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January 29, 2017

Sir Francis Drake: Knight and Explorer, Slave Trader and Pirate

Although the 1519 voyage of Ferdinand Magellan is openly acknowledged to be the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the globe, it is also commonly known that Magellan did not survive the undertaking, having been killed in the Philippines during a local political dispute in 1521.1 In that respect, the first man to lead an expedition that successfully circumnavigated the globe–and survive the undertaking–was Sir Francis Drake, the sixteenth-century English explorer who is frequently cited as the most famous (and notorious) explorer of the Elizabethan Era (1558-1603).2 From a more modern perspective, Drake appears as quite a controversial figure in history. To the British, he was a living folk hero, equatable to Robin Hood or King Arthur, a romantic figure who rose from humble origins and ascended to knighthood, the man who circumnavigated the globe, and a hero who helped repel the Spanish Armada. On the other hand, to the Spanish, Drake was a notorious pirate who raided peaceful merchant vessels and sacked Spanish settlements. Drake’s reputation has been stained by many other disreputable acts, including multiple accusations of desertion and his participation in the slave trade. What no one can doubt, however, is the undeniable impact that Drake has had on the world’s history.

Sir Francis Drake in Buckland Abbey, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger | Courtesy of Buckland Abbey (Public Domain)

Francis Drake was born to Edmund Drake circa 1540, in the town of Tavistock in the county of Devon, England. He was apprenticed at an early age to his relative, William Hawkins, with whom Drake learned the fundamentals of sailing, trade, exploration, and piracy. While he was still a young man, Drake accompanied his cousin John Hawkins on two successful slave trading expeditions from Africa to the Caribbean. These expeditions earned Drake and his cousin the enmity of the Spanish, who alongside Portugal claimed exclusive rights to trade with the Americas under the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas. And so, during Hawkins and Drake’s third slave trading expedition in 1567, their convoy was set upon by Spanish warships at San Juan de Ulúa, Mexico. The Spanish’s raid was largely successful, and Hawkins and Drake barely escaped with their lives aboard separate vessels. Separated from his cousin, Drake’s vessel returned to England empty-handed. To add insult to injury, when Hawkins finally managed to return to England, he accused Drake of cowardice and of abandoning him in the Caribbean. Drake protested that he had been following Hawkins’ orders by returning to England, but Hawkins’ accusation would taint Drake’s reputation for years to come.3

These events embittered Drake towards Spain, and he would spend the rest of his life taking vengeance against the Spanish for the theft of what he believed had been his rightful property. In 1571 Drake secured a privateer’s license from Queen Elizabeth I, which he used to conduct a successful raid against a Spanish silver shipment in Panama. After returning to England, Drake spent the next few years assisting the Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, to quell an Irish rebellion, during which Drake forged many important political friendships that would serve him well over the course of his life.4 It was after this service to the crown that Drake would embark on his most famous venture, one that would result in his circumnavigation of the globe.

In 1577, Queen Elizabeth dispatched Drake on an expedition to cross through the Strait of Magellan–a passage located at the southern tip of South America that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans–ostensibly with the purpose of seeking trade opportunities along South America’s eastern coast. However, Drake’s mission also had a second, secret objective: to raid as many Spanish outposts and merchant vessels as possible, with the goal of reducing the vast revenue that Spain was receiving from trade with the Americas and thus indirectly decrease Spain’s ability to fund an invasion of England. And so, Drake departed from England in December of 1577, with a fleet of five ships and less than two hundred men.5

Sir Francis Drakes West Indian Voyage, engraving by Baptista Boazio | Courtesy of the Library of Congress

From the beginning, the journey was fraught with complications. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Drake ordered two of his ships, the Christopher and the Swan, stripped of supplies and burned due to the loss of too many personnel.6 Additionally, while moored at Port St. Julian–in what is now Argentina–Drake tried and convicted Thomas Doughty, his friend and captain of the Swan, for the crimes of treachery and incitement to mutiny. Doughty was executed there in Port St. Julian, the same spot where Magellan ironically had tried and convicted several mutineers of his own exactly 58 years earlier during his own circumnavigation expedition.7 However, Drake’s troubles did not end there. After reaching and traversing the Strait of Magellan and entering the Pacific Ocean, Drake’s remaining ships encountered powerful storms. The storms separated him from the Elizabeth and sank the Marigold, with the crew of the Elizabeth returning to England under the assumption that Drake’s sole remaining ship, the Golden Hind, had sunk beneath the waves.8

With only eighty crewmen and the Golden Hind, Drake nevertheless pressed onward. The Golden Hind had been pushed southward away from Cape Horn to the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. Exploring the waters south of South America, Drake was able to debunk the belief that a hypothetical continent, referred to as Terra Australis, was located just south of Chile. Returning northward, Drake began raiding the relatively unguarded Spanish ports along Chile’s coast, the Spanish firm in the belief that they were safe so far away from Europe. Drake reportedly traveled up the coast as far as California, although some believe he may have reached as far as Canada or Alaska. His hold full of Spanish treasure, Drake feared the possibility of a Spanish trap waiting for him in the Strait of Magellan, and decided to return to England by way of the Pacific instead.9

Unlike his journey thus far, the remainder of Drake’s expedition was comparatively uneventful. The Golden Hind crossed the Pacific, making stops in the Palau Islands, the Philippines, and Indonesia. He then crossed the Indian Ocean and sailed around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, traveling up the coast towards Europe. On September 26, 1580, almost three years after his departure, Drake sailed into Plymouth Harbor with just fifty-six of his original crew. He returned to a hero’s welcome, his expedition an unquestionable success in the eyes of England. The venture made both he and his investors incredibly wealthy, and in April of the following year Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his service to the crown. That same year, Drake was elected to Parliament and became the mayor of Plymouth. He purchased a large estate known as Buckland Abbey where he settled down to enjoy the riches and acclaim he had earned.10

Spanish Armada, by Philip James de Loutherbourg | Courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich Hospital Collection

Fate would see Drake return to the sea sooner than expected, however. In 1585, tensions between England and Spain had escalated to the point that war had become inevitable. In response, Queen Elizabeth placed Drake in charge of a fleet of 25 warships, and ordered him to attack Spanish-held territories across the world. With his fleet Drake attacked multiple settlements, capturing Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands, Cartagena in Colombia, St. Augustine in Florida, and San Domingo in Hispanola. Returning to Europe, Drake scored further victories against Spain and Portugal by capturing or destroying 37 merchant vessels at Cadiz, Spain and by occupying the city of Sagres, Portugal.11 Despite these victories, the English were unable to stop the Spanish Armada from attacking England, which at the time was considered to be the largest and most powerful naval force in the world. Queen Elizabeth made Drake the vice admiral in charge of leading the defense against the Armada, making him second-in-command of the British Navy.

Ultimately, however, Drake did not play a significant role in protecting England from the Spanish Armada, despite exaggerations on his part emphasizing his role in the defense. It is believed that, against orders, Drake captured a Spanish pay ship carrying a significant shipment of gold coins in the early stages of the defense, then quarreled with another English officer, Sir Martin Frobisher, about how to split the money. Frobisher later went on to accuse Drake of withdrawing in the middle of the attack, labeling him a coward and a traitor.12

It would soon become clear that Drake’s naval career was on the decline. In 1589, Queen Elizabeth sent Drake on a counteroffensive against Spain with a fleet of 180 ships.  This offensive resulted in a catastrophic attempt to capture the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, leading to the death of thousands of English sailors. Six years later, in 1595, Drake set off on what would be his final voyage. Drake led an expedition to attack Spanish settlement at San Juan, Puerto Rico; however, like his raid against Lisbon, this assault ultimately resulted in failure, one that Drake would not survive. In 1596, still out at sea, Drake became ill and passed away from dysentery. His body, dressed in full armor, was placed in a lead coffin and lowered into the sea, to the accompaniment of trumpets and cannon fire.13

Relief Depicting the Burial of Drake on the Tavistock Monument | Courtesy of the town of Tavistock (Public Domain)

Mixed reputation or no, Drake unquestionably was and is one of the most famous figures in English history. In many ways, he transcended history and became a legend in his own time, being featured heavily in the works of Richard Hakylut and Samuel Purchas, two prominent writers who also lived during Drake’s lifetime.14 Nevertheless, there are just as many who would argue that Drake was no paragon, who would contend that his cowardice, indecision, greed, and avarice, made him more villain than hero. Whatever the case may be, there’s no denying that Drake indisputably had a major impact on world history, making him quite arguably the most significant mariner of his time.

  1. “Drake, Francis,” in Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 67.
  2. “Drake, Francis,” in Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 63.
  3. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 79-81.
  4. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 81-83.
  5. “Drake, Francis,” in Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 65-66.
  6. “Drake, Francis,” in Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 66-67.
  7. Hans Kraus, “The Famous Voyage: The Circumnavigation of the World, 1577-1580” in Sir Francis Drake: a Pictorial Biography (Amstredam, N. Israel, 1970), Library of Congress, Accessed January 25, 2017, https://www.loc.gov/rr/rarebook/catalog/drake/drake-4-famousvoy.html.
  8. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 84.
  9. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 84.
  10. “Drake, Francis,” in Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 66-67.
  11. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock,  Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 86.
  12. “Drake, Francis,” In Elizabethan World Reference Library, edited by Sonia G. Benson and Jennifer York Stock, Vol. 2, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2007. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 71-72.
  13. “Drake, Francis,” in Pirates Through the Ages Reference Library, edited by Jennifer Stock, Vol. 3, Biographies. Detroit: UXL, 2011. Gale Virtual Reference Library (accessed January 24, 2017), 86-88.
  14. “Drake, Sir Francis,” in The Oxford Companion to English Literature, edited by Birch, Dinah. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Cameron Adelman

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Recent Comments

79 comments

  • Jose Maria Gallegos Cebreros

    First of all, congrats on a great article! I never heard the name Francis Drake before reading this article but you made it very clear and easy to understand. I found it very interesting that some people see him as someone great, will others have described him as a pirate. I really like how the article not only focuses on one stage of his life, instead you explain how he started his journey and how it ended up. This article made me want to research more about Sir Francis Drake. I always appreciate and article about a topic that I do not know about and is easy to understand.

  • Ana Diaz

    This was a very interesting article! It seems almost like a revenge story against Spain by Drake, which is odd because you would think that most explorers would be loyal to a fault to the countries that sponsor them. It is also astonishing how powerful the Spanish Armada was, and how infamous they have become in history. The word Armada itself has a ring of power to it. Good work!

  • Anna Steck

    I find this story interesting because it is emblematic of such a drastically different time where empires were being built and clashing with others, technology limited communication and travel increasing the personal risk for those working to explore and expand empires. Despite Drake’s mission being a point of pride to his people, his career still plummeted after his return. It shows the nationalism that they saw with his travels more than his own sense of personal accomplishment.

  • Donald Glasen

    Very interesting read, I’ll admit I did not know much on who Sir Francis Drake was. I find his disdain for the Spanish very interesting. I can understand as to why he wants his vengeance. I find his Explorations he’s committed to interesting as well. I found his captaining of a fleet very interesting, he seemed to be very trusted by the English.

  • Azeneth Lozano

    Great opening paragraph to set the scenery for the information to follow. There were lots of new things I learned about Sir Drake, such as during his expeditions, his goal was to raid Spanish ships and take their goods for himself. He also had an interesting upbringing that more likely led him to live in this kind of lifestyle. Well-written and very informative article with descriptive images!

  • Vincent Villanueva

    I really took a liking on how Cameron Adelman addressed both positive and negative perspectives on Sir Francis Drake. The recognition of the accomplishments Sir Drake on how he raided the merchant vessels or sacking the Spanish settlements and to being compared to folktale hero’s such as Robin Hood or King Arthur was quite interesting, despite his reputation being “disgraceful” in a sense. This was quite an insightful and an amazing story.

  • Marie Peterson

    I did not know anything about Sir Francis Drake before reading this article. However, the author does a great job of articulating the facts of large parts of his life. I appreciate how the author talks about how the English saw him and how other countries viewed him as a person. As well, the author talks about some of his shortcomings not just his victories which is important to fully understand the mark he left on history. Great job!

  • Noelia Torres Guillen

    Sir Francis Drake, who was able to to successfully sail the globe, has different opinions and judgments. It all comes down to perspective. To the english he was known as a great, respectful person who was able to bring prosperity to England. To the Spanish he was known as a criminal. I loved how this article was able to highlight this historical figures accomplishments and also made it known that he was greedy and he wasn’t the greatest guy the English preach him to be. Great work!

  • Barbara Ortiz

    Great article. I found it very interesting that Drake’s initial mission was not to circumnavigate, but that became a coincidental biproduct of the two main reasons between seeking trade opportunities and raiding Spanish outposts. Also, I was always under the impression that the Drake passage ( the most southern route around South America) was named such as that was the route that was take by Drake. How fascinating to read that his ships sailed through the Strait of Magellan.

  • Jared Sherer

    A lot of the pioneers were known for their famous voyages on the unforgiving waters on Earth. Christopher Columbus, Captain James Cook, Bartolomue Dias, and even Afonso d’Alboquerque all were known for their adventurous and brave discoveries throughout the 1400s and later. The author does a good job explaining the life of Sir Francis Drake and his busy voyages around the globe. Although Magellan’s trip did not end so well for him, the label of the first to successfully circumnavigate the globe would go to Sir Francis Drake. He took to the sea with the massive fleet provided by Queen Elizabeth, showed dominance over the Spaniards, and took many adventurous expeditions seeking trade along the southern part of South America. Learning about Drake and the challenges he had to go through with people turning against him and his arduous voyages has given an impact on history that is not as well known as other explorers. The article is very interesting to read, especially to learn that Drake essentially was both a “good guy” in doing things for Queen Elizabeth, and a “bad guy” for his atrocities with the Spanish and the slave trade.

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