Sir Francis Drake Research Paper

Sir Francis Drake, one of the most accomplished English sailors every, deserves to be in the hall of fame. This was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. He also played a big role in the destruction of the Spanish armada. These acts, plus a lot of pillaging, made Sir Francis Drake the richest, and most feared man in England. Sometime in 1540 a child was brought into this world. His parents, Edmond and Mary Drake, had no idea what a great man this child would become. Francis started working for a sea captain at the mere age of 13. A couple years after Francis started working for the captain, he died and left all of his ships to Francis. Francis decided to sell the ships and go meet his cousins who were pirates. When Francis did this he had no idea how much his life would change.

The traders did not want any slaves so they refused and told the Spanish military. Francis and his cousin, John Hawkins, were trapped by a larger fleet of Spanish ships. Fortunately, they both fought through the enemy and escaped. The downside of the encounter is that a large portion of the slavers were killed. This battle had great significance to Francis’s life because it brought up an unseen rage within him. This battle made Francis hate the Spanish so much that he went to Queen Elizabeth and got a privateer’s commission to attack Spanish settlements and vessels. With his privateer’s commission Francis roamed the east coast of south America looting every settlement he found. Occasionally he would travel back to Europe and destroy Spanish settlements in Spain, such as the settlement of Nombre de Dios (Name of god). During this raid Francis was seriously hurt and brought back to his ship to heal. Nombre de Dios was captured but because of Francis’s injury him and his men withdrew from the