British Empire Padlet by Sarah Mandie

"Since the time of Henry VII, Englishmen had dreamt of finding an 'El Dorado' of their own, in the hope that England too could become rich on American metals. Time and Time again they had drawn a blank."

2023-07-21 02:35:18 UTC

Motivations for piracy, Niall Ferguson

John Cabots Patent

mandies — 2023-07-21 02:35:42 UTC

"full and free authority, faculty and power to sail to all parts, regions and coasts of the eastern, western and northern sea, under our banners, flags and ensigns"

Morgan

2023-07-21 02:38:37 UTC

"The English government not only winked at Morgan's activity; it positively encouraged him"

Niall Ferguson

2023-07-21 02:39:40 UTC

"Morgan and his fellow 'buccaneers' were thieves, trying to steal the proceeds of someone else's Empire."

2023-07-21 02:40:37 UTC

"Encompassing Peru and Mexico, the wealthiest and most populous territories on the American continent."

Morgan

2023-07-21 02:42:29 UTC

"In 1668 he (Morgan) attacked El Puerto del Principe in Cuba, Portobello in present day Venezuela"

Niall Ferguson

2023-07-21 02:42:37 UTC

"England's conception of Empire was thus formed in reaction to that of her Spanish rival. England's empire was based on Protestantism; Spain's rested on Popery." ( Niall Ferguson. Empire)

Ecclesiastical Appeals Act

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:45:54 UTC

1533 was the legal foundation for the English Reformation. This made accepting papal authority, or following papal rulings in church, faith or other matters illegal.

"...this realm of England is an empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one supreme head and king"

Declaring an Empire

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:46:07 UTC

Privateering

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:47:35 UTC

"robbing the Spaniard thus became a matter of strategy"

Ferguson

Nial Fergusson

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:49:37 UTC

"The English government not only winked at Morgan's activity, but they actively encouraged it."

Virigina Charter 1606

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:50:24 UTC

Union of the Crowns

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:50:35 UTC

1485 - 1509

mandies — 2024-08-01 01:51:47 UTC

1509-1547

mandies — 2024-08-01 02:01:07 UTC

1558-1603

mandies — 2024-08-01 02:01:39 UTC

1603-1625

mandies — 2024-08-01 02:02:00 UTC

"The influx of money from the sea dogs' raiding led to an increase in the naval capacity of England, which ultimately helped to ward off the Spanish Armada in 1588"

2025-07-29 01:02:54 UTC

"The expansion of English control in the Caribbean relied on the security that English pirates provided."

2025-07-29 01:07:57 UTC

2025-07-29 01:08:37 UTC

"Piracy can be seen as a mercantilist policy"

(Hetherington, 2021)

Scott Hetherington

2025-07-29 01:09:36 UTC

While privateering and piracy were legally different, in practice they were the same thing.

Elizabeth I as a Political Strategist

2025-07-29 01:14:59 UTC

“Elizabeth was a consummate politician, a ruler who understood that image, symbolism, and caution were as important as action.”

John Guy

Piracy and the Law

2025-07-29 01:16:36 UTC

“Piracy was essential to the legal development of empire.”

-Lauren Benton

Treaty of Etaples (1492)

2025-07-29 01:19:20 UTC

Elizabeth's sea dogs

2025-07-29 01:21:37 UTC

"Some years the profit from privateering even exceeded the mid-16th century CE annual income of England".

(Cartwright, 2020)

Piracy and exploration

2025-07-29 01:23:19 UTC

"Their voyages took them to blank spaces on their maps. Recording what they found in these spaces contributed to future plans for British imperial expansion".

(Hetherington, 2021)

2025-07-29 01:24:25 UTC

"From the robber economy of Elizabeth’s sea dogs to the establishment of the Bank of England, piracy had served a purpose in the growth of the English Empire."

End of Piracy/Privateering

2025-07-29 01:29:58 UTC

In 1707 the British empire was at it's peak with a currency that dwarfed other European empires. Due to this more rouge pirates emerged than English privateers which was now a political and financial liability leading to Mary II and William III outlawing piracy to make a "new power that looked for legitimate policies to increase its standing". (Hetherington)

2025-07-29 22:45:16 UTC

"He blew with his winds and they were scattered" - commemorative medal 1588

Elizabeth blaming the pope for the war

2025-07-29 22:51:50 UTC

"The intentions of the Pope are ... to invade this realm (England), and to gain the Crown and the realm with its
wealth to devour it."

Elizabeth

Elizabeth as an Opportunist

2025-07-29 23:51:11 UTC

"However, an opportunity lay in the fact that Spain’s resources were floating across the Atlantic from its colonies. The tide in English fortunes turned when Elizabeth endorsed her official pirates, the sea dogs, to bring some of that wealth back to England"

Hetherington

The Act of Supremacy

mandies — 2025-08-19 00:09:06 UTC

1534 Henry VIII declares himself the "supreme head of the church of England"

Sir Francis Drake - A protestant privateer

mandies — 2025-08-19 00:20:17 UTC

"A passionate Protestant, he came of age when the brand-new Reformation was still being threatened by the Catholic church."

Winchester

More on Drake and his Protestantism

mandies — 2025-08-19 00:23:38 UTC

Growing up in a period of intense religious strife, his anti-Catholic sentiment was deeply ingrained. This antagonism aligned neatly with England’s policy of undermining Spanish dominance, especially as Philip II of Spain sought to suppress Protestantism across Europe. Dean Swift