Jack Rackham - pirate, thanks to which "Jolly Roger" got a gun

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). Full name John, the exact date of his birth is unknown, approximately 1680 year. He was not one of the most successful pirates. As a rule, its victims were fishermen and small traders. In the story, John Rackham came in mainly thanks to two women. They are pirates Annie Bonnie and Mary Reed, 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 by the royal court to a hanging.

Jack Rackham - Calico Jack

His nickname "Calico Jack" pirate received for his love of clothes from the brightly colored Indian calico (calico), which he smuggled. About the life of Rackham before he chose the path of the sea robber, little is known. He was from a family of a tailor and a spy tailor, he went to the fleet at an early age for a piece of bread. Further information about him appears since 1717. At that time Jack Rackham was already the foreman of the helmsman on the ship "Treasure" of the famous captain of pirates Charles Wayne. Together with the rest of the team, he preferred to abandon the privateering offered as 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 persistent harassment by the authorities.

Rackham gets his first team

In November 1718, near the coast of New Jersey, the pirate ship "Treasure" fell into the sight of a fast-moving French warship. Captain Wayne decided to abandon the fight and flee, despite the protests of most pirates who are hungry for battle. Taking advantage of the discontent 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 a new captain. Wayne with fifteen loyal to him pirates was landed in a boat.

The capture of "Kingston"

Shortly, the newly minted Captain Rackham smiled luck. Not far from the shores of Port Royal, the team "Treasures" managed to capture the merchant ship "Kingstown" with a rich cargo. Kush from the sale promised to be very large, but indignant with such a daring pirate assault, local merchants equipped hunters for thugs. In February 1719, they overtook the Treasure and Kingston off the coast of Cuba in the Spanish Isles of Los Pintos, when the ships were anchored and the crew was on the shore. And though Jack Rackham and his team members escaped capture by hiding in the woods, they lost their ship and the rich trophy.

Grab the Sloop

Deprived of the ship, the pirate mountain had to be satisfied with a small sloop, which they converted on the shore of the Ispart de Los Pintos in a rare free time from drinking time. Once, just when almost the whole team was devilishly drunk, a Spanish ship, patrolling along the coast of Cuba, approached the harbor along 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 the danger, Jack Rackham and in a moment the sobered pirates made their way to the English sloop, killed the Spanish guards and ran noiselessly on it. When it was light, the Spaniards could only fire from the guns 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 royal pardon, claiming to have become pirates under the compulsion of Wayne. The Governor, who hated Captain Bruce, believed the scoundrels and pardoned them on the condition that they never return to the previous 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 a chance for 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 a small pirate John Bonnie, who went over to the authorities and now dragged on a miserable existence, informing the governor about his former comrades. Ann and Jack got carried away by each other and even petitioned the governor to annul the marriage of Anne. Having been refused, Jack decided to again assemble the team, to seize a suitable vessel and, taking his beloved woman, to engage in piracy. But it turned out that Ann is pregnant, so the plans had to be postponed for a while. She went to Cuba to give birth to their child, but soon returned. Somewhere in the same period, the woman met Mary Reed, who also at one time traded in piracy. Dressed in a man's dress, Mary was firstly mistaken for a young pirate, whom she recommended from female sympathy to Rackham as a team.

And again piracy

Having driven off a suitable ship, a new crew under the command of Rackham for about three months attacked fishermen and ill-armed merchants. They hunted mainly in the waters of Jamaica. This pirate team quickly earned the reputation of ruthless robbers, especially two women dressed in men's dresses. According to eyewitnesses, they fought, drank rum and swore men on a par with their companions. Both ladies were Rakhema's roommates and had a great influence on him. So when he decided to create Jack Rackham a flag for his ship in the form of a skull on a black background with crossbones, Mary and Anne laughed at him. They said that Jack personifies the skull, and they are two crossbones. Enraged, Rackham ordered in the picture to replace the bones with sabers. In this form, the flag turned out to be more militant and has come down to our days as a symbol of piracy. Soon the authorities burst with patience from the outrage of insolent thugs, and on Rackham with the team was declared a hunt.

The death of a pirate and his legacy

There is evidence that when the military took a pirate ship, many men hid, and women fought fiercely. Therefore, when November 27, 1720 in Port Royal, all pirates were sentenced to death and before his death, Rackham was allowed to say goodbye to Ann Boni, she refused, calling him a coward. On November 28, men were hanged, and women were given a respite, since they were pregnant. After the birth, the women never got to the gallows, Mary Reed died in a fever prison, and Anne managed to escape with two children. Nothing is known about her fate.

Speaking of heritage, 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 series of films "Pirates of the Caribbean" - had on his ship the same. Generally the Sparrow is a composite image, but his passion for bright clothes and the eternal hope of success seems to have been taken from Rackham.