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V. from the Golden Age to the Glorious Revolution

Although most people expected Elizabeth to marry, she never did. She was Teaching Idea known as the Virgin Queen and liked to say that she was “married to England.” Stage an Elizabethan Day. Have groups The period during which reigned is sometimes called the of students do research to find out what Elizabethan Age in recognition of the impact that Elizabeth had on her nation. kind of clothes the Elizabethans wore, The term Elizabethan is used as a noun to designate a person who lived during what they ate, what music they listened that time, e.g., “Elizabethans became used to warnings that the Spanish were to, and what they read. Have the groups about to invade.” It is also used as an adjective: “Elizabethan poets were highly plan a class event to showcase this inventive in their use of imagery.” The Elizabethan Age is especially noted for its information. It could be an event in output of excellent literature. Elizabeth was a great patron of the arts. Elizabethan which students wear costumes, pre- playwrights and poets included William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Christopher pare easy-to-make simulated Marlowe, Sir Phillip Sidney, and Edmund Spenser. Elizabethan dishes, play tapes of Elizabethan music, etc. Or if there is England’s Naval Dominance less time and fewer resources, the “event” could be oral presentations of It was actually Henry VIII who started England on the road to naval suprem- illustrated reports about Elizabethan acy. Although he strengthened the navy, it was Elizabeth who used it to expand times. England’s territory, power, and wealth. Defeat of the Before her death in 1558, Queen Mary I had been married to Philip II, the king of Spain, a staunchly Catholic country. Philip continued to rule in Spain after Mary was succeeded by Elizabeth. Philip and the Spanish refused to accept the annulment of Henry’s first marriage. They believed Henry had done a great wrong by setting aside Catherine of Aragon, and also by breaking with Rome. In 1588, Philip sent an armada, a huge fleet of ships, to battle against and possibly invade England. He had the pope’s blessing to conquer the island and bring it back to the “old religion.” The flotilla of 130 ships carried some 29,000 men and 2,400 pieces of artillery. Philip wanted to end attacks from the pirates Elizabeth was support- ing (like Sir , see below) and remove her from the throne, not only because of her Protestantism but because she was supporting Spain’s enemies in Europe. Spain had been trying to stamp out Protestantism in the area known as the Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands), which it controlled. England had been supporting the reformers. Sir Francis Drake made a surprise raid on part of the fleet before it left its Spanish port and destroyed 30 ships. The Spanish had large, clumsy ships, where- as the English had developed smaller, faster vessels. Rather than fight broadside, the traditional method of naval warfare, the small English ships moved in, fired quickly, and sailed off before the slower Spanish galleons could turn and pursue them. At night, the Spanish ships had to be on the lookout for fire ships. The English would set empty ships afire and set their sails to collide with anchored Spanish ships. Drake destroyed many tons of supplies that were intended for the invasion of England. He joked that he had “singed the beard” of the Spanish king. The biggest help the English received against the Spanish Armada was from nature. A huge storm blew the Spanish fleet off course. Many ships were forced onto the rocky coast of Ireland, where English soldiers shot the half-drowned sailors and soldiers as they dragged themselves ashore. What was left of the fleet turned home to Spain, and Philip gave up all idea of invading England. To the English, their victory seemed to be an indication that God smiled on their

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religion and their nation. They said the defeat of the Armada was due to provi- dence, or God’s supervision, and they called the wind that drove the Spanish Teaching Idea Armada to its defeat the “Protestant Wind.” Students may be confused by the use of the term England sometimes and Just before the defeat of the Armada, Queen Elizabeth made a speech to her Great Britain at other times, so you English soldiers gathered at Tillbury. Here are the most famous lines: want to clarify this. I know I have the body of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and In 1707, was legally stomach of a king—and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn joined to England and Wales by the that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the Act of Union. The term Great Britain borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour should grow is used after that date to refer to the by me, I myself will take up arms—I myself will be your general, judge, larger entity. Prior to 1707, England is and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. the proper term. Even after 1707, Sir Francis Drake England is the correct term if refer- England called its sea captains admirals. But to England’s enemies, the sea cap- ring simply to that nation, such as the tains were called “sea dogs,” or pirates. One of the most famous was Francis Drake. English midlands or the south coast Drake was born into a strong Protestant family and apprenticed on a ship at age of England. Wales had been joined 13. In 1577, Drake sailed west on a voyage sponsored by Queen Elizabeth. The with England in 1536 under Henry VIII. goal was to become the first English expedition to circumnavigate the globe. But Elizabeth mentioned another purpose when she told Drake, “I would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that I have received.” (Recall that the Spanish viewed Elizabeth as an illegitimate child, the product of an invalid sec- ond marriage and the head of a heretical church.) Along the way, Drake left behind two ships, lost another two of his five ships, and had to put down a plot against him. He sailed through the Straits of Magellan and into the Pacific Ocean, where he did battle with terrible storms. He raided Spanish ships and settlements along the way and explored the Pacific coast of North America, including the San Francisco area. He sailed north all the way to Vancouver, hoping to find the Northwest Passage. Then he sailed across the Pacific to the Philippines, on to the Spice Islands, then around the tip of Africa and back to England. When he returned to England in 1580, his ship was filled with Spanish gold and . For his service in behalf of England, Elizabeth knighted him. As Sir Francis Drake, he was an admiral of the fleet that routed the Spanish Armada in 1588. English Exploration and Settlements in North America Teaching Idea During the reign of Elizabeth I, the English attempted their first permanent Make a geography connection by settlement in North America. In 1587, Sir sponsored an expedi- sharing with students some of the tion to America to establish a settlement of 100 English men, women, and chil- names of places (cities, towns, dren. He appointed John White governor. counties, states) in the United The colonists settled on Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina. States that are named after English White reluctantly returned to England for supplies. Several people—colonists kings, queens, and nobles, e.g., and some of the local native people—had already been killed as a result of fight- Virginia (named for the Virgin ing between the two groups. When White arrived in England, he found a coun- Queen, Elizabeth I), Jamestown try braced for an invasion by the Spanish Armada at any moment. No large ships (named for James I), Charleston, were allowed to leave England. It was not until 1590 that White could return to Williamsburg, etc. Roanoke. When he arrived, he found no trace of the settlement or the colonists. A fort stood where the houses had been and carved on a nearby tree were the letters c-r-o-a-t-o-a-n. White thought that this meant that the colonists had either moved to Croatoan Island or had gone inland to the Croatoan Indians. These people had

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