(Part 2: Life In Elizabethan Times) English Sailors Flashcards
Explain the role of Sir Walter Raleigh
• Sir Walter Raleigh was given royal permission to explore the Americas - the New World - in 1584.
• He would be allowed to colonise (take ownership of) any land that was not ruled by a Christian.
• In return, he had to give the queen one fifth of all the gold and silver he found there.
• He did not sail himself, but sent others to explore and establish colonies in the New World.
• A colony was established at Roanoke on the east coast of America but did not last. A second was created in 1587 and seemed like it was going to succeed. But when the colony’s leader returned from a trip to England, he found all of the colonists gone and the word ‘CROATOAN’ (the name of a local tribe] carved into a tree!
Explain the role of John Hawkins
John Hawkins (1532-95)
• Key figure in Elizabeth’s court, even working as a spy joining the Ridolfi Plot against the queen and passing information about the plot to the authorities.
• Hawkins was responsible for building up the Royal Navy and was a respected military leader, playing a major role as a commander in the battle against the Spanish Armada. He was also a successful privateer, raiding Spanish ports and ships.
• From 1562 he became involved in the African slave trade, first seizing slaves from the Portuguese and then capturing them himself.
• He is believed to be responsible for introducing tobacco to England after discovering it during one of his voyages.
Background of Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618)
• Born into a Protestant family and had struggled to survive the reign of Mary I.
• Very loyal to Elizabeth and spent years in Ireland fighting Catholic rebels.
• Became a favourite of the queen when he returned to court.
• Embarked on voyages to South America in search of a legendary city of gold: El Dorado.
• Funded an attempt to establish a colony in North America.
• His secret marriage to one of the queen’s ladies in waiting led to a jealous Elizabeth banishing him from court for five years in 1592.
Impact of voyages - explain John Hawkins and the slave trade
• John Hawkins was a respected sailor and courtier.
• He was responsible for building up the navy and commanding it against the Spanish Armada.
• In 1564, he kidnapped several hundred West Africans and sold them in South America. This was not the first example of the European slave trade, but it was the first time the whole process had been carried out by an Englishman.
• He was also a successful privateer and is thought to have brought tobacco to England.
Impact of voyages - explain wealth
Exploration allowed England to gain wealth in several ways:
•Raiding Spanish ships and ports allowed riches to be stolen and brought back to England.
• Trading systems were established from which England’s wealth grew over the following centuries and new products, like spices, silks and porcelain, were brought to England for the first time.
• Trade with the East in spices and other goods grew as middlemen could now be cut out - English sailors could deal directly with merchants in Asia.
• New companies were created to deal with trade in a particular area, for example, the Levant Company dealt exclusively with trade in Turkey and the Middle East.
• The East India Company was established in 1600 to oversee trade in India and the Far East.
• The trade in African slaves brought significant wealth to individuals and to England as a whole. Other Englishmen saw how Hawkins had profited and so became involved in the slave trade over the following years. Slave labour enabled raw materials to be produced cheaply in the Americas.
Impact of voyages - explain power
• Naval power had been growing under Elizabeth and was able to hold its own in any sea battle.
• Improved weapons and tactics, and the skilled command of men like Francis Drake, played a key role in this. The English victory over the Spanish Armada showed the dominant position that England held.
Impact of voyages - explain territory
• England was not the first country to build colonies in newly discovered lands, and there were several failed attempts. But perseverance led to increasing numbers of colonies, particularly in North America, being established in the name of Queen Elizabeth and her successors.
Background of Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake (c1510-96)
• Became an English hero but the Spanish saw him as a pirate and nicknamed him ‘El Draque’ or ‘the Dragon’.
• Although he circumnavigated the globe he didn’t set out to do so - but rather to get revenge for what the Spanish did at San Juan de Ulúa. When he returned he had so much gold on board that the half he gave to the queen was more than the entire royal income of the previous year!
• Knighted in 1581.
• In 1588, he led the successful defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Explain the circumnavigation 1577-1580
- December 1577: Drake takes five ships to raid Spanish ports in the Americas.
- June-July 1578: Drake responds to a rumour of mutiny by executing Thomas Doughty, his former friend.
- September 1578: Drake sails through the Straits of Magellan, the first Englishman to do so. A storm destroys one ship and blows the others off course.
- The remaining ships sail up the coast and raid a number of Spanish ports.
- June 1579: With just his own ship remaining, Drake lands in North America and claims it for Queen Elizabeth.
- March-June 1580: He navigates the dangerous Cape of Good Hope.
- 26 September: Drake returns to Plymouth. He was knighted (made a ‘Sir’) on board his ship the Golden Hind, by Elizabeth.
