Biography of Anne Bonny, Irish Pirate and Privateer

Anne Bonny (1700–1782, exact dates uncertain) was an Irish pirate and privateer who fought under the command of Calico Jack Rackham between 1718 and 1720. Together with fellow female pirate Mary Read, she was one of Rackhams more formidable pirates, fighting, cursing, and drinking with the best of them. She was captured along with the rest of Rackhams crew in 1720 and sentenced to death, although her sentence was commuted because she was pregnant. She has been the inspiration for countless stories, books, movies, songs, and other works. Fast Facts: Anne Bonny Known For: For two years she was a pirate under Jack Rackham, and as a rare female pirate, she was the subject of many stories and songs and was the inspiration for generations of young womenBorn: About 1700 near Cork, IrelandPiracy Career: 1718–1720, when she was captured and sentenced to hangDied: Date and place unknownSpouse(s): James Bonny Early Years Most of what is known about Anne Bonnys early life comes from Captain Charles Johnsons A General History of the Pyrates which dates to 1724. Johnson (most, but not all, historians believe that Johnson was actually Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe) provides some details of Bonnys early life  but did not list his sources and his information has proven impossible to verify. According to Johnson, Bonny was born near Cork, Ireland probably sometime around 1700, the result of an affair between a married English lawyer and his maid. The unnamed lawyer was eventually forced to bring Anne and her mother to America to escape the gossip. Anne’s father set up in Charleston, first as a lawyer and then as a merchant. Young Anne was spirited and tough: Johnson reports that she once badly beat up a young man who â€Å"would have lain with her, against her will.† Her father had done quite well in his businesses and it was expected that Anne would marry well. Instead, at about age 16, she married a penniless sailor named James Bonny, and her father disinherited her and cast them out. The young couple set out for New Providence, where Annes husband made a meager living turning in pirates for bounties. Sometime in 1718 or 1719, she met pirate Calico Jack Rackham (sometimes spelled Rackam) who had recently wrested command of a pirate vessel from the ruthless Captain Charles Vane. Anne became pregnant and went to Cuba to have the child: once she had given birth, she returned to a life of piracy with Rackham. A Life of Piracy Anne proved to be an excellent pirate. She dressed like a man, while she fought, drank, and swore like one too. Captured sailors reported that after their vessels were taken by the pirates, it was the two women—Bonny and Mary Read, the latter who had joined the crew by then—who urged their crewmates on to greater acts of bloodshed and violence. Some of these sailors testified against her at her trial. According to legend, Bonny (dressed as a man) felt a strong attraction to Mary Read (who was also dressed as a man) and revealed herself as a woman in hopes of seducing Read. Read then confessed that she was a woman, too. The reality may have been that Bonny and Read most likely met in Nassau as they were preparing to ship out with Rackham. They were very close, perhaps even lovers. They would wear womens clothes on board  but change into mens clothes when a fight was in store. Capture and Trial By October of 1720, Rackham, Bonny, Read, and their crew were infamous in the Caribbean and in desperation, Governor Woodes Rogers authorized privateers to hunt and capture them and other pirates for bounties. A heavily armed sloop belonging to Captain Jonathan Barnet caught up to Rackhams ship when the pirates had been drinking and after a small exchange of cannon and small arms fire, they surrendered. When capture was imminent, only Anne and Mary fought against Barnet’s men, swearing at their crewmates to come out from under the decks and fight. The trials of Rackham, Bonny, and Read caused a sensation. Rackham and the other male pirates were swiftly found guilty: he was hanged with four other men at Gallows Point in Port Royal on November 18, 1720. Reportedly, he was allowed to see Bonny before his execution and she said to him: Im sorry to see you here, but if you had fought like a man you need not have hanged like a dog. Bonny and Read were also found guilty on November 28 and sentenced to hang. At that point, they both declared that they were pregnant. The execution was postponed, and it was found to be true that the women were pregnant. Death Mary Read died in prison about five months later. What happened to Anne Bonny is uncertain. Like her early life, her later life is lost in shadow. Captain Johnson’s book first came out in 1724, so her trial was still fairly recent news while he was writing it, and he only says of her, â€Å"She was continued in prison, to the time of her lying in, and afterwards reprieved from Time to Time, but what is become of her since, we cannot tell; only this we know, that she was not executed.† So what happened to Anne Bonny? There are many versions of her fate and no truly decisive proof in favor of any one of them. Some say she reconciled with her wealthy father, moved back to Charleston, remarried and lived a respectable life into her 80s. Others say she remarried in Port Royal or Nassau and bore her new husband several children. Legacy Annes impact on the world has been primarily cultural. As a pirate, she did not have a large impact, because her pirating career only lasted a few months. Rackham was not an important pirate, mostly taking easy prey like fishing vessels and lightly armed traders. If not for Anne Bonny and Mary Read, he would be a footnote in pirate lore. But Anne has gained great historical stature in spite of her lack of distinction as a pirate. Her character has much to do with it: not only was she one of only a handful of female pirates in history, but she was one of the die-hards, who fought and cursed harder than most of her male colleagues. Today, historians of everything from feminism to cross-dressing scour the available histories for anything about her or Mary Read. No one knows how much of an influence Anne has had on young women since her days of piracy. At a time when women were kept indoors, barred from the freedom that men enjoyed, Anne went out on her own, left her father and husband, and lived as a pirate on the high seas off and on for two years. Her greatest legacy is probably the romantic example of a woman who seized freedom when the opportunity presented itself, even if her reality was probably not nearly as romantic as people think. Sources Cawthorne, Nigel. A History of Pirates: Blood and Thunder on the High Seas. Arcturus Publishing, September 1, 2003. Johnson, Captain Charles. A General History of the Pyrates. Kindle edition, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, September 16, 2012. Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2009 Rediker, Marcus. Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004. Woodard, Colin. The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down. Mariner Books, 2008.

Short Story - 1580 Words

Light started to stream through his eyelids. He knew it was time to wake up. The ritual of rising had begun. However, after stretching his arms, he came to a horrid realisation. He can’t remember ever going to sleep last night. He had to think hard to recall his last memories before now. That’s right! He was running down the laneway on his nightly jog before dinner. He had just brushed past a tree and felt a sharp pain in his neck. Then†¦. Nothing until now! Agent Lincoln Cain of the Australian Security Taskforce, was one of Australia’s top spies. He was currently on temporary leave after his last mission to Tajikistan. There, he had endured a powerful drug that caused vivid hallucinations, so much so, that he believed for a while that the†¦show more content†¦It was made of glass, or something clear, and it curved down to the far end of the room. Room? Yes it was a room of sorts. He allowed himself to sit up and survey his surrounds more thoroughly. He firstly relaxed somewhat, as there was no one else about. The room was a little larger than his bedroom back home. There was an en suite to the side which had a shower, toilet and sink. He could see that easily as there was no door on it. It was like a recess in the side of the room. There was a small table and chair next to the bed. Yes, he was lying in a double bed, one pillow and two sheets. The floor was made of white concrete, as were the walls. In fact, the walls were angled so that the far end of the room was wider than the front end. Lincoln instinctively, turned around to look behind him towards the front of the room. It, also was a concrete wall but it had a single door in the middle. He continued to stare at the door. It was unusual for two reasons. One, it was so tightly fitted, that Lincoln had to look closely to see any gap between the door and the wall. Two, there was no door handle. This was a prison cell, thought Lincoln. As he got up, he noticed that he was dressed in an all-white track suit with runners on his feet. Someone had dressed him. His blue jogging shorts and Raiders T-shirt were nowhere to be seen. The outfit look somewhat bizarre as the walls were also the same shade of white. He couldn’t help but lift his top to see what was underneath. Ah,Show MoreRelatedshort story1018 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Short Stories:  Ã‚  Characteristics †¢Short  - Can usually be read in one sitting. †¢Concise:  Ã‚  Information offered in the story is relevant to the tale being told.  Ã‚  This is unlike a novel, where the story can diverge from the main plot †¢Usually tries to leave behind a  single impression  or effect.  Ã‚  Usually, though not always built around one character, place, idea, or act. †¢Because they are concise, writers depend on the reader bringing  personal experiences  and  prior knowledge  to the story. 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The Masque Of Red Death Essay Research free essay sample

The Masque Of Red Death Essay, Research Paper The Masque Of Red Death. A virus had come. It killed all that it touched. No 1 could last, the ruddy decease. Nothing had of all time been like it. Sharp hurting giddiness and hemorrhage at the pores where its marks. When prince Prospero s town was half dead he called on a 1000 Hale and visible radiation hearted friends among the knights and dolls of his court. # 8221 ; He called them into a palace. Guarded with a metal gate. They stayed there for 6 months, Eluding the ruddy death. # 8221 ; They had every thing they need at that place. Entertainment, nutrient and all other things needed to last. It was at the terminal of the 5th or 6th month that he called for a cloaked ball or of the most unusual magnificence. # 8221 ; Abstract art filled the room with beauty. The mask was held in a suite with 7 suites. We will write a custom essay sample on The Masque Of Red Death Essay Research or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The suites were most oddities with bends at every corner and Gothic Windowss. The colourss of each room varied. The seventh chamber was all black. The lone thing different about this room was that the Windowss did non fit humor H every thing else. The strivings where blood ruddy, there was no visible radiation of any sort. In there stood giant coal black clock whose pendulum swung with a dull heavy activities clang.† All activities ceased with the sound of each hr. Everything stooped as if dead. But when the reverberations had full ceased, a light laughter at one time pervaded the assembly.. The first 6 suites crowed unlike the 7th, until the clock struck midnight. Everything ceased like earlier until the last reverberation of the clock sounded. Many people became cognizant of the cloaked figure. There originate a length from the whole company. # 8221 ; First surprise so horror to this figure. When the eyes of Prince Prospero saw him he did non cognize what to make. Who dares he said. Unmask him he ordered. # 8221 ; Prince Proostro with a drawn sticker rushed at the adult male. They entered the seventh chamber. the sticker dropped to the floor with the prince. so a multitude of revellers at one time threw them selves into the black room. # 8221 ; They gasped in horror as they found their prince. One by one the revellers died. With there decease died the coal black clock.

Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe (c. 1659-1731) Essays - Fiction

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (c. 1659-1731) Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (c. 1659-1731) Type of Work: Adventure novel Setting England, various ships at sea, and a small island near Trinidad; seventeenth century Principal Characters Robinson Crusoe, an Englishman Friday, his island companion Story Overveiw Young Robinson Crusoe told his parents that he wished more than anything else to go to sea. His father bitterly opposed the idea, and warned his son that "if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless me - and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon having neglected his counsel, when there might be none to assist in my recovery." These words proved prophetic. The youthful Crusoe set out on his first voyage, with little knowledge about the perils of a sailor's life. In telling later about the tremendous storm in which his ship was caught, he remarked, "It was my advantage, in one respect, that I did not know what they meant by 'founder,' till I inquired." So ill and afraid was he during this first harrowing crisis, that he vowed never again to leave solid ground if he was blessed enough to escape drowning. But once safe on shore he found his old longing resurfacing, and Robinson took sail aboard another ship Alas, the ill-fated vessel was captured by Turkish pirates. Crusoe managed to avoid capture and made off in a small craft. Together, he and a young companion navigated along the coast of Africa, where they were pursued by both wild beasts and natives. A Portuguese ship finally rescued them and they sailed for Brazil. In the new land Crusoe established a prosperous sugar plantation. But again a feeling of lonely dissatisfaction overcame him: "I lived just like a man cast away upon some desolate island, that had nobody there but himself." Then came an offer from some planters for Crusoe to act as a trader on a slave ship bound for Africa. But this voyage also met disaster: fierce hurricanes wrecked the ship, drowning everyone aboard except Robinson, who was finally tossed up on a desolate beach.A subsequent storm washed the ship's wreckage close to shore and Crusoe constructed a raft to haul most of its supplies to land, where he stored them in a makeshift tent. After a few days, he climbed a hill and discovered that he was on what he assumed to be an uninhabited island. On his thirteenth day there, still another storm pushed the ship wreck back out to sea, where it sank, leaving him with no reminder of civilization. Crusoe soon discovered that goats inhabited the island, and began domesticating some of them to provide himself with meat, milk, butter and cheese. Near the entrance of the cave where he stored his provisions taken from the ship, he painstakingly built a well-fortified home. After crafting a table, a chair and some shelves, Crusoe also began keeping a calendar and a journal. Over the next few months, an earthquake and a hurricane damaged his supply cave, and though he still spent most of his time at his coastal home, in case a ship should happen by, he decided to erect an additional inland shelter. Later, during a brief but raging fever, the adventurer was confronted by a terrifying apparition, who announced, "Seeing all these things have not brought thee to repentance, now thou shalt die!" Remembering the advice of his father, Crusoe commenced to pray and to read from the Bible. In a strangely inverted search, he began to seek deliverance from his sins rather than from his adverse situation. In a small valley on the island, Crusoe found an abundance of wild grapes, lemons, limes and other fruits and vegetables. From the grapes he made raisins, which became a favorite staple food. In his wanderings he also caught a parrot, whom he taught to speak. With a few grains of rice and barley from the bottom of one of the ship's sacks, the sailor planted what would become large fields of grain. For several years he experimented with making bread and weaving baskets. One of Crusoe's biggest frustrations was the lack of bottles or jars in which to cook or store food. Over time, he succeeded in making clay containers and even fired some pots that were solid enough to hold liquids. After four years on the island, he was a changed man: "I looked now upon the [civilized] world as a thing remote, which I had nothing to do with, no expectation from, and indeed no desires about.. ." Crusoe dedicated his entire fifth year as a castaway to building and inventing. He constructed a "summer home" on