A hero as defined by the dictionary is " Any man noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose; especially, one who has risked or sacrificed his life". To us a hero is something more, a hero is a man that we can all look up to; a man of integrity and nobility. Sir Francis Drake has a number of heroic traits. One aspect of a hero is that he overcomes adversity. Sir Francis Drake overcame a very adverse background. He was born sometime around 1540 near Tavistock. Growing up poor he lived in the hull of a ship; interestingly he would spend the rest of his life on or around these ships. Drake was extremely intelligent and a hard worker; he eventually got a ship of his own. A hero also does something that makes him appear larger than life. Drake was the first English man to circumnavigate the globe. Sir Francis Drake also took part in destroying the Spanish Armada. These events rocketed him to great fame in E

· Benda, Harry J. "Spain and Philip II." In History of the world, Eds. John Hall and John Kirk. Hong Kong: Bison books Ltd, 1988

· Walburn, Richard. (On line) available www.drakestreasher.com 11/16/99

· Kelsey, Harry. The Queen's Pirate. (On line) available www.redtek.net/abc/history/drakebook.html 11/14/99

Pirates are almost the complete the opposite of heroes. These men are notorious for death and destruction, murder and mayhem. This is what the Spanish thought of Sir Francis Drake. Drake has many of the attributes of a pirate. One of these attributes is destruction. Sir Francis Drake looted many ships and harbors, taking what he wanted and discarding what he didn't. One such raid was on Nombre de Dios. This raid on Spain's biggest gold port in South America would have been successful if it were not for his men running as soon as he got injured and fainted. Drake also showed cruelty toward his own crew. At one time even going so far as to sink a ship with its full crew on board.

Sir Francis Drake was an opportunist from the very beginning. Drake started by smuggling goods to Spain. The Spanish gladly bought whatever

Some common words found in the essay are:
Francis Drake, Spain Spanish, Pacific Drake, El Draque, South America, Tavistock Growing, sir francis, Sir Francis, Drake English, sir francis drake, francis drake, Heritage Dictionary, England Pirates, line available, drake english, 11/16/99 ·, · sir francis, · sir, pacific drake, drake line available, drake line, hero pirate, 11/14/99 ·, francis drake line, 11/16/99 · sir,
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