Pirate Research Paper
Catherine McDonnell
SS 325
Professor McKeown
3-30-16
Francis Drake was born in roughly 1540 as the youngest of twelve sons. His parents, Mary Myllwaye and Edmund Drake, were farmers on Lord Francis Russell’s estate. At eighteen years old Drake served as an apprentice on a merchant ship that traded goods between France and England. Due to his high skill level on the seas, including navigation, his relatives enlisted him. These relatives, the Hawkins, were privateers that seized merchant ships trading off of the French coast. At twenty years old, Drake was given command of his own ship, the Judith. The Judith and a few other ships with Drake in command and his cousin John Hawkins sailed to Guinea to illegally join in on the slave trading action. After illegally selling the slaves to settlers in New Spain, they became trapped in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa. This was an outrage because a pact was negotiated that stated the English were permitted to stock up on supplies and repair their ships if need be without any immediate issues from the Spanish. The new Viceroy of Mexico, Don Martin Enriquez, arrived during the repairing of Drake’s fleet in the port. Don Martin called for the pact to be broken which subsequently led to the battle that sealed Spain’s fate with Francis Drake. The brutal battle left few survivors. Drake, Hawkins, and each of their ships were included in this short list. With two prosperous voyages to the West Indies under his belt, Queen Elizabeth I remarked upon Drake. He then received a privateer’s commission from her, giving him the right to attack Spanish ports in the Caribbean, therefore starting his privateering career. Throughout all of his brave and decisive actions as a privateer, Drake has become the “greatest British seaman of the Elizabethian age.” (Cordingly 26) CRIMES: Along with the illegal slave trading, Francis Drake committed a number of crimes and piratical acts. David Cordingly states in his novel Under the Black Flag, that Drake was unlike any other infamous pirate. “When Drake attacked a Spanish ship or Spanish town, he did so in the name of Queen Elizabeth and flew the English flag of St. George at the masthead of his ships.” (Cordingly 28). Drake was sent to lead a voyage around South America through the Straits of Magellan in 1577. He had issues with the other men in command, which led him to have Thomas Doughty ultimately beheaded on accusations of an intended mutiny when they got to Argentina. Drake’s ship, later renamed the Golden Hind was the only one to make it out of five ships to the Pacific in October 1578 Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. This earned him the status of a knight by Queen Elizabeth I. In 1592 …show more content…
He learned to hate Catholicism as well as English Catholics who forced the Drake’s from their family home into destitution. He learned from his parents to love a Protestant God. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, which largely encouraged the ignorance of its adherence, the Reformation, that swept across Europe gave emphasis on reading the bible for oneself. The Reformation, therefore, paved the way for commoners to rise above the state of their birth and grasp the ability to read and write. Without this ability, Francis could have never earned the respect he found in Elizabeth’s …show more content…
A series primarily devoted to Drake titled Sir Francis Drake, is a “far from accurate” depiction, yet gives a fictional twist on Drake’s adventures. It is a twenty-six episode children’s series featured in black and white starting in the 1960s. Terrance Morgan portrays Drake in this series that depicts the Golden Hind in all of its glory. A movie that portrays Drake’s life is Seven Seas to Calais directed by Rudolph Maté and Primo Zeglio. The plot outlines a Sir Francis Drake heading out on a mission to steal gold from the Spanish. As if this adventure was not enough, when he gets back to England he must protect the Queen from a group that is planning a mutiny against her. Another film portraying Francis Drake is Sir Francis Drake: The Queen’s Pirate. This film shows Drake’s battle in protecting the Queen’s shores with his partner Giovanni Battista
Catherine McDonnell
SS 325
Professor McKeown
3-30-16
Francis Drake was born in roughly 1540 as the youngest of twelve sons. His parents, Mary Myllwaye and Edmund Drake, were farmers on Lord Francis Russell’s estate. At eighteen years old Drake served as an apprentice on a merchant ship that traded goods between France and England. Due to his high skill level on the seas, including navigation, his relatives enlisted him. These relatives, the Hawkins, were privateers that seized merchant ships trading off of the French coast. At twenty years old, Drake was given command of his own ship, the Judith. The Judith and a few other ships with Drake in command and his cousin John Hawkins sailed to Guinea to illegally join in on the slave trading action. After illegally selling the slaves to settlers in New Spain, they became trapped in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa. This was an outrage because a pact was negotiated that stated the English were permitted to stock up on supplies and repair their ships if need be without any immediate issues from the Spanish. The new Viceroy of Mexico, Don Martin Enriquez, arrived during the repairing of Drake’s fleet in the port. Don Martin called for the pact to be broken which subsequently led to the battle that sealed Spain’s fate with Francis Drake. The brutal battle left few survivors. Drake, Hawkins, and each of their ships were included in this short list. With two prosperous voyages to the West Indies under his belt, Queen Elizabeth I remarked upon Drake. He then received a privateer’s commission from her, giving him the right to attack Spanish ports in the Caribbean, therefore starting his privateering career. Throughout all of his brave and decisive actions as a privateer, Drake has become the “greatest British seaman of the Elizabethian age.” (Cordingly 26) CRIMES: Along with the illegal slave trading, Francis Drake committed a number of crimes and piratical acts. David Cordingly states in his novel Under the Black Flag, that Drake was unlike any other infamous pirate. “When Drake attacked a Spanish ship or Spanish town, he did so in the name of Queen Elizabeth and flew the English flag of St. George at the masthead of his ships.” (Cordingly 28). Drake was sent to lead a voyage around South America through the Straits of Magellan in 1577. He had issues with the other men in command, which led him to have Thomas Doughty ultimately beheaded on accusations of an intended mutiny when they got to Argentina. Drake’s ship, later renamed the Golden Hind was the only one to make it out of five ships to the Pacific in October 1578 Drake became the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. This earned him the status of a knight by Queen Elizabeth I. In 1592 …show more content…
He learned to hate Catholicism as well as English Catholics who forced the Drake’s from their family home into destitution. He learned from his parents to love a Protestant God. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, which largely encouraged the ignorance of its adherence, the Reformation, that swept across Europe gave emphasis on reading the bible for oneself. The Reformation, therefore, paved the way for commoners to rise above the state of their birth and grasp the ability to read and write. Without this ability, Francis could have never earned the respect he found in Elizabeth’s …show more content…
A series primarily devoted to Drake titled Sir Francis Drake, is a “far from accurate” depiction, yet gives a fictional twist on Drake’s adventures. It is a twenty-six episode children’s series featured in black and white starting in the 1960s. Terrance Morgan portrays Drake in this series that depicts the Golden Hind in all of its glory. A movie that portrays Drake’s life is Seven Seas to Calais directed by Rudolph Maté and Primo Zeglio. The plot outlines a Sir Francis Drake heading out on a mission to steal gold from the Spanish. As if this adventure was not enough, when he gets back to England he must protect the Queen from a group that is planning a mutiny against her. Another film portraying Francis Drake is Sir Francis Drake: The Queen’s Pirate. This film shows Drake’s battle in protecting the Queen’s shores with his partner Giovanni Battista