Who is Jack Rackam ? Apart from the fact that he was born on Decemin Bristol, England, we know little about the early life of Jack Rackham. JACK RACKHAM’S RISE FROM BOATSWAIN TO PIRATE CAPTAIN Rackham’s beginnings with Charles Vane The authority of pirates in the Bahamas became undeniable, and names such as Edward Teach (alias “Blackbeard”), Stede Bonnet, Samuel Bellamy and one of the heroes of our history, Charles Vane, began to distinguish themselves. Thus began the “Golden Age of Piracy”, a period of wealth for them that lasted from 1715 to 1725. Some of them went to the sparsely populated islands of the Bahamas, settling in New Providence, the largest island in the archipelago. Faced with the prospect of losing their livelihood, many privateers turned to piracy. This position persisted until 1712, when England ceased its war with Spain.
However, the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701 revived the phenomenon, especially on the British side, as English privateers felt safe in the absence of Spanish and French warships able to face them, most of them being engaged in European warfare. However, around 1680, European governments stopped granting letters of marque to privateers, and this way of life gradually disappeared. Not only did these privateers attack ships, but they also assaulted and pillaged cities (Cartagena, Panama, Guatemala…). The majority of them were based in Tortuga, a small island near Hispaniola. These governments issue certain individuals a document called a “Letter of Marque“, which allows them to engage in piracy against enemy ships. In this context, and given the obvious desire of European countries to disrupt the commercial domination of Spain in America, the figure of the privateer appeared in 1650.Ī privateer is simply a pirate working for a government who attacks ships of other countries with which that country is at odds, officially or unofficially. For example, France controlled the western part of Hispaniola (what is now Haiti), the United Kingdom controlled Jamaica and the Bahamas, and an arc of islands stretching from Puerto Rico to the Venezuelan coast had French, English, Dutch and even Danish possessions. Some areas, however, belonged to other European nations. The mainland (Venezuela, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico and Panama) as well as the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and the eastern part of Hispaniola, were all under its control (what is now called the Dominican Republic). In the second half of the 17th century, the Caribbean was almost completely under Spanish rule, at least in appearance.
GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY The era of the Corsairs
#CALICO JACK MOVIE#
Let’s discover together the exciting story of this movie pirate. Few people know, however, that this elegant adventurer (in his own way) was the model for one of the most famous fictional pirates: Jack Sparrow from the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie series. But this buccaneer is remembered not only for his clothes, but also for a characteristic considered very ominous at the time: the presence of women in the crew.Īuthor of the pirate flag called Jolly Roger, the most famous of them all, his fame is overshadowed by other contemporary buccaneers who are much more famous, among whom Blackbeard or Samuel Bellamy deserve to be mentioned.
Rackham, on the other hand, was undoubtedly the most elegant pirate in the history of piracy. He was not exactly the most famous pirate, nor the most feared, nor even the most successful. Jack Rackham, whose real name was John, was known as “ Calico Jack” because of his shiny, sumptuous calico clothes.
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