REVOLT

9 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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REVOLTAuthored
The Law Mind • 1128 words
Definition
In maritime law, revolt is the endeavor by one or more members of a vessel's crew to overthrow the legitimate authority of the ship's commander, with the intent to remove him from command, or to take possession of the vessel against his will — whether by assuming control of its government and navigation, or by transferring obedience from the lawful commander to another person. Revolt is a specific offense of maritime jurisdiction. It is distinct from mere insubordination or refusal of duty: the defining element is the directed effort to seize or subvert command authority over the vessel itself, not simply resistance to an individual order. A single crew member can commit revolt; the act does not require collective action. ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): To rebel against authority; to repel greatly; to cause disgust or shock; to abandon or reject something with abhorrence. Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To turn away with abhorrence; to be faithless; to desert one party or leader for another. The common word "revolt" spans both political rebellion and visceral disgust — you can revolt against a government or be revolted by a smell. The legal term is narrower than either sense: it applies specifically and almost exclusively to the maritime context of shipboard command, carrying precise elements that distinguish it from the lay meaning of rebellion generally. A researcher who encounters "revolt" in a legal source and reads it through the ordinary political or emotional sense will miss the term's technical boundaries entirely. ---
Common Confusion
REVOLT vs. MUTINY: In common usage and in much historical writing, revolt and mutiny are treated as interchangeable. In maritime law, the distinction carries weight, though it has not been applied uniformly across sources. Bouvier notes that revolt and related terms were distinguished by some authorities according to the degree of force or the specific object of the act. Black's definitions for both terms overlap substantially, and researchers should expect historical sources — including judicial opinions — to use the terms loosely. Where precision matters, examine the specific conduct alleged rather than relying on the label used. REVOLT vs. INSUBORDINATION: Refusing orders, desertion, or individual disobedience does not rise to revolt. The seizure or attempted seizure of command authority is the operative act. Courts and treatise writers have consistently held that the threshold is higher than ordinary shipboard misconduct. ---
Core Elements
Based on the Black's and Bouvier's formulations, revolt requires: 1. Actor: One or more members of the vessel's crew (not passengers or strangers to the crew). 2. Object: The legitimate authority of the commander over the vessel. 3. Act: An endeavor — an active attempt, not merely a plan or expression of intent — to overthrow that authority. 4. Intent: Specific intent either (a) to remove the commander from command, or (b) to take possession of the vessel against the commander's will. 5. Means: Either by assuming the government and navigation of the vessel, or by transferring obedience to another person. The "endeavor" language is significant: revolt is defined by the attempt, not its success. A failed effort to seize command is still revolt. ---
Why It Matters in Research
Revolt is a term of narrow technical application. Researchers encountering it in general legal sources should recognize immediately that it belongs almost entirely to maritime law and, historically, to admiralty jurisdiction. Its appearance in non-maritime contexts typically signals either loose usage or political/rhetorical language rather than a legal term of art. The primary research trap is the overlap with mutiny. Nineteenth-century federal statutes and admiralty opinions used both terms, sometimes interchangeably, sometimes with attempted distinctions. A researcher tracing the elements of a shipboard offense must check the specific statutory language in force at the time — the definitions did not remain static, and congressional revisions to the maritime criminal code affected which term carried which penalties. Bouvier's entry references Wolff's treatment, signaling that the civil law tradition had its own vocabulary for shipboard revolt that may appear in sources drawing on Continental maritime law. This matters when researching early American admiralty decisions, which sometimes cited civil law authorities alongside English common law sources. The Anderson's entry in the source material is a misattribution — the text is clearly about statutory construction and revision, unrelated to revolt. Researchers relying on Anderson's for this term will find nothing useful; the entry appears to be a cataloging error or OCR artifact. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (1st and 2nd editions) and Bouvier agree on the core definition, tracking language derived from the Supreme Court's formulation in United States v. Kelly, 11 Wheat. 417 (1826). That origin is significant: the definition in the major dictionaries is essentially a judicial formulation adopted wholesale, not an independent lexicographic construction. Researchers should consult the Kelly decision directly when the elements of revolt are at issue, as the dictionaries transmit rather than interpret it. Bouvier adds the comparative note referencing Wolff's treatment of revolt alongside related maritime offenses, suggesting the civil law background that shaped early American admiralty doctrine. This comparative thread is absent from Black's, which is the more common research starting point. Neither dictionary addresses the procedural or evidentiary dimensions of a revolt prosecution — venue, the role of the admiralty court, or what corroboration was required. For those questions, the dictionaries are silent and treatise sources on admiralty practice are the appropriate next step. Anderson's, as noted above, provides no usable content on this term. ---
Jurisdictional Note
Revolt as a criminal offense in the United States falls within federal admiralty and maritime jurisdiction. State courts have no concurrent criminal jurisdiction over offenses committed on the high seas. Relevant federal statutory authority is found in Title 18 of the U.S. Code under maritime and territorial offenses, though the specific statutory formulations have been revised since the nineteenth century definitions were fixed. ---
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Maritime Law (for admiralty jurisdiction and shipboard offenses generally) See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Mutiny and Shipboard Authority (for the relationship between revolt, mutiny, and related maritime criminal categories) ---
Related Terms
Mutiny — the most closely related and frequently conflated term; see Common Confusion above Piracy — maritime criminal offense distinguished by the absence of legitimate authority over the vessel; compare the political nature of revolt against a lawful commander Insubordination — lesser shipboard offense; does not involve seizure of command authority Admiralty jurisdiction — the procedural frame within which revolt prosecutions arise Barratry — fraudulent or criminal conduct by a ship's master or crew against the vessel's owners; overlaps in some factual contexts
REVOLTmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
The endeavor of the crew of a vessel, or any one or more of them, to over- throw the legitimate authority of her com- mander, with intent to remove him from his command, or against his will to take posses- sion of the vessel by assuming the govern- ment and navigation of her, or by transfer- ring their obedience from the lawful com- mander to some other person. 11 Wheat. 417.
REVOLTmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
The endeavor of the crew of a vessel, or any one or more of them, tu overthrow the legitimate authority of her
REVOLTmain
Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890
Sections in pari materia are to be construed to supply a defect in the original bill, arising from a subgether.1 Section 5596 of the revision indicates a belief on the part of Congress that all parts of acts passed prior to December 1, 1873, not contained in the revision, are superseded. That is a recital of belief, not a declaration, and not conclusive. Whether a statute was repealed by a later one is a judicial, not a legislative, question.2 The revision is the legislative declaration of the statute law on the subjects embraced on December 1, 1873. When the meaning is plain, the courts cannot look to the statutes which have been revised to see if Congress erred in that revision, but may do so when necessary to construe doubtful language used in expressing the meaning." The revision as a whole is an act of Congress, approved June 22, 1874. In cases of uncertainty, the previous statutes may be referred to, to elucidate the legislative intent. But where the language is clear, the revision, as expressing the latest will, must govern. While, in construing the revision, the presumption is against an intention to change the law, yet, where the language cannot possibly bear the same construction as in the repealed act, full effect must be given to the new enactment. See REPEAL; STATUTES, At Large. Under the Crimes Act of April 30, 1790, consists in the endeavor of the crew of a vessel, or any one or more of them, to overthrow the legitimate authority of her commander, with intent to remove him from his command, or against his command to take possession of the vessel by assuming the government and navigation of her, or by transferring obedience from the lawful commander to some other person.5 An endeavor to excite the crew of a ship to overthrow the lawful authority and command of the master and officers of the ship. In effect, an endeavor to make a mutiny among the crew or to stir up a general disobedience or resistance to the authority of the officers. 6 1 Story. Eq. Pl. §§ 354-87. See 2 Paige, 369; 5 Johns. 342; 1 Root, 578. 2 Langdon v. Astor's Executors, 16 N. Y. 40, 39 (1857), Denio, C. J. 3 [Lathrop v. Dunlop, 4 Hun, 215 (1875). Beauchamp's Will, 4 T. B. Mon. *363 (1827), Bibb, C. J. See also Gay v. Gay, 60 Iowa, 420 (1882), cases; Towne v. Weston, 133 Mass. 515 (1882); 35 Am. Rep. 35-37, cases. • United States v. Kelly, 11 Wheat. 418 (1826), Wash- 'Kennedy v. Georgia State Bank, 8 How. 610 (1850). ington, J. McLean, J. • United States v. Smith, 1 Mas. 147 (1816), Story, J.
REVOLTv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
To turn away; to abandon or reject something; specifically, to turn away, or shrink, with abhorrence. But this got by casting pearl to hogs, That bawl for freedom in their senseless mood, And still revolt when trith would set them free. Milton. HIs clear intelligence revolted from the dominant sophisms of that time. J. Morley. Hence, to be faithless; to desert one party or leader for another; especially, to renounce allegiance or subjection; to rise against a government; to rebel. Our discontented counties do revolt. Shak. Plant those that have revolted in the van. Shak. To be disgusted, shocked, or grossly offended; hence, to feel nausea; -- with at; as, the stomach revolts at such food; his nature revolts at cruelty.
REVOLTv.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
To cause to turn back; to roll or drive back; to put to flight. [Obs.] Spenser. To do violence to; to cause to turn away or shrink with abhorrence; to shock; as, to revolt the feelings. This abominable medley is made rather to revolt young and ingenuous minds. Burke. To derive delight from what inflicts pain on any sentient creatuure revolted his conscience and offended his reason. J. Morley.
REVOLTn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
The act of revolting; an uprising against legitimate authority; especially, a renunciation of allegiance and subjection to a government; rebellion; as, the revolt of a province of the Roman empire. Who first seduced them to that foul revolt Milton. A revolter. [Obs.] "Ingrate revolts." Shak.
revoltverb
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
To rebel, particularly against authority. | To repel greatly. | To be disgusted, shocked, or grossly offended; hence, to feel nausea; used with at. | To cause to turn back; to roll or drive back; to put to flight. | To turn away; to abandon or reject something; specifically, to turn away, or shrink, with abhorrence. | to perform a revolution in Tycoon, reversing the card hierarchy
revoltnoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
An act of revolting.

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