In 1567, one John Hawkins, an Englishman, sailed into Veracruz harbor with nine ships and a secret cargo of African slaves whom he planned to sell there, despite laws in New Spain banning trade with foreigners. He and his ships were cornered, however, by a Spanish fleet which sank all but two of the ships. On these, Hawkins and his cousin Francis Drake managed to escape. Their fellows, who hadn't been so lucky, were captured and pressed into labor, or else burned as heretics by the Inquisition. Drake must have remembered his lost comrades when he later effected his devastating raids on the Spanish Indies and became the bane of the Spanish Empire.
But what if Francis Drake hadn't escaped the clutches of the Spaniards at Veracruz, and was forced to become a laborer, or else a martyr? What sort of effects would there be for the Spanish, and for England, had El Draque and his fleet never terrorized the Indies?
But what if Francis Drake hadn't escaped the clutches of the Spaniards at Veracruz, and was forced to become a laborer, or else a martyr? What sort of effects would there be for the Spanish, and for England, had El Draque and his fleet never terrorized the Indies?