Sir Francis Drake: A Hero In England

Sir Francis Drake was considered to be a hero in England because of the multitudes of riches he brought home and the multitudes of damage and humiliation that he gave to the Spanish and catholic empires. He brought back the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars1 in today’s currency in gold, silver, gem stones, textiles, and other goods, but the methods that he used for obtaining these goods were quite the blemish on his reputation as an explorer.

By: DGOP

Sir Francis Drake was a man who was raised with no morals. Drake’s father, Edmund Drake was a protestant preacher in the town of Tavisrock (Drake’s home town). As described by Harry Kelsy (Author of “Sir Francis Drake: The Queens Pirate”) “Edmund’s clerical duties got in the…show more content…
During this voyage, partway through the night his lantern disappeared. Defying his clear orders, Drake had his stern lantern extinguished to go chaise down the Spanish “Rosario” which was carrying the Armada sailors wages.7 After the remaining Armada ships started returning to Spain, Queen Elizabeth ordered Drake to sail to the Bay of Biscay and destroy the remaining Armada ships that were taking refuge there. Once again, defying clear orders in pursuit of possible wealth, Drake charted a course for Galicia to raid merchant ship and sack the town.8 As clearly stated by Nick Charles (Author of “Sir Francis Drake: Slave Trader and Pirate”) “He could display immense courage when he saw a chance to make money. But he saw no reason to risk his own life and [losing] his ships when there was no hope of personal…show more content…
Sir Francis Drake: The Queens Pirate. New Haven and London: Yale University Pres. 1998
Lace, William. Great Explorers: Sir Francis Drake. New York: Chelsea House Publishing. 2009.
Nick, Charles. Sir Francis Drake: Slave Trader and Pirate. New York: Scholastic Incorporated. 2009.
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