Page 4 - Sir Francis Drake

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Why Drake hated the Spanish
By the 1560s, Drake was given command of his own ship, the Judith. With a small fleet, Drakeandhiscousin, JohnHawkins, sailed to Africa and worked illegally as slave traders. They then sailed to New Spain to sell their captives to settlers, an action that was against Spanish law. In 1568, Drake and Hawkins became trapped in the Mexican port of San Juan de Ulúa in a face off with the newly established Spanish viceroy's forces. The two escaped on their respective ships (Minion & Judith) while scores of their men were killed. The incident instilled in Drake a deep hatred of the Spanish crown.
Politics Of The Day: Secrets, Spies, Lies, and a Religious Divide
During the Elizabethan period (1558-1603) of Tudor England, religion and politics were dominant
forces. Queen Elizabeth I, was eager to have England travelling the globe, to the Americas, setting up important trade routes and profiting from them. She was interested in trying to find a North West Passage for trading rather than having to go around South America and deal with the Spanish Galleon fleet. When Elizabeth became Queen in November of 1558, she restored the Protestant faith in England much to Philip II of Spain’s dismay. Philip was a devout Catholic and wanted to see Catholicism restored to England. He proposed marriage to Elizabeth, but she refused. Although Elizabeth followed the Catholic faith during her sister's (Mary) reign, she was raised a Protestant, and was committed to that faith. Elizabeth's religious views were tolerant for the age in which she lived. She believed sincerely in her own faith, but she also believed in religious tolerance, and that Catholics and Protestants were both part of the same faith. "There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith" she exclaimed later in her reign, "all else is a dispute over trifles." She also declared that she had "no desire to make windows into men's souls".
As a Protestant Queen, Elizabeth lived with the threat of assassination from Catholics. But there was an army of spies, her secret service, working to protect the Queen. This spy network, lead by Lord Burghley, uncovered many plots to kill Elizabeth and also uncovered the plot of Philip II to send the Spanish Armada to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth. http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/rennaisan ce_traderoutes.htm - Search for Northwest Passage
Defeat of Hawkins & Drake at San Juan de Ulúa
http://www .loc.gov/rr/rarebook/catalog/dra
The king of Spain and Portugal, King Philip II offered the huge sum of 20,000 ducats (£4 million today) for Drake’s life because of all the gold, silver, cargo, men, and ships lost at the hands of Drake and his men.