The Elizabethan age: exploration and Sir Francis Drake

Study note

The Elizabethan period was a time of growing patriotism. English explorers sought new trade routes and challenged Spain in the Americas. Sir Francis Drake, one of the commanders against the Spanish Armada, was a founder of England's naval tradition, and his ship the Golden Hind was one of the first to sail right around the world. In Elizabeth I's time, English settlers first began to colonise the eastern coast of America.

Memory tip: Elizabethan exploration: Sir Francis Drake and the Golden Hind circumnavigate the world.