Francis Drake: The Spanish Feared Most In The 1600's

Francis Drake, pirate, slave trader, and murderer, was the name the Spanish feared most in the mid-to-late 1500’s. At a time where the English and the Spanish were at war, Drake gave the English a huge advantage by raiding Spanish ships and looting the Spaniards’ treasures at land. His quick temper and willingness to be violent made him a great pirate, his ocean navigating skills allowed him to circumnavigate the globe, and he was the first Englishman to accomplish that feat. He was also related to and taught by some of the most talented and dark pirates of the 1500’s. To Queen Elizabeth I and the English, Francis Drake was a patriotic hero. To the Spanish and the hundreds of slaves he was involved in kidnapping and trading, he was a pirate and a cold, heartless human being. Drake, the first Englishman
These abilities helped him greatly on the second-ever circumnavigation of the globe, done by Drake himself. Drake began his circumnavigation of the globe in late 1577 , when five ships that were headed for the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Magellan, which is on the southern tip of South America . The Magellan Strait was notorious for very deadly waters and stormy weather . Drake, using his incredible oceanic navigation skills he had mastered since he was in his early twenties, made it through the deadly waters of the Strait of Magellan and continued north along the side of South America, raiding Spanish settlements at will . When Drake had finished sailing north (some maps say he reached as far north as Oregon in North America), he sailed west across the Pacific Ocean instead of going back east the way he came . This was to avoid the stormy waters he and his crew had encountered on the way from Plymouth so far. Drake sailed all the way across the Pacific Ocean and back to Plymouth, completing his incredible circumnavigation of the