Raiding cities, capturing and plundering treasure ships, discovering new lands, and helping to defeat the juggernaut that was the Spanish Armada were just some of the amazing deeds of the British privateer Sir Francis Drake. Through the previously mentioned actions, Sir Francis Drake established a foundation for the birth and maturing of the newly formed British Empire, and consequentially triggered the eventual downfall and destruction of the once glorious Spanish Empire. After he was ambushed by the Spanish on his second slave trading voyage to the West Indies, Drake developed a perpetual rancor for the Spanish which he would express through his raiding and capturing of Spanish ships (Britannica Online). The majority of Drake 's time assaulting …show more content…
Finally, Drake helped in the English victory against the juggernaut that was the Spanish Armada. In 1587, after reports came to Queen Elizabeth about a Spanish Invasion, she bestowed upon Drake the command of a fleet of thirty ships. Drake led these ships down to the port of Cadiz, Spain, and proceeded to destroy and damage a majority of the Spanish fleet anchored there. While this courageous action was a major victory for the British, it only served to delay the Spanish invasion for a year (Trueman C.N.). After rebuilding from Drake 's earlier raid on Cadiz, Spain sent its invasion force against England in 1588. During the following battle, Drake was vice admiral under Lord Charles Howard, and he also commanded a large group of warships from aboard the Revenge (Biography) (Delpar Helen 323). Once Drake found out that the Spanish fleet commander had anchored his fleet off of the Spanish coast to carry a land invasion force, Drake organized a number of fire ships that he sent among the Spanish fleet. This action prompted to the Spanish to scatter and sail up into the North Sea, where Mother Nature finished them off (Biography). Consequentially, through the stealing of precious materials from the Spanish, capturing of Spanish outposts, claiming of land, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Sir Francis Drake established the beginning of the British Empire and was a thorn in the sole of the Spanish
The British men gathered full control of the trading center present in the Americas, and created the Navigation Acts to help aid them in their tactics to take control over all trade within the Americas. The Navigation Acts were passed under a mercantilist system, and was used to regulate trade in a way that only benefitted the British economy. These acts restricted trade between England and its colonies to English or colonial ships, required certain colonial goods to pass through England before export, provided subsidies for the production of certain raw goods in the colonies, and banned colonial competition in large-scale manufacturing. This lowered the competition in the trading world for the British and caused the British to have a major surge in power, that greatly attributed to the growth of their rising empire. The British’s ambitious motives in the trading world help portray a way that the British took control of an important piece in the economy of all of the other nations present in the colonies in the time period, and shows another leading factor in the growth of the British empire.
During the time of the 1650’s the Americas were not a part of what is now the United States and other countries in Central America and as well as the Caribbean. During those years European countries who were dominate in exploring the world and conquering new lands were the British, Spanish, French and the Dutch. The world economy was greatly impacted by the production of goods the Americas could provide Europe and even parts of Asia. The America’s were rich in materials that could not be made vastly, like the production of cotton, crops, tobacco and as well as natural gems like gold and silver that would increase wealth of the country who was exploring the region at the time. The British crown at the time was a powerful nation and if not the most powerful in wealth and military with great number of troops and
Nathaniel Bacon is one of the few rebellious people whose name has been taught from school to school in America. “Why is that?” , you may ask, “Why him? Why is his rebellion significant in American history?”. Bacon’s rebellion used to be seen as the start of the American Revolution, but now, modern historians have uncovered the truth of the Virginian Rebellion of 1676.
With the best navy in the world, a better trained militia, and abundance of wealth, weapons, and supplies, it was Britain 's war to lose. When it came to the best navy in the world, it was no contest, the British ruled the seas. The British navy was feared throughout the world, they rarely lost battles. It protected Britain with great success. A reason for this is that they were a world leader in manufacturing.
This big mush in mercantilist ideas came along with the help of tariffs, or trading taxes on imported goods. Hence, we no longer had to rely on Britain for our much needed produced goods such as clothing, furniture, or tools. This caused Britain to lose money, the money they desperately needed to fund their war effort. So, along with impressing our sailors and enforcing a tax, they also took goods from any ships they boarded. This only helped to infuriate the country further as they saw no real reason why britain had to do this.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the monarchy began to expand their power and influence, eventually becoming absolute rulers. Having support from the merchant class, the monarchy attempted to unify and stabilize the nation states. In the late seventeenth, early eighteenth centuries, with hopes of expanding English trade and acquiring a broader market for English manufactured goods, the nation states were wealthy enough to fund voyages of discovery and exploration. Over time, ten colonies were established along the Atlantic coast of North America. The first permanent English settlement was established in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and in 1620 a ship landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, marking it as the second permanent English settlement.
Lane, Kris E. Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750 (M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1998). Kris E. Lane’s Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500- 1750 focuses on Spain and Portugal’s encounters with pirates in the Americas during the early modern era. Lane diverges from traditional history on piracy through his attempt to place pirates in a world-historical perspective and he emphasizes how pirates were motivated by their desire for money rather than patriotic motives. Lane is a professor of Colonial Latin American History at Tulane University. The purpose of Pillaging the Empire is to provide a chronological survey of piracy in the Americas and introduce maritime predation in Spain’s colonial holdings between 1500 and1750.
A. Explain the reasons for English Colonization by doing the Following: A1. Discuss the political motivations for English Imperialism. The main political motivation for English Imperialism was due to the rivalries with its European Counterparts. Initially, European countries were looking for a water passage to China so they would be able to trade for their goods. Spain, who lead the charge, landed in Central and South America, captured gold and silver.
On January 3rd 1603 face dyanna Salem North Region drakes Bay in the San Diego on January 8th. During a storm he took shelter behind a point of land they he named Punta de los Reyes today 's Point Reyes. The Tres Reyes had gotten separated from the flagship in the storm but both ships continue north. The San Diego appears to have gotten as far as a cape that he named Cabo Blanco de San Sebastian. The Tres Reyes appears to have gotten as far as the Coquille river.
British policies established in 1763-1776 greatly affected the colonists and pushed them towards developing their own republican values. All of the acts and taxes the British issued and how overly controlling the British were over the colonists was the starting point, also the increasing rebellions encouraged the colonists to break away from Britain’s rule, and finally the wars that resulted and seizing authority from the British was the final turning point for the colonists in eliminating Britain’s heavy-handed ruling over the colonists. The acts, and taxes that came with most of the acts, that the English imposed on the colonists was a substantial reason the colonists opposed British rule. After the French and Indian war the British found
The French and Indian War can be argued to have the most effect on altering the relations between Britain and the Colonies. The relationship between these two power houses began very subtle, as England followed through with a policy of salutary neglect toward the Colonies. The consequence of the war caused the Political and the Economic state of Britain to changed dramatically, causing them to act differently towards the Colonies. This made the Ideologies of the colonies change greatly. Becoming a winner of a mass of land was great to reward to Britain, but this caused them to change the way that they were going to govern, especially in North America.
The Dutch grabbed rich territories in Asia to gain control over the profitable spice trade. They also set up colonies in South Africa and North America. The French acquired colonies too, including present day Canada, which was particularly valuable for it’s fur. The British in the 1600’s took over the Dutch territory in North America and in 1763 they took Canada from the French. Despite their loss of the 13 American colonies after the Revolutionary War in 1783, the British continued to acquire new territories.
In the year 1519, Spain set sail to be the first ones to circumnavigate the globe. Under the leadership of Ferdinand de Magellan, they were able to accomplish this monumental task by the year 1522, even though Magellan died before they journey was complete. In the article titled “Ferdinand Magellan 's Voyage Round the World, 1519-1522”, we are able to recall the accounts transcribed from the paper-book of a Genoese pilot who wrote detailed accounts about the events that transpired throughout the journey. Around 55 years after Spain’s voyage, the English set out to circumnavigate the globe under the leadership of Sir Francis Drake in the year of 1577. An article titled “Sir Francis Drake 's Famous Voyage Round The World, 1580” was written by Francis Pretty, who was one of Drake 's Gentlemen at arms.
During the colonial era of America, Great Britain was able to reek the benefits of this royal colony’s success. This was in large part due to the fact that Britain was able to integrate this society into its imperial system. English leaders understood that the American colonies represented a marketplace for goods, a safety valve, and a place in which competition flourished with other leading empires. One of the most important reasons why Great Britain established colonies in America was to create another form of revenue.
They were amongst the countries to colonize the newfound America. Like many other European countries they entered a foreign country and claimed it as theirs with no regards of the people already living there. When we talk about the British Empire, we actually have two different Empires. The first Empire was from 1450-1800, and the main focus was on America. The colonies were then seen as places to trade, not as markets which produced raw materials.