Lost Colony Of Roanoke Essay

What happened to the settlers of the Lost Colony of Roanoke? This is one of the greatest mysteries of history and there is little evidence that provides the answer to this question. In August of 1587, 115 English settlers formed a colony on Roanoke Island, an island along the East coast of North Carolina. This would have been the first permanent English settlement in the New World. After establishing the settlement, John White, the appointed governor of Roanoke, was chosen to return to England to get more supplies later that year. Fast forward three years: John White finally returned to Roanoke only to find that everyone is gone.
There are many theories from academics in various disciplines including archaeologists, historians, and researchers.

Naturally the English settlers encountered the indigenous inhabitants of North America on their expeditions. While some Native Americans were peaceful and welcoming, others were not. The non-peaceful ones felt imposed upon and were unhappy that the settlers were using up their good land and resources. The Secotans were an example of a tribe that was violent and had bad relationships with the English. The tensions and hostility levels were high between these groups. Due to these poor relationships, there are theories that these indigenous people attacked Roanoke and killed the colonists. It isn’t shocking that the Secotans could have wanted to be rid of the English, as they might have still been angry at the previous group to come to Roanoke. This also could explain the etchings because the colonists could have been trying to say that the survivors of the attacks went to live on Croatoan Island, maybe with the Croatoans or possibly that the Croatoans attacked them instead. Opposing this theory, there are theories involving peaceful brotherhood between the natives and

It is informed by parts of the various theories discussed above. Her theory follows: The Secotan tribe attacked Roanoke. They did this because they disliked the colonists taking up valuable land and resources, which is why the 2nd group of colonists, who came in 1585, were driven out. The attack is the “crisis” that prompted the colonists to split up and flee, as instructed by the English authorities. The abandoned colony was then pillaged which is why none of the settlers buildings or items were left there. The survivors of the Secotan attack split up into groups. One of the groups went to Croatoan Island, and one group went west, inland to the area of Site X and Mettaquem. There could be more groups than just two. The groups then assimilated into the Native American tribes who lived where the colonists went, one of the groups being the Croatoans. This explains both etchings (“CRO” and “CROATOAN”) because the etchings were to tell John White and his crew that a group of them had gone to live on Croatoan Island with the Croatoan Native Americans. The assimilations also explain the English artifacts found at old Native American sites. This author thinks that her theory is the most rational because it accounts for all of the evidence found and all of the facts known about the colony and colonists. However, the mystery