Sir Francis Drake

The city soon fell on hard times. With the conquest of the Aztecs and Inca complete, many of the new settlers preferred to go to Mexico or South America and the city stagnated. In January of 1586, notorious pirate Sir Francis Drake was able to easily capture the city with less than 700 men: most of the inhabitants of the city had fled when they heard Drake was coming. Drake stayed for a month, until he had received a ransom of 25,000 ducats for the city, and when he left he and his men carried off everything they could, including the church bells. Santo Domingo was a smoldering ruin by the time he left.

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