The Life and Accomplishments of Sir Francis Drake

The Life and Accomplishments of Sir Francis Drake

The British Empire was a World dominant force throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th century, but if it wasn’t for the naval defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the British might have never settled what would be the United States. And the person we have to thank is none other than Sir Francis Drake, a common man whose rise from a small country town, to the mighty dragon that the Spanish feared, was the most brilliant Captain during the Elizabethan Era. Sir Francis Drake’s privateering in the Caribbean and the Pacific were the staging grounds for the destruction of the Spanish Armada and the Rise of the British Empire. It was in the Caribbean where Drake inflicted is greatest defeats and captured his greatest prizes.

Sir Francis Drake was just the man the British needed to destroy a dominating Spanish monarchy. The Queen however was embarrassed half of the time for Drake’s ability to take basic orders and expand on them to greater serve himself and his country. Although this jeopardized the safety of the Queen by provoking the Spanish into war. Sir Francis Drake was a man who was feared by all countries who sailed under the Roman Catholic Church’s flag. He was hated by some for his piracy and rude, abrupt behavior. He was not a gentleman by British standards, but he was a fair and generous Captain known to let his captured prisoners go free. In some cases even the captured crew and their ships would be let go. He is not totally a just man, he was known to buy favors, and in one case even killed a man because of their disagreement in the Pacific Ocean. But by most people he was a man admired for his clever seamanship and treatment of his fellow sailors. And most of all, he w...

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...owerful nation during the 17th, 18th, and 19th century. There’s no doubt that he was the Captain of his own ship and leader of many to follow even after his death in 1596. He would be admired for centuries for his leadership and brilliant privateering maneuvers. His leadership help catapult a nation into the status of world dominant power as well as dominant sea power for centuries to come. Sir Francis Drake, England’s father of the sea, all because of one man’s hatred for a religion and the love of wealth and fame.

Work Cited

John Hampden, Francis Drake: Privateer; University of Alabama Press, 1972.

James A. Williamson, Age of Drake ; Adam & Charles Black, London, 1965.

T. W. E. Roche, The Golden Hind ; Praeger Publishers, New York, 1973.

Norman J. W. Thrower, Sir Francis Drake and the Famous Voyage ; University of California Press, Berkeley, 1984.