Editing William Bligh (section)

===Possible causes of the mutiny===
The reasons behind the mutiny are still debated; some sources report that Bligh was a tyrant whose abuse of the crew led them to feel that they had no choice but to take over the ship.<ref name="Historic UK">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Ben |title=Mutiny on the Bounty |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Mutiny-on-the-Bounty/ |website=Historic UK |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> Other sources argue that Bligh was no worse (and in many cases gentler) than the average captain and naval officer of the era.<ref>{{cite web |title=Righting a historic wrong: the real story of the mutiny on the Bounty |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/documentaries/righting-a-historic-wrong-the-real-story-of-the-mutiny-on-the-bounty/ |website=RadioTimes |access-date=17 April 2023}}</ref> They also argue that the crew—inexperienced and unused to the rigours of the sea—were corrupted by the freedom, idleness and sexual licence of their five months in Tahiti, finding themselves unwilling to return to the "[[Jack Tar]]'s" life of an ordinary seaman. This view holds that most of the men supported Christian's prideful personal vendetta against Bligh out of a misguided hope that their new captain would return them to Tahiti to live their lives "hedonistically" and in peace, free from Bligh's acid tongue and strict discipline.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The mutiny is made more mysterious by the friendship of Christian and Bligh, which dates back to Bligh's days in the merchant service. Christian was well acquainted with the Bligh family. As Bligh was being set adrift, he appealed to this friendship, saying "you have dandled my children upon your knee". According to Bligh, Christian "appeared disturbed" and replied, "That,—Captain Bligh,—that is the thing;—I am in hell—I am in hell".{{sfn|Bligh|1790}}

''Bounty''{{'}}s log shows that Bligh was relatively sparing in his punishments. He scolded when other captains would have whipped, and whipped when other captains would have hanged.<ref>{{cite web |title=The True Face of Captain Bligh  |url=https://welcome-tahiti.com/en/the-true-face-of-captain-bligh/ |website=Welcome Tahiti |access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref> He was an educated man, deeply interested in science, convinced that good diet and sanitation were necessary for the welfare of his crew.<ref name="Pacific Union"/> He took a great interest in his crew's exercise, was very careful about the quality of their food and insisted upon the ''Bounty'' being kept very clean.<ref>{{cite web |title=Captain Cook and Captain Bligh |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-BeaBlig-t1-body1.html |website=Victoria University of Wellington |access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref> The modern historian [[John Beaglehole]] has described the major flaw in this otherwise enlightened naval officer: "[Bligh made] dogmatic judgements which he felt himself entitled to make; he saw fools about him too easily … thin-skinned vanity was his curse through life … [Bligh] never learnt that you do not make friends of men by insulting them."{{sfn|Beaglehole|1974|p=498}} Bligh was also capable of holding intense grudges against those he thought had betrayed him, such as Midshipman [[Peter Heywood]] and ship's gunner [[William Peckover]]; in regard to Heywood, Bligh was convinced that the young man was as guilty as Christian. Bligh's first detailed comments on the mutiny are in a letter to his wife Betsy,<ref>[https://famous-trials.com/bounty/401-letters Bligh letter of 1789]</ref> in which he names Heywood (a mere boy not yet 16) as "one of the ringleaders", adding: "I have now reason to curse the day I ever knew a Christian or a Heywood or indeed a Manks{{sic}} man."<ref>Alexander, p. 152. Natives of the Isle of Man are known as "Manxmen".</ref> Bligh's later official account to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] lists Heywood with Christian, [[Ned Young|Edward Young]] and George Stewart as the mutiny's leaders, describing Heywood as a young man of abilities for whom he had felt a particular regard.<ref>Bligh, Ch. 13.</ref> To the Heywood family, Bligh wrote: "His baseness is beyond all description."<ref>Alexander, p. 168.</ref> Peckover applied for a position as gunner on [[HMS Providence (1791)|HMS ''Providence'']] (the second breadfruit expedition to Tahiti) but was refused by Bligh. In a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, dated 17 July 1791 (two weeks before departure), Bligh wrote:{{sfn|Kennedy|1978|p=235}}

<blockquote>Should Peckover my late Gunner ever trouble you to render him further services I shall esteem it a favour if you will tell him I informed you he was a vicious and worthless fellow—He applied to me to render him service & wanted to be appointed Gunner of the Providence but as I had determined never to suffer an officer who was with me in the ''Bounty'' to sail with again, it was for the cause I did not apply for him.</blockquote>

Bligh's refusal to appoint Peckover was partly due to [[Edward Christian]]'s polemic testimony against Bligh in an effort to clear his [[Fletcher Christian|brother]]'s name.{{sfn|Kennedy|1978|p=235}} Christian states in his appendix:{{sfn|Kennedy|1978|p=235}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fatefulvoyage.com/minutes/minutesMAppendix.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122223317/http://fatefulvoyage.com/minutes/minutesMAppendix.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 November 2010|title=The Appendix, Minutes of Bounty Court-Martial|date=22 November 2010|access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref>

<blockquote>In the evidence of Mr. Peckover and [[John Fryer (Royal Navy officer)|Mr. Fryer]], it is proved that [[David Nelson (botanical collector)|Mr. Nelson]] the botanist said, upon hearing the commencement of the mutiny, "We know whose fault this is, or who is to blame, Mr. Fryer, what have we brought upon ourselves?" In addition to this, it ought to be known that Mr. Nelson, in conversation afterwards with an officer (Peckover) at Timor, who was speaking of returning with Captain Bligh if he got another ship, observed, "I am surprized that you should think of going a second time with [Bligh] (using a term of abuse) who has been the cause of all our losses."</blockquote>

Popular fiction often confuses Bligh with [[Edward Edwards (Royal Navy officer)|Edward Edwards]] of {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}}, who was sent on the Royal Navy's expedition to the South Pacific to find the mutineers and bring them to trial. Edwards is often made out to be the cruel man that Hollywood has portrayed. The 14 men from ''Bounty'' who were captured by Edwards's men were confined in a cramped 18′ × 11′ × 5′8″ wooden cell on ''Pandora''{{'}}s quarterdeck. Yet, when ''Pandora'' ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef, three prisoners were immediately let out of the prison cell to help at the pumps. Finally, Captain Edwards gave orders to release the other 11 prisoners, to which end Joseph Hodges, the armourer's mate, went into the cell to remove the prisoners' irons. Unfortunately, before he could finish the job, the ship sank. Four of the prisoners and 31 of the crew died during the sinking. More prisoners would likely have perished, had not William Moulter, a bosun's mate, unlocked their cages before jumping off the sinking vessel.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Histories+of+Queensland/Transport+Maritime+History/~/media/4AC2615C4B2645F992EF72EB80A5BC99.pdf |title=The Pandora Story |publisher=Queensland Museum |date=14 August 2010 |first=Stephen |last=Wilson}}</ref>