Rackham is an English pirate who traded in the Caribbean, as well as off the southeastern coast of the United States during the so-called Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1725). The full name of John, the exact date of his birth is unknown, tentatively 1680. He was not one of the most successful pirates. As a rule, fishermen and small traders became his victims. John Rackham went down in history mainly thanks to two women. These are the pirates Annie Bonnie and Mary Reid, who served with him. Another legacy of John is the pirate flag of his team. Our hero ended his life in Port Royal on November 27, 1720, sentenced to death by a royal court.
Jack Rackham - Calico Jack
The pirate got his nickname "Calico Jack" for his love of clothing from brightly colored Indian chintz (calico), which he was smuggling. Little is known about the life of Rackham before he chose the path of the sea robber. He was from a family of a ruined and drunken tailor, went to the fleet at an early age for a piece of bread. Further information about him appears from 1717. Jack Rackham was already the foreman of the helmsmen on the Treasure ship of the famous pirate captain Charles Wayne. Together with the rest of the team, he preferred to abandon privateering, offered as a pardon to all pirates by the Governor of the Bahamas, Woods Rogers. Therefore, for some time, the team led by Charlie Wayne continued to rob in the waters of the West Indies, despite the stubborn persecution by the authorities.
Wreckham gets his first team
In November 1718, off the coast of New Jersey, the pirate ship Treasure came into view of a high-speed French warship. Captain Wayne decided to abandon the battle and flee, despite protests from most pirates craving battle. Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction of the team, Jack Rackham raised a riot and initiated a vote according to the order of the pirate code. By a majority of votes, he was elected the new captain. Wayne with fifteen loyal pirates was landed in a boat.
Kingstone Capture
Soon, the newly minted captain Rackham smiled luck. Off the coast of Port Royal, the Treasure crew managed to capture the Kingstone merchant ship with a heavy load. Kush from the sale promised to be very large, but outraged by such a daring pirate outing, local merchants equipped hunter for thugs. In February 1719, they overtook Treasure and Kingston off the coast of Cuba at Ispa de Los Pintos, when the ships were anchored and the crew was ashore. And although Jack Rackham and his team members escaped capture, hiding in the forest, they lost their ship and a rich trophy.
Sloop capture
The pirates who lost the ship had to be content with a small sloop, the conversion of which they were engaged on the shores of Ispa de los Pintos in a rare free time from drinking. Once, just when almost the whole team was damn drunk, a Spanish ship patrolling along the coast of Cuba approached the harbor with a small captured English sloop. The Spaniards saw a pirate sloop, but could not come closer at low tide, so they decided to wait in the morning. Sensing danger, Jack Rackham and soberly sober pirates made their way to the English sloop, killed the Spanish guards and ran silently on it. When it dawned, the Spaniards could only shoot from cannons at Rackham’s empty sloop.
Pardon
Rackham and his men made their way back to New Providence, where they got caught and appeared before Governor Rogers. They asked for the opportunity to accept a royal pardon, claiming that they had become pirates under the coercion of Wayne. The governor, who hated captain Bruce, believed the rogues and pardoned them on the condition that they would never return to their former fishery. Another version says that Jack and the team were captured by the military during one of the raids, and the pirates were so drunk that they were simply loaded onto the ship. In any case, they did not take the chance of an honest life.
Jack Rackham and Anne Bonnie
Being temporarily out of work, Rackham wondered what to do next. At this time, he met Anne Bonnie. She was the wife of petty pirate John Bonnie, who sided with the authorities and now eked out a miserable existence, informing the governor of his former comrades. Anne and Jack were carried away by each other and even petitioned the governor to annul Ann's marriage. Having been refused, Jack decided to assemble a team again, capture a suitable vessel and, taking his beloved woman, engage in piracy. But it turned out that Ann was pregnant, so the plans had to be postponed for a while. She went to Cuba to have their baby, but soon returned. Somewhere in the same period, a woman met Mary Reid, who also hunted piracy at the time. Dressed in a man’s dress, Mary was initially mistaken for a young pirate, whom, out of female sympathy, she recommended Rackham to the team.
And again, piracy
Having stolen a suitable ship, the new crew under the command of Rackham attacked fishermen and poorly armed merchants for about three months. They hunted mainly in the waters of Jamaica. This pirate squad quickly earned a reputation as ruthless robbers, especially two women dressed in men's dresses. According to eyewitness accounts, they fought, drank rum and profaned along with their companions men. Both ladies were cohabitants of Wreckham and had a great influence on him. Therefore, when he decided to create a Jack Rackham flag for his ship in the form of a skull on a black background with crossbones, Mary and Ann laughed at it. They said that Jack represents the skull, and they are two crossbones. Enraged, Rackham ordered the bones to be replaced with sabers in the drawing. As such, the flag turned out to be more belligerent and has survived to this day as a symbol of piracy. Soon, the authorities burst with patience from the atrocities of impudent thugs, and a hunt was declared for Rackham with the team.
Death of a pirate and his legacy
There is evidence that when the military took a pirate ship, many men were hiding, and women fought fiercely. Therefore, when all pirates were sentenced to death on November 27, 1720 in Port Royal, and before they died, Rackham was allowed to say goodbye to Ann Boni, she refused, calling him a coward. On November 28, the men were hanged, and the women were given a reprieve, since they were pregnant. After giving birth, the women never got to the gallows, Mary Reid died in prison from a fever, and Ann managed to escape with two children. Nothing is known about her future fate.
Speaking of the legacy, of course, we must once again note the design of the pirate flag, which was invented by Jack Rackham. Jack Sparrow, the hero of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, had the same on his ship. In fact, Sparrow is a prefabricated image, but his addiction to bright clothes and the eternal hope for luck seem to be taken from Wreckham.