Sir francis drake biography summary
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1. Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe
... and the second ever to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. Drake’s circumnavigation of the globe was also a secret pirate mission sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth against the Spanish. Drake was a privateer, which meant that he was given permission by the crown to raid enemy ships and cargoes. Elizabeth commissioned Drake to lead an expedition against the Spanish colonies on the Pacific coast of America.
2. Drake was one of the first British slave traders
... undertaking voyages as early as 1560 with his cousin John Hawkins to West Africa to capture men and women. They also attacked Portuguese slave ships in order to steal their human ‘cargo’.
Learn more about the origins of the transatlantic slave trade
3. Drake was hated by the Spanish who nicknamed him ‘El Draque’ or the Dragon
This was due to numerous raids he made against Spanish ships and settlements on his voyages. Some Spanish mariners were so afraid of Drake that they believed he practiced witchcraft. Drake was rumoured to be in league with the devil and to possess a magic mirror that allowed him to see the location of all the ships in the sea.
4. Drake was buried at sea off the coast of Portobelo, Panama
He died fr
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Early Life
Born sometime between 1540 and 1544 in Devonshire, England, Francis Drake was the son of a tenant farmer on the estate of Lord Francis Russell, earl of Bedford. He was brought up in Plymouth by the Hawkins family, relatives who worked as merchants and privateers (often referred to as pirates).
Drake went to sea for the first time around the age of 18 with the Hawkins family fleet, and by the 1560s had earned command of his own ship.
Did you know? When he died off the coast of Panama in 1596, Sir Francis Drake was buried at sea, wearing full armor and encased in a lead-lined coffin. Divers, treasure hunters and Drake enthusiasts continue to search for his final resting place.
History Lists: Explorers Not Named Columbus
Slave Trade
In 1567, Drake and his cousin John Hawkins sailed to Africa in order to join the fledgling slave trade. When they sailed to New Spain to sell their captives to settlers there (which was against Spanish law), they were trapped by a Spanish attack in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulua.
Many of their crewmates were killed in the incident, though Drake and Hawkins escaped, and Drake returned to England with what would be a lifelong hatred for Spain and its ruler, King Philip II.
Privateer for the British Crown
After leading t
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Sir Francis Navigator (c.1540 - c.1596)
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