11. A Pirate Who Became Famous Because of Who He Knew, Not What He Did
John Rackham, better known as Calico Jack (1682 – 1720), is one of the best-known pirates of the Golden Age of Piracy. That is not because he was particularly successful – compared to other famous pirates, his career was middling and his accomplishments mediocre. Instead, his fame rests upon his association with more successful pirates; his venality and backstabbing which stood out even in a profession built on venality and backstabbing; and because his first mate designed the Jolly Roger flag. Most importantly, he became known because his crew included two famous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, and because of Anne Bonny’s final words to him.
Rackham was nicknamed Calico Jack because of the colorful calico clothes he favored. He was the quartermaster aboard the pirate sloop Ranger in 1718, when she encountered a French man of war twice her size, and the pirate captain, choosing discretion over valor, fled. Rackham and the crew decried what they viewed as cowardice, and soon thereafter they voted the captain out of the command. In his place, the pirates elected Calico Jack. As captain, he specialized in plundering small vessels engaged in coastal trade but fell upon larger ships when the opportunity presented itself.