Francis Drake: Pirate,
Explorer or Privateer?
ACTIVITY 3: HISTORICAL ENQUIRY
YOUR ENQUIRY QUESTION
Was Francis Drake a pirate,
an explorer or a privateer?
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Sir Francis Drake
He was the first
Englishman to sail all
the way around the
world.
No one can say for
sure exactly why he
did it.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
World map, 1570
Francis Drake and his
fleet sailed around the
southern tip of South
America and up the west
coast of the Americas.
Then they sailed across
the Pacific ocean
home to England.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Map of the world,
1626
Drake’s account of his
voyage helped inform
mapmakers to make
more accurate maps.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
The voyage’s
investors
Francis Drake’s
voyage made a big
profit for his investors.
They each got £47 for
every £1 they
invested.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
What did Drake
take with him on
the voyage?
These are some of the
things Drake planned
to take on his voyage.
• Wool and linen cloth, shoes, hats
• Tankards, plates, bowls, candles
• Beer, wine, vinegar, salt, rice, biscuits
• Tar, wood, nets, twine and ropes
• Spades, axes, nails, spikes
• Pikes, crossbows, muskets, powder
• Surgeon’s instruments and medicine
• Navigation books, charts and instruments
• Live animals such as hens and pigs
• Presents
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Spanish silver
dollar
Francis Drake would
have collected plenty
of these when raiding
Spanish ships.
Drake returned to
England with over ten
tonnes of silver and
100 pounds of gold.
He shared the
proceeds with his
investors, his crew and
the Queen.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Drake’s
encounter with a
Spanish treasure
ship
“Before the Englishman turned loose my
ship he gave certain articles to those
whom he had robbed. In money he
gave thirty or forty pesos to each one…
San Juan de Anton,
captain of the Spanish
ship nicknamed
Cacafuego, captured
in 1579.
To me he gave a basin of gilded silver
with a name written in the middle of it
which said ‘Franciscus Draques’, and at
the time he turned me loose he gave
me a safe conduct in English signed
with his name …
Some of the stolen
gold and silver was
even returned.
so that other English ships … would not
do me any harm or rob me again.”
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
English
merchantman
This model is of a
vessel that would
have been very similar
to Francis Drake’s ship,
the Golden Hinde.
These merchant ships
were used for
transported cargo
and, often, by English
privateers on voyages
to attack Spanish
ships.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Drake founds
‘New Albion’
On his voyage, Drake
claimed new lands for
Queen Elizabeth I.
He also discovered
new routes and sailed
further north along the
west coast of the
Americas than anyone
had done before.
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Queen Elizabeth I
She granted explorers
like Francis Drake the
right to seek new
trading routes and
colonise new lands in
her name.
She turned a blind eye
to English privateering.
Elizabeth I
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
A description of
Francis Drake
Drake’s incredible feat
made him famous for
having sailed around
the world.
Negative reactions
were mainly from
supporters of the
executed Thomas
Doughty and some
members of the
Queen’s court who
feared war with Spain.
“[Drake’s] name and fame
became admirable in all places.
The people swarmed daily in the
streets to behold him … Books,
pictures and ballads were
published in his praise …
There were others that devised
and divulged all possible
disgraces against Drake and his
followers, terming him the master
thief of the unknown world.”
-- writer John Stow describes the reaction
in England to Drake’s voyage
Key Stage 2 – Francis Drake: Pirate, Explorer or Privateer?
Philip II, King of
Spain
He was the world’s
most powerful man in
1577.
Philip complained that
Francis Drake was
attacking his country’s
ports and treasure
ships in Central and
South America.
The king was said to
have offered a huge
reward for Drake’s
life.