historic environment

• Francis drake - English explorer and privateer
• Queen Elizabeth 1st - Queen of England during this time
• John Hawkins - English naval commander, privateer and slave trader
• John Lovell - English slave trader
• Sir Christopher Hatton -Lord Chancellor, favourite of Elizabeth the 1st and a patron of drakes navigation
• Earl of Leicester - Favourite of Elizabeth the 1st
• Francis Walshingham - Member of the privy council and spy master
• Thomas Doughty - English Nobleman and personal secretary of Hatton
• Relations between England and Spain were strained because they had differing religions ( England was Protestant, Spain was catholic). The English also wanted to take down the Spanish trade monopoly
• Europeans had involved themselves in the African slave trade as it was a lucrative business, that had high profits for very little costs
• The Hawkins family made their money through being merchants, seafarers and occasional pirates
• Drake was connected to the Hawkins has he was living with them, and cousins with John Hawkins
• On his trip to the Bay of Biscay, John Hawkins discovered how much money can be made from the slave trade
• in 1562, John Hawkins set sail to the West African coast, stole 300 slaves - they were already enslaved - from Sierra Leone and exchanged them for cargo
• in 1564, John Hawkins returned to Sierra Leone with a larger and better fleet and took 400 slaves and sold them to Spanish colonies
• Drake wanted to explore the Atlantic coast to investigate trading, conquest and settlement opportunities in the areas occupied by the Spanish.
• South America became more appealing because there was the prospect of trading with Spanish colonies, a market for English cloth and a possibility of establishing English colonies
• Drake was interested in the strait of Anian as it was a possibility of a north west sea passage, which would speed up travel to east Asia if it does exist
• Drakes 4 main backers:

  1. The Hawkins brothers
  2. Earl of Leicester - Robert Dudley
  3. Sir Francis Walshingham
  4. Sir Christopher hatton
• Queen Elizabeth also was a backer of drake, but could not be open about her views as it would have drastic affects on Anglo - Spanish relations
• Anglo-Spanish relations refers to relations between England and Spain
• Francis Drake was a controversial figure - to the Spanish he was a dangerous and much feared enemy. To the English, he was a great maritime commander during the armarda
• England became a potential protestant enemy of the Spanish in 1534
• Although England alone was not strong enough to take on the Spanish and Portuguese directly, English Merchants often worked with the French to challenge the Spanish and its trade monopoly in South America
• For over a century before Elizabeth came to the throne, the Portuguese had been capturing and enslaving Africans from the west coast and transporting them
• The trade of humans was desirable as it had little costs and had high profits. Only the gold trade had higher returns than the slave trade
• Francis Drake lived with the Hawkins family in Plymouth, Devon.
• Drake proved to be an able sailor and s worked with his cousin John Hawkins who traveled to the Bay of Biscay to loot, rob and plunder whatever he could
• John Hawkins realised he could break into the lucrative Portuguese trade monopoly of enslaved Africans
• Both the Spanish and Portuguese governments protested to Queen Elizabeth about Hawkins' involvement in the slave trade, but were powerless to stop him
• In 1566, John Hawkins arranged a 3rd slaving visit, but was to be lead by John Lovell, accompanied by Drake, however didn't make much profit
• Between 1562 and 1567, Hawkins made 3 voyages to Guinea and Sierra Leone and enslaved between 1,200 and 1,400 Africans
• in 1568, Drake, as captain of the ship 'the Judith', set sail for the Americas with John Hawkins
• Hawkins fleet for the Americas contained 7 ships, 2 of which were provided by the monarch, Queen Elizabeth 1st
• Queen Elizabeths instructions to Drake and Hawkins regarding San Juan de Ulua in 1568 were that Hawkins should take the fleet to the west coast of Africa, capture a 'cargo' of Africans and sell them in the Caribbean
• In Sierra Leone Drake and Hawkins captured 250 men, women and children and added them to the 500 which they already had captured.
• After selling some of their slaves an trading with Spanish colonies, Hawkins fleet suffered great damage from a storm, so anchored in San Juan de Ulua to resupply and make repairs
• When anchored in San Juan de Ulua, despite having a truce in place between England and Spain, Hawkins' fleet was attacked by Spanish warships, and only 2 English ships escaped, Hawkins' and Drakes
• Their experience in San Juan de Ulua in 1568, caused Hawkins and Drake to have a deep desire for revenge on the Spanish
• Drake returned to the Caribbean in 1570 to trade, plunder and increase knowlege of the area