Francis Drake Was The Name The Spanish Feared Most In The 1600's

Francis Drake was the name the Spanish feared most in the mid-to-late 1500’s. He was a pirate, slave trader, and a murderer. At a time where the English and the Spanish were at war, Drake gave the English a huge advantage by raiding Spanish ships and looting the Spaniards’ treasures at land. His conniving personality made him a major league pirate, his ocean navigating skills allowed him to become the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and he was related to and taught by some of the most talented and dark pirates of the 1500’s. To Queen Elizabeth I and the English, Francis Drake was a patriotic hero. To the Spanish and the hundreds of slaves he was involved in kidnapping and trading, he was a pirate and a cold, heartless human being.

He was Queen Elizabeth’s weapon. She was always willing to give Drake full consent to do as much damage as possible on Spanish ships and citizens. Drake never disappointed. The Queen gave Drake five ships for the expedition and received 50% of the profits. The mission for the expedition was, according to Wikipedia, “to inspect the Spanish military preparations, intercept their supplies, attack the fleet and If possible the Spanish ports” . After Drake and his crew had set sail for Cadiz, the clever Queen sent a letter to Drake instructing him to not raid the Spanish. She never intended for him to get the letter but instead wanted it out there as a backup in case the raid didn’t go as expected . The letter never made it to Drake and he continued on with his actions, as planned by the Queen .Drake and his crew made it to Cadiz and did what they did best: destroy towns. They were met by rebellious citizens of Cadiz, but after two nights and days, they successfully captured four Spanish ships, destroyed two or three, and had a combined tonnage of 100 . Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, referred to the raid as “singeing the king of Spain’s beard”

But he didn’t learn to become a pirate alone, he was taught by his relative John Hawkins, one of the most skilled pirates of the 1500’s. According to the book Sir Francis Drake, Slave Trader and Pirate, Drake moved from Devonshire to Plymouth when he was a teenager . John Hawkins, Drake’s second cousin, was the son of a rich merchant and pirate named William Hawkins . John also traded with other places, as well as raided some for treasure. Francis accompanied John on some of his voyages at as early as twelve years old . John Hawkins was the captain of the voyage that brought African slaves to the new world . Drake himself was one of many crewmembers . It was likely from the observing the Hawkinses that Drake found the determination, skill, and courage that it took to become such a fierce