8-5FrancesDrake


 * Who was Sir Frances Drake? What was his Legacy?**

//Answer prepared by Juliet d.l.H// Sir Frances Drake was not only an Elizabethan sailor; he was also a navigator and the first English man to circumnavigate the globe. He also was a pirate and was known to take treasured possessions from people. Even though there is no possible way of knowing, most historians believe he was born around 1540. His father was a sailor and taught him everything he knew. Then, he started doing voyages under the Queen’s rule. He was one the captains of one of the first English slave voyages. On the way back the Spanish attacked them. With him, was his cousin and after the attack they both hated the Spanish forever. During the attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Sir Frances Drake led the English to their victory at only 48 years old. There is a story that he played bowls while he planned the English’s strategy. After the attack, Queen Elizabeth noticed his skills. She commissioned him to make the Spanish lives miserable. He sailed to different seaside Spanish cities and attacked. He took much treasure and destroyed many of the cities. The victory numbers were rising. Then it all came tumbling down. The Spanish caught on and decided to arm their cities. None of the dates are known for these attacks but we do know the final city Drake attacked. As Drake and his ship came close to the shores of the West Indies off the coast of Florida, the Spanish attacked. The English raid was not only a failure, but it was a disaster. On the way back to the safe shores of England, Drake and his cousin developed dysentery. Off the coast of Puerto Rico on the 28th of January 1596 at the age of 56 he died. The legacy was one of the greatest of his time. He was the man who sailed around the globe and who defeated the Spanish Armada.

Works Cited "BBC - Devon Discovering Devon - Famous People - Sir Francis Drake." __BBC-Homepage__. 16 Apr. 2009 . __BBC - Homepage __. 16 Apr. 2009 . Wells, Stanley W. __Shakespeare for all time__. Oxford, [U.K.]: Oxford UP, 2003.