All About Pirates and Their Treasure

All About Pirates and Their Treasure We’ve all seen the movies where one-eyed, peg-leg pirates make off with great wooden chests full of gold, silver, and jewels. But this image isnt really accurate. Pirates only rarely got their hands on treasure like this, but they did still take plunder from their victims. Pirates and their Victims During the so-called Golden Age of piracy, which lasted roughly from 1700 to 1725, hundreds of pirate ships plagued the waters of the world. These pirates, while generally associated with the Caribbean, did not limit their activities to that region. They also struck off the coast of Africa and even made forays into the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They would attack and rob any non-Navy ship that crossed their paths: mostly merchant and slave vessels plying the Atlantic. The plunder the pirates took from these ships mainly were trade goods profitable at the time. Food and Drink Pirates often plundered food and drink from their victims: Alcoholic drinks, in particular, were rarely if ever allowed to continue on their way. Casks of rice and other foodstuffs were taken on board as needed, although the less cruel pirates would leave enough food for their victims to survive. Fishing ships were often robbed when merchants were scarce, and in addition to the fish, pirates would sometimes take tackle and nets. Ship Materials Pirates rarely had access to ports or shipyards where they could repair their vessels. Their ships were often put to hard use, meaning that they were in constant need of new sails, ropes, rigging tackle, anchors, and other things necessary for the day-to-day maintenance of a wooden sailing vessel. They stole candles, thimbles, frying pans, thread, soap, kettles, and other mundane items and would often also plunder wood, masts, or parts of the ship if they needed them. Of course, if their own ship were in really bad shape, the pirates would sometimes simply swap ships with their victims! Trade Goods Most of the loot gained by pirates was trade goods being shipped by merchants. Pirates never knew what they would find on the ships they robbed. Popular trade goods at the time included bolts of cloth, tanned animal skins, spices, sugar, dyes, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, wood, and more. Pirates had to be choosy about what to take, as some items were easier to sell than others. Many pirates had clandestine contacts with merchants willing to purchase such stolen goods for a fraction of their true worth and then resell them for a profit. Pirate-friendly towns such as Port Royal, Jamaica, or Nassau, Bahamas, had many unscrupulous merchants willing to make such deals. Slaves Buying and selling slaves was a very profitable business during the Golden Age of piracy, and slave ships often were raided by pirates. Pirates might keep the slaves to work on the ship or sell them themselves. Often, the pirates would loot the slave ships of food, weapons, rigging, or other valuables and let the merchants keep the slaves, who were not always easy to sell and had to be fed and cared for. Weapons, Tools, and Medicine Weapons were very valuable. They were the tools of the trade for pirates. A pirate ship without cannons and a crew without pistols and swords were ineffective, so it was the rare pirate victim that got away with his weapon stores unplundered. Cannons were moved to the pirate ship and the holds cleared of gunpowder, small arms, and bullets. Tools were as good as gold, whether they be carpenters tools, surgeons knives, or navigational gear (such as maps and astrolabes). Likewise, medicines were often looted: Pirates were often injured or ill, and medicines were hard to come by. When Blackbeard held Charleston, North Carolina, hostage in 1718, he demanded- and received- a chest of medicines in exchange for lifting his blockade. Gold, Silver, and Jewels Of course, just because most of their victims didnt have any gold doesnt mean that the pirates never got any at all. Most ships had a little gold, silver, jewels, or some coins aboard, and the crew and captains were often tortured to get them to reveal the location of any such stash. Sometimes, pirates got lucky: In 1694, Henry Avery and his crew sacked the Ganj-i-Sawai, the treasure ship of the Grand Moghul of India. They captured chests of gold, silver, jewels, and other precious cargo worth a fortune. Pirates with gold or silver tended to spend it quickly when in port. Buried Treasure? Thanks to the popularity of Treasure Island, the most famous novel about pirates, most people think that the bandits went around burying treasure on remote islands. In fact, pirates rarely buried treasure. Captain William Kidd buried his loot, but hes one of the few known to have done so. Considering that most of the pirate treasure to be had was delicate, such as food, sugar, wood, ropes, or cloth, its not surprising that idea is mostly a myth. Sources Cordingly, David. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1996 Defoe, Daniel. A General History of the Pyrates. Dover Maritime, 60742nd edition, Dover Publications, January 26, 1999. Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: The Lyons Press, 2009 Konstam, Angus. The Pirate Ship 1660-1730. New York: Osprey, 2003

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buy custom Business Laws essay A contract is a legal agreement entered into by two parties, and is enforceable by law. Such an agreement is made when one party indicates the willingness to engage in or desist from engaging in any activity with a view of getting the approval of the other party (Koffman Macdonald, 2007).The party making the offer is known as the promisor, while the party accepting the offer the promisee. In this case, all the promises forming the consideration for the two parties becomes the agreement. Any agreement that is not enforceable by law is known as void agreement (Koffman Macdonald, 2007). Contract Law in Malaysia is governed by the Contracts Act 1950 and for an agreement to qualify to be a contract, there must be (1) an agreement between the parties involved, (2) created responsibilities between the parties, and (3) it must be legally enforceable. There are three categories of contract according to Malaysian Contracts Act 1950 (Contracts Act 1950). These are; written contracts that requ ire written evidence, oral and simple contracts. Elements of a Contract For any agreement to be considered a valid contract, the following elements need to be considered by the two parties involved: 1. There must be an Offer A contact can only exist when a specific offer has been unconditionally proposed and accepted. The offer can be issued in writing, orally, or impliedly through actions as long as the mode of offer or acceptance is in line with the statutory requirements (Sinnadurai Sinnadurai, 2003). For example, contract involving sale of land need to be written to have title deed. The communication of the offer, acceptance, or revocation should be made known to the party to whom it is made for it to be complete. An offer according to the Contract Act 1950 is an expression of willingness by the promisor to contract on a particular set of terms with legal intention that if accepted, will be bounding. It must involve the promisor and the promisee and be legally enforceable (Dass, 2005). Offers can be unilateral where only one party makes the proposal and the other party is not obligated to make a proposal. It can also be bilateral where the two parties makes a promise such as in a case of sale of a h ouse where one offers a house and the other party promises some amount of money. 2. Acceptance For a contract to be valid there must be an expression of unequivocal and unconditional agreement by the two parties to all the terms contained in the offer (Sinnadurai Sinnadurai, 2003). Acceptance can be done orally or in writing and is legally binding if done by the party to whom the offer is made, if express by word spoken or written, or if implied by actions showing compliance. Acceptance must also be absolute, using the prescribed mode such as by fax, for the offer communicated only, done within the given time frame before the offer period lapses and done with an intent to fulfill the contract. Contract Act 1950 also provides that a revocation of acceptance done any time before the communication of approval is complete (Law of Contract in Malaysia, 2009). 3. Intention to Create a Legal Relationship There must be an intention between the two parties to create legal relations for the agreement to be a contract; otherwise, the arrangement is considered an informal social agreement (Dass, 2005). For example, if student A offers student B lift to Kuala Lumpur city, then B considers reciprocating the cost of fuel but fails, there is no obligatory contract under which A can B, since the offer to fuel the car was not made with the intention of being legally binding. However, commercial arrangements are usually perceived to be intended to be binding contracts (Arjunan, K. (2008). 4. Lawful Consideration Consideration denotes something of value that parties agree to exchange when signing a contract and must not be a tangible or monetary item, but can include desisting taking an action that a party has the legal right to do. The presence o a consideration in the undertaking indicates the commitment of parties to make a legal relationship (Dass, 2005: Richards, 2006). This is because the law does not recognize agreements without something in return. 5. Capacity to Contract Capacity to contract refers to a partys capability to enter into a contract. Inability to contract may be as a result of the persons lack of authority to contract, mental incompetence, and the party being an infant. A contract is not binding if a mentally impaired party enters into an agreement without understanding the nature and consequences of the transaction (Arjunan, 2008: Richards, 2006). Mental incapacity may be because of developmental disability, insanity, senility, and drug or alcohol intoxication. In case one is acting on behalf of another party, the person must be fully authorized to reach agreements and sign the contracts; otherwise, the contract will be invalid. 6. Legal purpose The purpose of the contract must be in itself legal, not conflicting with the public policy for it to be binding. This means that a contract that obligates a party to engage in an illegal activity or has illegal objective is not binding to either party (Arjunan, 2008). For example, a contract that requires a party to damage the property of another individual is illegal and criminal and cannot be enforced. Three Factors in Section 14 and Effects of each Contract According to Contract Act 1955 section 14, consent on a particular issue is considered free when not achieved by coercion, falsification, undue influence, mistake, or fraud. There should be no force or coercion to make the contract. The three factors to be discussed in this case are coercion and duress, use of undue influence and misrepresentation (Sinnadurai Koh, 1979). 1. Coercion and Duress Coercion is the compulsion of a party to enter into a contract through threatening to commit or committing any act prohibited by the Penal Code. This intimidation may include illegitimate detaining or threatening to detain the person or property with the purpose of making the party to enter into an agreement. Exposing a person under duress through either physical confinement or psychological torture and threats is part of coercive conduct to induce the victim party to accept the offer. There should also be freedom in contract formulation, which entail positive beginning that encompasses liberty of either parties to make own choices, freedom to determine possible exchange, bargaining terms, and to enter a contract on mutual approval. It also involves freedom from governmental restrictions or intrusion while engaging in these agreements and freedom of a party assess the ability of the government to implement the agreements. An example of in which individuals are forced to enter contrac ts is the software agreements where the customer is not given room to negotiate the terms when installing the software in their personal computers. Failure to acknowledge (click wrap) simply means no installation (Rafiei1 Manap, 2011) Effects of Coercion and Duress The effects of using coercion and duress to enter into a contract is that the law does not recognize such contracts, since the victim has been unwillingly compelled by the stronger party to enter into the contract (Cheong, 2010). The coercing party is bound to lose the presumed benefits of the contract. In the absence of the free consent by either party, the contract is considered void or voidable. However, the coerced, pressured, or forced party needs to seek legal relief based on the conditions under which the consent was inappropriately obtained. The relief is granted by court grounds that it was under duress, undue influence, or was unconscionable. Section 14 of Malaysian Contract Act 1950, states that a contract is voidable if entered into through coercion. Consent is presumed not to have been given in the presence of coercion, undue influence, fraud, or misreppresentation. 2. Undue Influence A contract is considered a product of undue influence in a scenario where one of the parties holds dominant position over the other party, and uses that power to gain prejudiced benefit over the other (Cheong, 2010). A person is considered to be in a position to dominate the other if holding ostensible authority economically, physically, and socially over the other, or when there is an existing fiduciary relation between the two parties. In this case, the powerful party uses the advantage to influence the other into a contract. Undue influence also occurs when contract is signed with a person whose mental capacity is incapacitated temporarily or permanently, either by age, illness, or by mental or bodily distress (Cheong, 2010).The effect of such contracts is that they are considered void. Equally, if a party in a dominant position enters into a contract with another because of the influence and the transaction appears biased and unconscionable, the cost of determining whether undue influence took place will be upon the dominant party. 3. Misrepresentation Contract can also be misrepresented when there is a positive assertion into the contract in a way not intended or contained by the information from the person making it. It also occurs when there is unintentional breach of duty, which gives an undue advantage to the party committing it, or any person claiming under him by deceiving another to his prejudice, or to the prejudice of a party claiming under him. Misrepresentation also takes place when a party innocently makes a mistake on an item that is the focus of the agreement. Such contracts are declared voidable if the misrepresentation let to the consent of the party (Cheong, 2010). Recommendation for amendment of Malaysian law Contracts Act 1950 of Malaysia unfortunately has no provision for the online environment. Currently, more online operation has taken root all over the world where many people transact business via the internet, thus need to be recognized by law, though with caution and particular exceptions to determine whether there was undue influence when entering the contract. In the case of software online installation in a personal computer, a person who enters into a contract through the internet and makes a click wrap is considered not under coercion, duress, or force according to the Contract Act 1955 Ss14, 15 and the contract is legally enforceable (Rafiei1 Manap, 2011). However, the Act 1955 should be amended to safeguard commercial contracts via the internet that are presumed to be biased in favor of one party. This is because one can be coerced to crick wrap a deal in case of fraud giving the other party advantage or because of undue influence. Conclusion A contract is a legal agreement that involves two parties, the promisor and the promise, and is enforceable by law. Contracts are made when one party indicates the willingness to engage in or desist from engaging in any activity with a view of getting the approval of the other party (Richards, 2006). In Malaysia, the law of contract is governed by the Contract Act 1950, which stipulates that contracts needs to have an agreement between the parties involved, create responsibilities between the parties and must be legally enforceable. The elements that validate a contract that must be considered by the two parties include; the presence of an offer, acceptance, the intention by the parties to create a legal relationship, presence of lawful consideration, capacity of either party to contract and must have legal purpose. Free consent is an important element of a contract according to Contract Act 1955 section 14 that requires that there be no use of force to compel any party to enter into an agreement. The three factors discussed include coercion, misrepresentation, and undue influence. The paper also gives recommendations on the amendments to be considered regarding contracts that are made via the internet. Buy custom Business Laws essay

Design management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Design management - Essay Example We, as a team, wanted to focus on environment issues through our promotional campaign. At the same time few of the team members wanted to attract young generations through ‘style’. Nokia did not link up with the environment so we dropped that one. It was hard to decide between the remaining two so we thought of coming up with an exciting new concept. A joint venture of adidas and vespa i.e. vespa hybrid scooters equipped with adidas accessories (helmets, gloves, covers of accelerator and brake controls etc.). Adidas had dedicated a small area at the adidas store for the display of new vespa hybrid vehicles. The idea incorporates both the environment friendly qualities of vespa hybrid scooters and the style of adidas in it. In the promotional campaign, we had to highlight the attributes of both the products and somehow link up the two. The next step was to devise a strategy to introduce the product to the customers and grab their attention. The idea was to start off with a few punch lines that can serve as teasers for the people that enter the Oxford Street where the adidas store is located. Businessdictionary.com states (n.d.) that ‘purpose of teasers is to arouse widespread attention, and build excitement and expectations through consumer curiosity. For teaser ads to succeed, they must be widely publicized’. Along with the teasers, two or more printed ads were also to be displayed along the walkways. The printed ads would have stylish images of vespa scooters with drivers wearing adidas accessories highlighted using proper colour schemes. We also decided to put up video ads at a place in the street which was easily visible to all the visitors roaming around in Oxford Street. With these advertisements in place, visitors would be attracted towards the adidas store to have a look at this new product on display. Within the store, the posters will tell the visitors that new hybrid vespa scooters consume 20% less fuel and