English 120, First Paper

Billy Budd and The Great Mutiny
“The Spithead Mutiny and Nore Mutiny were two major mutinies that involved the sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There was also unhappiness and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year, but none as severe as these two well-known ships. The mutinies had the potential to cause great danger for Britain, because at the time the country was at war with the Revolutionary government of France, a time of great unrest. There were also concerns among some members of the British ruling class that the mutinies might be the trigger to a wider uprising similar to the French Revolution” (3). The story of Billy Budd details the historical importance that deals with the British Navy and the year of the Great Mutiny taking place in the year of 1797. During this time there were two mutinies that took. This is also the time when the Mutiny Act was enforced. “The Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797 was an Act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. The Act was passed in the aftermath of the Spithead and Nore mutinies and aimed to prevent the seduction of sailors and soldiers to commit mutiny” (1). One was at Spithead and the other happened at Nore. The Nore mutiny was so serious that it went down in history as the Great Mutiny and this resulted in the book “Billy Budd.”
The setting of “Billy Budd” took place during the last decade of the eighteenth century. The young sailor, Billy Budd, was a new recruit on the British Naval ship Bellipotent. The story tells about the fictional account of the events that took place aboard the ship during the summer of 1797. Chapter 3 of Billy Budd talks about some of the details of the mutinies at Spithead and Nore and that they were two very important events of the British Navy.
The mutiny that happened that summer of 1797 almost led to the end for the British Navy and the power they had gotten used to having over others. They had too many battles to fight and were shorthanded. There were not enough volunteers available to man their battleships. They were looking for any type of volunteers they could find and Billy Budd happened to be in the right place at the right time. Some of the men were forced into working on the fleet of ships and this did not set well with them, they became resentful due to the forcefulness. The living conditions on board were not the best and this left some with hard feelings. The food for the sailors was not the best and often got rotten before it was used. The pay was bad and there was not much for medical treatment. All of these things led to the feelings of the sailors, creating anger and resentment, and also led to the mutiny problems.
The plot of “Billy Budd” deals with the mutiny and the historical background. The new man on the ship, the stranger among a new crew, caused the mutiny that led to the death of Billy Budd. In a way, mutiny is about the opposition to war but it is also about a person and how they deal with authority. Some of the sailors on board the Bellipotent did not want to be there and caused trouble. Billy Budd learned the hard way about mutiny and the consequences of mutiny. For the team on a ship to be successful and work as one, they need to all get along and form a sort of family bond. This was not the case with Billy and others on board. He was a victim of one certain sailor who had issues or felt threatened with Billy Budd.
Things are not always fair and someone has to suffer. There are those on board who take all rumors and run to the captain of the ship with the information, they don’t want to try and work out the problems among the sailors. They are either looking to stir up trouble or stop trouble. “Something caught from the Revolutionary Spirit that at Spithead emboldened the man-of-war’s men to rise against real abuses, and afterwards at the Nore to make inordinate aggressive demands, successful resistance to which was confirmed only when the ringleaders were hung for an admonitory spectacle to the anchored fleet” (2). In this case there was trouble brewing for Billy Budd. The trouble for Billy led to his execution at sea. Billy was the good sailor but was forced to turn evil because of the stories of one of the other sailors aboard the ship. “The year 1842 actuated the commander of the U.S. brig-of-war Somers to resolve, under the so-called Articles of War, Articles modeled upon the English Mutiny Act, to resolve upon the execution at sea of a midshipman and two sailors as mutineers designing the seizure of the brig” (2).
The historical significance of “Billy Budd” helps us to understand the circumstances that sailors had to deal with. The story also deals with the two mutinies of Spithead and Nore and how the mutiny at Nore was so historical that it went down in history as the Great Mutiny during the Revolutionary War and led to the Mutiny Act. This book by Melville was written during a time when the British Navy was in danger of going down. The navy was dealing with volunteers who did not want to be part of the navy fleet and the mutinies that were a result of the unwilling volunteers. “Billy Budd” is an example of a good person who becomes evil because of the lies and wrongs of others. Trying to protect your beliefs can lead to your own demise.

Works Cited
Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo3/37/70/contents/1991-02-01
Melville, Herman, Harrison Hayford, and Merton Miller Sealts. Billy Budd, Sailor. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.
The Spithead and Nore Mutiny. http://www.fold3.com/page/1554_the_spithead_nore_mutiny/
Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Budd