History and Propaganda
Like The Cruelty, Davenant's Drake was not only tolerated but even encouraged by Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, for its value as anti-Spanish propaganda. (The English had been at war with Spain since 1655.) Davenant exploited Drake as an English national hero and a symbol of an expansionist foreign policy. He drew his narrative materials from Philip Nichols's Sir Francis Drake Revived (1626; reprinted 1652).
Davenant's text deals with Drake's adventures on the northeastern coast of South America during his expedition of 1572. At one point, Davenant shows Drake allying himself with the "Symerons" or Cimaroons, escaped slaves of Surinam who had formed their own independent society. (Though Davenant's Drake has been classified as "pseudo-history," this part of the story is based on fact — though Davenant displaces the Cimaroons to Peru.) As in The Cruelty, the English in Drake are presented as a humane alternative to the brutal and rapacious Spanish.
Read more about this topic: The History Of Sir Francis Drake
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