Pirate Punishment And Torture

2281 Words10 Pages
Pain: extreme discomfort, suffering or agony. Whether a crew member of a pirate ship were being punished by another crew member or a prisoner being totured by a fearsome pirate, pain is most likely the first word that comes to mind. Throughout the 1700 and 1800’s unruly pirates sailed the seven seas in search for riches. To maintain order on their ships pirates would create rule, and if a crew member were to break a rule a fitting punishment would be assigned. If a prisoner, that was not part of the crew, was captured by pirates they may be tortured or killed for many reasons. Pirates would normally torture outsiders, and punish their own, but either way the purpose of torture and punishment was to cause pain and suffering. Punishment Although pirates were not good at cooking and cleaning, they always were able to maintain order on their ships. Rules were set to prevent fighting and murder, as well as a plethora of other infractions. Depending on the rule a crew member broke, this would decide what punishment they would receive. Some punishments resulted in death, while other punishments would be so treacherous that the one who endured them would simply want to fall over dead. Over all to maintain order and to make life better aboard pirate ships, rules would be set, and if a crew member broke a rule, a proper punishment would be assigned. One common misconception is that the captain was the man who was in charge of punishment, but in fact the quarter master was the one in charge when it came to punishment. This was to make sure the captain did not become too powerful. Once a crew member broke a rule the entire crew would gather and would vote on a fitting punishment. Pirates were ahead of their time in the fact that they held a vote, instead of one crew member simply being in charge of everything. To keep order on ships pirates would even assign a terrible
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