Calico Jack Rackham

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John Rackham
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Died	Jamaica
Family	Anne Bonny (lover/wife)
Title(s)	Captain
Also known as	Calico Jack
Statistics
Ship(s) captained or crewed	Calico Jack Rackham's ship
Affiliation	Rackham's crew

John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack Rackham, was a pirate operating in the Golden Age of Piracy during the early 1700s. He was considered one of the most luminary pirates in history, including Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and Edward England, who have used colorful aliases. Calico Jack was most remembered for having two female pirate crew members: Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who were considered the fiercest members of his crew.

Unlike his contemporary Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham seemed to go out of his way to refrain from the typical barbarism of a pirate. His most noteworthy exploit involves returning a ship, intact and unharmed, to the unfortunate captain he had just robbed blind. In fact, this uncharacteristic restraint is Rackham's claim to fame; otherwise, he was a mostly small-time pirate who commanded a single, small sloop rather than an armada full of buccaneers.

As chance would have, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two women both masquerading as men, met aboard Rackham's ship. Anne married a sailor called Jack Bonny, who took her out to Nassau, where she fell in love with a much more dashing Calico Jack. When Mary joined a merchant ship that was captured by Calico Jack, who already had on that ship Anne as his lover. Anne, who was married to Calico Jack, fell in love with Mary but found out she also was a woman disguised as a man. With the two women, Calico Jack sailed off the coast of Jamaica, where he was intercepted by Captain Jonathan Barnet who had been sent out to capture pirates. Calico Jack's entire crew were all captured, sent to the capital of Jamaica, where a trial took place, and all the men were hanged, but the women got off because they both managed to get pregnant.

Biography

Early life and career

Little is known of John Rackham's early life other than he eventually took the name "Calico Jack" and became one of the most notorious pirates of the Caribbean that sailed the West Indies. Calico Jack was one of the most luminary pirates in history, including Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and Edward England, who have used colorful aliases. Rackham earned the nickname Calico Jack after the colorful calico cotton attire he wore.

Unlike his contemporary Blackbeard, Calico Jack Rackham seemed to go out of his way to refrain from the typical barbarism of a pirate. His most noteworthy exploit involves returning a ship, intact and unharmed, to the unfortunate captain he had just robbed blind. In fact, this uncharacteristic restraint is Rackham's claim to fame; otherwise, he was a mostly small-time pirate who commanded a single, small sloop rather than an armada full of buccaneers.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Calico Jack Rackham with women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

Despite the superstition—that women bring bad luck on ships—that many sailors of his time shared, the most celebrated members of his crew were female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. As chance would have, the two women, both masquerading as men, met aboard Rackham's ship. Anne Bonny married a sailor called Jack Bonny, who was a rather useless sailor but took her out to Nassau, where she fell in love with a much more dashing Calico Jack. Rackham gave his lover Anne Bonny, destined to become one of the greatest woman pirates of all time, her first taste of the sea. Mary Read joined a merchant ship, went out to the West Indies in the Caribbean, where the merchant ship was captured by Calico Jack. Anne, who was married to Calico Jack, fell in love with Mary but found out she also was a woman disguised as a man. A devoted friendship bloomed between the two women, who eventually achieved notoriety in a daring, two-woman, pistol-and-cutlass defense of the ship against English privateers. So there was Calico Jack with the two women onboard who were by far the fiercest members of his crew.

Death

Later in his pirate career, Calico Jack Rackham was sailing off the coast of Jamaica, where he was intercepted by Captain Jonathan Barnet, a privateer and pirate hunter who had been sent out to capture pirates. Calico Jack and his crew were all captured, sent to the capital of Jamaica, where a trial took place as his entire crew was tired for piracy. All the men are hanged, but the women get off because they both manage to get pregnant, and they couldn't hang a woman with an unborn child because the child was innocent.

Legacy

The Jolly Roger commonly associated with Rackham was used by Hector Barbossa.

At some point after his death, the flag commonly associated with Calico Jack Rackham, depicting a skull above crossed swords on a black background, became the primary Jolly Roger of Hector Barbossa. There were also reports of a rivalry between Calico Jack and that other great pirate of the same first name, Jack Sparrow, which were entirely unfounded—although it was easy to imagine a little friction between the two. There was also one islet named "Rackhams Kay" off the coast of Port Royal, as depicted by 12-year-old Henry Turner.

Personality and traits

Calico Jack was considered one of some of the most luminary pirates in history, including Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and Edward England, who all have used colorful aliases. Unlike his contemporary Blackbeard, Calico Jack seemed to go out of his way to refrain from the typical barbarism of a pirate. His most noteworthy exploit involves returning a ship, intact and unharmed, to the unfortunate captain he had just robbed blind. In fact, this uncharacteristic restraint is Rackham's claim to fame; otherwise, he was a mostly small-time pirate who commanded a single, small sloop rather than an armada full of buccaneers. But that restraint is noteworthy. It showd that not every pirate has to be brutal for the sake of brutality—and that, as with most groups of people, pirates were often unfairly represented by their most dramatic, colorful, and controversial constituents. Reports of a rivalry between Calico Jack and that other great pirate of the same first name, Jack Sparrow, were entirely unfounded—although it was easy to imagine a little friction between the two.

Rackham also didn't share the superstition—that women bring bad luck on ships—that many sailors of his time shared, because the most famous members of his crew were female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. Rackham had another saving grace as well: He gave his lover Anne Bonny, destined to become one of the greatest woman pirates of all time, her first taste of the sea. As chance would have, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two women both masquerading as men, met aboard Calico Jack Rackham's ship. Anne, who was married to Calico Jack, fell in love with Mary but found out she also was a woman. When Calico Jack was captured, his entire crew was tried for piracy.

Behind the scenes

Marc Davis's concept art which featured Anne Bonny and Mary Read.

"Over there I see Gentleman Jocard, the slave who took over his ship and took on his Captain's name. And Ann Bonny, and the infamous Captain Rackham."

―Barbossa

Marc Davis, one of the Imagineers who worked on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, originally tinkered with the idea of the characters being historical pirates. Although he eventually discarded the idea, several survived by having Davis's sketches re-created in fresco form in the interior of the attraction's entry hall in Disneyland. One of the sketches being concept art featuring Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and presumably Calico Jack Rackham, dividing the stolen treasure, which was first published in the souvenir book. By 2018, "Calico Jack" is the name of one of the bateaux in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.

The pirate flag usually attributed to Calico Jack could also be seen being used throughout Pirates of the Caribbean media, notably used by Captain Hector Barbossa aboard the Black Pearl in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Calico Jack was mentioned in the short documentary "Women Pirates" of the "Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates" bonus feature originally included in home video release for The Curse of the Black Pearl DVD/Blu-Ray edition.

There was a misconception that Calico Jack Rackham was associated with the hanging skeletons next to the "Pirates Ye Be Warned" sign in Port Royal featured in The Curse of the Black Pearl, dating back to at least December 2007, specifically through edits on Wikipedia. It was later believed that Calico Jack himself appeared as one of the skeletons, with the source being the film's audio commentary. However, Calico Jack Rackham was not mentioned at any point in the commentary, by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, or any of the other screenwriters. When asked about it, Rossio said he did not recall identifying any of the hanging pirates, and supposed that if he did, he was just speculating. He added that he never thought of Calico Jack as one of the hanging pirates, as the name was often considered for other characters in the subsequent films.

In Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's first screenplay draft of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Captain Barbossa saw Ann Bonny and the infamous Captain Rackham among the pirate captains and Pirate Lords present at the Brethren Court. According to Rossio, there was a point where they toyed with Jack Rackham as one of the Pirate Lords, but he was replaced by Capitaine Chevalle, the penniless Frenchman. Despite this, Calico Jack Rackham was still rumored to be in the film by May 1, 2007, shortly before the film's theatrical release on May 24.

Calico Jack Rackham was mentioned in Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which was used as the basis for the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. In the book, Jack Shandy recognized Ann Bonny and remembered that she had started up a romance with another pardoned pirate, Calico Jack Rackam, very shortly after Shandy had sailed for Haiti, and that the two of them had tried, unsuccessfully, to get Ann a divorce-by-sale. By April 10, 2009, there was a supposed casting call for the then-untitled Pirates of the Caribbean 4, with Christopher Walken as Calico Jack Rackham, though it was deemed "scam-like" by Terry Rossio, who said there were no plans that he knew of for the character.

Sources

• Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Story of the Robust Adventure in Disneyland and Walt Disney World (First identified as Calico Jack Rackham)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl: "Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates"
• Bring Me That Horizon: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean
• The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook
• Disney Pirates: The Definitive Collector's Anthology

External links

• Calico Jack on Wikipedia