captain kidd

[bear]

why was he hung he was no pirate and the English government knew he was not guilty so did the usa so why was it money or a big cover up over his investors. history has a way of lying so how can we learn from the past if we teach it wrong? Pirates were just sea gypsies and out laws by there government with no place to go what would most do to live I know wht i would do

[Craig Davis]

You are correct in your statement that Kidd was no pirate, but he could not prove it. Here is a little info on why Kidd was hung:
Captain Kidd, sometimes also called William Kidd or Robert Kidd, received this License together with a letter of reprisal against French merchant ships. He sailed with both commissions out of Plymouth in May 1696 on board the Adventure Galley. His ship carried 30 guns and had 80 crewmen. While at sea his crew mutinied and they became pirates. When Kidd sailed into Boston in May 1699 he was jailed on suspicion of piracy. A vessel was sent from England to return him for trial which took place at the Old Bailey in May 1701. Captain Kidd was condemned and found guilty of piracy because he could not produce the commissions/papers which would prove that the two French vessels he had captured, were lawful prizes. These papers were discovered in the Public Record Office 200 years later. Kidd was executed at Wapping on May 23rd, 1701 and hung in chains.
Craig