year=2010| isbn=978-1451603996| access-date=2020-10-15}} pp. 37ff.</ref> during his time in Virginia.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot. "The Willie Jones-John Paul Jones Tradition." ''The William and Mary Quarterly'', vol. 16, no. 2, 1959, pp. 198–206. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1916823. Retrieved 11 Aug. 2023.</ref> In the summer of 1775, Jones met [[Joseph Hewes]] and other revolutionary leaders in Philadelphia.

From that period, America became "the country of his fond election", as he afterwards expressed himself to Baron [[Joan Derk van der Capellen tot den Pol]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sherburne |first=John H. |title=The Life and Character of John Paula Jones |publisher=Adriance, Sherman & Co. Publishers |location=New York |year=1851 |pages=10}}</ref> It was not long afterward that John Paul Jones joined the American navy to fight against Britain.