East India Trading Company Box


Written exclusively for Confessions of a Jackaholic, please do not copy and paste elsewhere.

 

The Making of a Replica of the East India Trading Company Box

 

EICo Box - the cardboard mock-up

EICo Box - the balsa wood construction   under construction

 

Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Tales

The Letters of Marque
Just before Lord Cutler Beckett left for Port Royal, the King provided him with Letters of Marque to recruit Captain Jack Sparrow as a privateer for England and the East India Trading Company.  Beckett kept the Letters of Marque in this box on his desk.

 

 

After the arrest of Elizabeth Swan and William Turner for their part in the escape of Jack Sparrow from his execution at Fort Charles, Lord Cutler Beckett offered a similar document, which amounted to a full pardon, to William Turner in exchange for Jack Sparrow's compass which Beckett wished to obtain with which he hoped to find the Dead Man's Chest containing the heart of Davy Jones.  With the heart he would be able to assume control over Jones and the crew of the Flying Dutchman, and thus the Seven Seas.  He told Turner that he was also prepared to employ Sparrow as a privateer for England, though Turner believed Jack would never agree. He set off to find Jack.

Although Beckett's Letters of Marque were signed by the King George II of Great Britain, they would not be legalized unless they bore Beckett's mark. Elizabeth's father was not prepared to see her hanged for helping Sparrow, and used his connections to free Elizabeth and book passage back to England.

 

Beckett was tipped off that Governor Swann was sending Elizabeth back to London. Realizing that Elizabeth was the only thing holding Will to their bargain, Beckett sent Mercer to kill the captain of the vessel that was to transport Elizabeth to England, and to ambush the governor. Elizabeth and her father were intercepted by Mercer, though Elizabeth managed to evade him. She confronted Lord Beckett in his office forcing him at gunpoint to sign and legitimize the Letters of Marque that would ensure Will's freedom.

The Letters of Marque were ultimately claimed by James Norrington as one half of the trade that secured Beckett possession of the heart of Davy Jones, and earned Norrington a full reinstatement into the Royal Navy.