Rackham and Bonny became inseparable, and she petitioned the governor for an annulment to get out of her marriage. He soon fell in love with Anne Bonny, the fiery, red-headed wife of ex-pirate James Bonny, who was employed by the governor as an informer against his previous cohorts. However, trouble was never too far away from Calico Jack. The newly-pardoned men intended to stay in Nassau and make an honest living. He already hated Vane - and he was trying to rid the area of pirates, after all. The governor believed them and accepted their plea for amnesty. When pleading their case, the crew told Rogers how Charles Vane had forced them all into a life of crime. Wikimedia Commons Captain Jack Rackham “Taking the Spanish Prize,” from the “Pirates of the Spanish Main” series for Allen and Ginter Cigarettes, circa 1888.> The amnesty deal meant that pirates who turned themselves in could continue living as free men. Once Rackham and his crew arrived in the Bahamas, they chose to take advantage of official pardons offered by the new governor, Woodes Rogers. Calico Jack’s Legendary Relationship With Female Pirate Anne Bonny The men then made their way to Nassau - where they’d make a huge decision. The events that followed are disputed by pirate historians, but according to Crime Museum, the end result was that Captain Calico Jack and his crew managed to avoid being killed by the bounty hunters, though both their ships were taken. The onlookers hired bounty hunters to capture the pirates and get the ship back. However, they failed to realize that they were so close to Port Royal, Jamaica that government officials and angry merchants saw it happen. The new captain and his crew skillfully took the Kingston. The Kingston had plenty of prized cargo and was too tempting of a target for Rackham to ignore. That’s when Calico Jack happened upon a Jamaican merchant ship he wanted to plunder. They branded him a coward and decided to make Calico Jack Rackham the new captain of the Ranger.Įverything was great - for about a month. Out of the 91 men on the ship, all but 15 of them voted to remove Vane from command. They wanted to attempt to take over the valuable frigate. So when Vane wanted to tuck tail and run from an armed French warship, the majority of his crew was angry. However, the captain of the Ranger, Charles Vane, was quite unpopular. According to the World History Encyclopedia, his title was that of quartermaster, second in charge and the one responsible for disciplining other crew members. His name first appears in the annals of history as a crew member of a pirate ship called the Ranger in 1718. Not much is known about the early life of Calico Jack Rackham. Calico Jack’s Quick Rise Through The Pirate Ranks And they fought alongside him until the day he was finally captured, bringing an end to his reign of terror. There weren’t too many female pirates throughout history, but Calico Jack had two of them on his crew at the same time. However, Rackham’s biggest claim to fame was perhaps the company he kept. This allowed him to quickly rise through the ranks and become a force to be reckoned with in the Caribbean. The flashy captain may not have had the sharpest sword skills on the seven seas, but he did have a bold disposition and a cunning nature. Rather than the silk and velvet attire that many successful pirate captains wore, Rackham preferred calico cotton from India - hence his nickname. Rackham was known for his flamboyant, brightly-colored clothing. Wikimedia Commons John “Calico Jack” Rackham, 18th-century pirate of the Caribbean.
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