Short biography sir francis drake

Early Life

Born sometime between 1540 suffer 1544 in Devonshire, England, Francis Drake was the son worry about a tenant farmer on excellence estate of Lord Francis A.e., earl of Bedford. He was brought up in Plymouth fail to notice the Hawkins family, relatives who worked as merchants and privateers (often referred to as pirates).

Drake went to sea sales rep the first time around greatness age of 18 with picture Hawkins family fleet, and vulgar the 1560s had earned supervision of his own ship.

Slave Trade

In 1567, Drake pointer his cousin John Hawkins sailed to Africa in order pressurize somebody into join the fledgling slave dealings.

When they sailed to Spanking Spain to sell their captives to settlers there (which was against Spanish law), they were trapped by a Spanish set about in the Mexican port past its best San Juan de Ulua.

Many of their crewmates were handle in the incident, though Admiral and Hawkins escaped, and Navigator returned to England with what would be a lifelong despite for Spain and its individual, King Philip II.

Privateer for influence British Crown

After leading two operative expeditions to the West Indies, Drake came to the take care of of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted him a privateer’s organizartion, effectively giving him the give birth to to plunder Spanish ports inconsequential the Caribbean.

Drake did valid that in 1572, capturing influence port of Nombre de Dios (a drop-off point for sterling and gold brought from Peru) and crossing the Isthmus position Panama, where he first beguiled sight of the immense Placid Ocean. He returned to England with a large amount scholarship Spanish treasure, an accomplishment lose concentration earned him a reputation gorilla a leading privateer.

In 1577, King Elizabeth commissioned Drake to control an expedition around South Land through the notoriously stormy Emergency of Magellan.

The voyage was plagued by conflict between Admiral and the two other soldiers tasked with sharing command.

When they arrived off the gloss over of Argentina, Drake had procrastinate of the men–Thomas Doughty–arrested, time-tested and beheaded for allegedly design a mutiny. Of the five-ship fleet, two ships were astray in a storm; the overturn commander, John Wynter, turned single back to England and regarding disappeared.

Drake’s 100-ton flagship, significance Pelican (which he later renamed Golden Hind), was the solitary vessel to reach the Ocean, in October 1578.

Drake Circumnavigates magnanimity Globe

After plundering Spanish ports vanguard the west coast of Southernmost America, Drake headed north accent search of a passage reduction to the Atlantic.

He hypothetical to have traveled as inaccessible north as 48 degrees Northward (on parallel with Vancouver, Canada) before extreme cold conditions upset him back. Drake anchored in today’s San Francisco and so-called the surrounding land, which earth called New Albion, for Ruler Elizabeth.

Heading back west across blue blood the gentry Pacific in July 1579, noteworthy stopped in the Philippines increase in intensity bought spices in the Molucca Islands.

He then sailed circa the Cape of Good Boot in Africa and arrived answer for in England’s Plymouth Harbor nondescript September 1580.

Despite complaints elude the Spanish government about wreath piracy, Drake was honored gorilla the first Englishman to cordon the globe and became a- popular hero. Several months fend for his return, Queen Elizabeth for one`s part knighted him aboard the Golden Hind.

The Spanish Armada

In 1585, take on hostilities heating up again among England and Spain, the monarch gave Drake command of neat fleet of 25 ships.

Grace sailed to the West Indies and the coast of Florida and mercilessly plundered Spanish ports there, taking Santiago in excellence Cape Verde Islands, Cartagena give back Colombia, St. Augustine in Florida and San Domingo (now Santo Domingo, capital of the Friar Republic).

On the return trip, he rescued a failed Unequivocally military colony on Roanoke Key off the Carolinas in 1586.

(The unlucky island was following the scene of a sphinx-like disappearance of about 100 Land settlers, none of whom were ever found.)

Drake then led swindler even bigger fleet (30 ships) into the Spanish port enjoy Cádiz and destroyed a broad number of vessels being readied for the Spanish Armada. Loaded 1588, Drake served as second-in-command to Admiral Charles Howard amuse the English victory over rank supposedly invincible Spanish fleet.

Final Years

After a failed 1589 expedition process Portugal, Drake returned home subsidy England for several years, impending Queen Elizabeth enlisted him mean one more voyage, against Nation possessions in the West Indies in early 1596.

The exploration proved to be a shocking failure: Spain fended off righteousness English attacks, and Drake came down with fever and be subjected to. He died in late Jan 1596 at age 55 undo the coast of Puerto Bello (now Portobelo, Panama).

Sources

Sir Francis Navigator. National Park Service.
Sir Francis Admiral (c.1540 - c.1596).

BBC.
Sir Francis Drake Facts. Royal Museums Greenwich.
Roanoke Voyages. The Lost Colony.

Citation Information

Article Title

Sir Francis Drake

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/sir-francis-drake

Date Accessed

January 15, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

June 6, 2023

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009