Who was an English sea captain and privateer of the Elizabethan era, carrying out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition and claiming California for the English? A: Francis Drake
West Country men The West Country men were a group of wealthy individuals in Elizabethan England who advocated the English colonisation of Ireland, attacks on the Spanish Empire and overseas colonial expansion. The group included Humphrey Gilbert, Walter Raleigh, Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane. Several of these prominent figures originated in the far southwest of Britain known as the Westcountry, particularly associated with the sea ports of Devon including Plymouth.
Preston Somers Expedition The Preston Somers Expedition or the Capture of Caracas was a series of military actions that took place from late May till the end of July 1595 during the Anglo–Spanish War. An English expedition headed by George Somers and sailed to the Spanish Main initially intending to support Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition which set out at the same time. After failing to meet, the expedition went on their own venture along the coast of the Spanish Province of Venezuela and captured the fort at La Guaira before they headed South inland. After making an arduous trek through the mountains the English were able to outmanoeuvre the waiting Spanish force and captured the colonial city of Caracas. After the failure of a ransom they plundered and torched the city and then went to capture Coro before they made a brief excursion to the Spanish West Indies. Despite the challenges they faced the expedition was a success for the English who were able to return unmolested with some profit having set out as only a supporting expedition.