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Not everything is black and white. People are not either all good or all bad.
Want a perfect example? Take John Hawkins. Okay, now put him back.
Depending on who you were and what your dealings were with the guy, you might view Hawkins
as a heartless villain…
or as a heroic adventurer. Guess you could call him a polarizing figure.
So who was this dude and what was his deal? For starters, Hawkins was the cousin of Sir
Francis Drake… who was, among other things, a pirate.
Maybe not the best role model a kid could have.
In 1561, Hawkins made his first journey to the West Indies.
Before long, he had hijacked a Portuguese ship, stolen their slaves, and then sold them
in the Caribbean settlements.
There must have been something in the Hawkins family genes.
John was, in fact, the first person to enter England into the Slave Trade.
Which might look impressive on his resume, depending on whom you ask.
Hawkins made himself a fortune in the slave business.
Some of the trading he handled himself, although he also formed an organization of well-to-do
merchants and traders to conduct some of the transactions for him.
Not content to simply make things difficult on the enslaved…
Hawkins decided to give England’s international foes a hard time as well.
He fought in the Battle of Vera Cruz and Mexico…
… where his fleet was severely depleted and he lost two ships. It’s a major bummer
whenever you lose ships because… well, there are usually people on them.
Hawkins quickly bounced back from this bit of embarrassing entanglement, and went on
to add spy and war hero to his ever-expanding resume.
We’re surprised he didn’t also add “four years of ballet training at the Joffrey,”
to impress people. He then became an official Elizabethan Privateer,
making him a legally approved pirate – just like his good ol’ cousin Drake.
He was presented with a Letter of Marque, legalizing his open raids on Spanish and Portuguese
ships. Although raids are never quite as much fun
when you’ve gotten the thumbs up from your government.
For Hawkins and his fellow pirates, it was all about the ***.
The quickest and easiest way for England to profit from the New World was not to establish
its own settlements, but to steal from Spanish gold ships.
It was kinda like how you convince your little brother to mow the lawn and then swoop in
and take all the credit.
Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. But then the hero Hawkins made another appearance.
He assisted in foiling an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth’s life.
Hawkins was a legit spy… he had stayed under deep cover within the enemy ranks, only revealing
his true loyalties at the end. Things came to a head with the Spanish.
There was a big sea-battle, from which Hawkins and his men emerged victorious.
He was knighted for his participation and bravery in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
He even restrained himself from selling a single slave during the battle.
Wealthy merchant. Pirate. Spy. Warrior.
Hawkins was viewed as a multifaceted hero in England and was rewarded for his contributions…
… but you might see his actions in a different light if you were a Native African whom he
sold into slavery…
… or a Spanish settler or merchant captain who was robbed or killed by him.