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John Hawkins — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Second slave voyage (1564–1565)

Hawkins persuaded Queen Elizabeth I to back his second slave voyage and secured investors from her court, these included Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, with William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley involved as a supervisor. The queen allowed Hawkins to charter one of her ships for the trip, the 700 Ton Jesus of Lübeck and for it to fly her flag, the Royal Standard. He set sail from Plymouth on 18 October 1564 with four vessels, Jesus of Lübeck, and 3 ships of his own. He took over 400 people from Africa and enslaved them, some he bought from the Portuguese, others he kidnapped directly by raiding the coast, he left Africa on 29 January 1565.

Upon arriving at Borburata on April 3, 1565, Hawkins was informed that he could not trade without an authorised license from the governor. He requested permission to sell some of the ‘lean and sicke Negreos’ to help alleviate the burden on his ships and enable the sick to recover. After days of negotiations, local officials finally consented to purchase a few enslaved individuals while waiting for the governor's decision. He then travelled to Rio de la Hacha where he used force to ensure he secured the deals he thought fair. He sold 300 enslaved people, clothing, linen and wine. He was paid in gold, silver and other precious items and took further orders to sell enslaved people on a future voyage.

After completing his business, Hawkins prepared to return to England. Needing water, he sailed to the French colony of Fort Caroline in Florida. Finding them in need, he traded his smallest ship and a quantity of provisions to them for cannon, powder, and shot, that they no longer needed, as they were preparing to return to France. The provisions gained from Hawkins enabled the French to survive and prepare to move back home as soon as possible.

The voyage returned a profit reported at 60%. Hawkins brought back to England the sweet potato and tobacco, which was initially used as a narcotic; smoking did not gain in popularity until years later.

Third slave voyage (1567–1569)

The Queen Elizabeth had forbidden Hawkins from going to sea but she relented, and he arranged a third slave voyage, departing Plymouth on 2 October 1567 with his second cousin Francis Drake as part of the crew. Arriving at the African coast, he could not secure enslaved people with ease because the local Portuguese agents were unwilling to trade with him. He attempted to capture and kidnap the inhabitants of a village on the Cap-Vert peninsula, near modern-day Dakar. The unprovoked raid was repulsed, Hawkins was wounded and eight of his men died slowly and painfully from wounds from poisoned arrows. Luckily, one of the captured slaves suggested using a clove of garlic as a cure, advising him to apply it to the wound to extract the venom. His next stop was Cacheu, in modern-day Guinea-Bissau, where he captured several trading vessels but was again driven back to his ships by the local Papel people and lancados. Hawkins recruited a local king in Sierra Leone to help him forcibly kidnap people, capturing over 500 people. On 7 February 1568, he set sail across the Atlantic Ocean to sell these people. He sold some of his captives in Margarita Province and others in Borburata, forcing residents again to buy his cargo. This included some of the 400 people he had captured and enslaved in West Africa. After careen their ships Francis Drake receives from Hawkins the command of the Judith. At Rio de la Hacha, the governor refused him permission to trade, so Francis Drake shot at his house and Hawkins took over the town in a battle, before selling the enslaved people.

The Battle of San Juan de Ulúa was fought between English privateers and Spanish forces at San Juan de Ulúa. The English fleet consisting of six armed merchant ships under Hawkins had been trading alongside the Spanish with the cooperation of local Spanish officials. The central Spanish authorities considered this to be illegal smuggling. Hawkins' ships were attacked unexpectedly, Drake fled on Judith and Hawkins was defeated. His remaining ship Minions limped home with only around 15 crew. The expedition, unfortunately, was financially devastating since most of his crew and supplies were destroyed. His reputation as a merchant took a hit, so to regain status and to get compensation, Hawkins wrote a short pamphlet about the violent attacks of the Spanish. This resulted in a multitude of depositions from March to April of 1569 before the High Court of the Admiralty from which Hawkins was able to benefit."