The Roanoke Colony

3820 Words8 Pages

The Roanoke colony was located on the Roanoke Island, in Dare County. This is where North Carolina is located today. In 1584, explorers Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe were the first Europeans to set view the island. They were sent to that particular region by Sir Walter Raleigh with the assignment of exploring the extensive sounds and estuaries in hunt of an ideal location for settlement. Barlowe wrote bright information of Roanoke Island, and when the explorers returned to England a year afterward with two Natives, Manteo and Wanchese, all of London was abuzz with chat of the New World’s wonders.Queen Elizabeth, impressed with the results of the reconnaissance voyage, knighted Raleigh as a reward. The new ground was named “Virginia” in respect of the Virgin Queen, and the next year, Raleigh sent a gathering of 100 militia, miners and scientists to Roanoke Island. It was a late 16th century attempt for England to establish a permanent settlement. Queen Elizabeth 1 was queen at the time. The attempt was put together and financed by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Sir Gilbert drowned in his attempt to colonize St.John’s, Newfoundland. His half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh, gained his deceased brothers charter. He would execute the details of the charter through his delegates Ralph Lane and Richard Greenville. Greenville was a distant cousin of Raleigh. Raleigh’s charter specified that he needed to establish a colony in the North America continent, or he would lose his right to colonization. Raleigh and Elizabeth hoped that the colony would provide riches from the New World and a location from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain. Raleigh never had visited the continent of North America, although he did lead e...

... middle of paper ...

..." National Geographic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0302_040302_lostcolony_2.html Web. December 1, 2014).

"AncientWorlds." AncientWorlds. http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Journals/Journal/970878‎ Web. December 1, 2014).

"Early Croatian Contacts with America and the Mystery of the Croatans." Early Croatian Contacts with America and the Mystery of the Croatans. http://www.studiacroatica.org/jcs/01/0103.htm Web. December 1, 2014).

Miller, Lee. Roanoke: solving the mystery of the Lost Colony. New York: Penguin, 2006.

"Ronaoke ." Lost Colony. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1090114/posts?page=64‎ Web. November 20, 2014).

"The Search for the First English Settlement In America." Gary Carl Grassl,The Search for the First English Settlement In America: America's First (Johns Hopkins University Press) 7, no. 35 (2011): 12.

Show More
Related

  • The Abandoned Colony by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    Summary: This book starts well before Roanoke was founded. It detailed how, at the time, England was not a superpower. Spain and France were the most dominant of the European countries, but internal conflicts in France made it weak, while Spain was getting extremely wealthy off of Indians and the Aztecs. England saw this as an opportunity to expand into the New World, and had Walter Raleigh head the trip. The main goals of the colony were to expanding their efforts of privateering, with a sustainable colony as an after thought. It was initial devised as a way to intercept merchant ships more effectively from other countries (mainly Spain) and be a short-term base of operations. Most if not all of the men brought over had only military experience, so they struggled with building proper housing, getting clean water, and growing crops. Ultimately, conflict erupted when the Indians grew weary of giving such a large amount of supplies to the colonists, and many high ranking officials died on the Indian side. The settlement was abandoned due to lack of supplies. After this unsuccessful attempt, John White lead another group intended to be a permanent settlement to Roanoke, and the prototype of plantations he u...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Voyage Long And Strange By Tony Horwitz

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    The extend of most American’s knowledge of early America is of Columbus’ discovery of America for Europe in 1492 and the landing of the Mayflower in Plymouth in 1620. This was true of A Voyage Long and Strange author, Tony Horwitz. Horwitz felt as if there were pieces missing in his picture of early America and set out on a journey that spanned from Canada to the Dominican Republic. The novel starts out with a prologue of Horwitz talking about his own reasons for wanting to learn more of early America and then is broken into three sections Discovery, Conquest, and Settlement. Each section discusses another period in early American history starting with first contact in Vinland and ending with the landing in Plymouth.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Jamestown Vs Plymouth

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Differences between Jamestown vs. Plymouth Jamestown and Plymouth were both founded by early European settlers that wanted to find a new land in which they could gain personal benefits, although each of the two groups had similar goals and their entire foundation of being in the new land was completely different. The settlers from both colonies were very similar in their way of living but a few differences such as reasons for colonization, religious differences, and relations with the Indians set them apart. Economic motivation is what inclined the English to colonize in Virginia. Queen Elizabeth I provided a patent to Walter Raleigh, leading to the organization of the move to Virginia. The first try in Virginia was the Roanoke colony,

    Read More

  • Plymouth and Jamestown: Government, Power, and Survival

    469 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Jamestown and Plymouth settlements were both settled in the early 1600's. Plymouth and Jamestown were located along the shoreline in Massachusetts and Virginia, respectively. Although both had different forms of government, they both had strong leadership. Jamestown was controlled by the London Company, who wanted to profit from the venture, while the Puritans who settled at Plymouth were self-governed with an early form of democracy and settled in the New World to gain religious freedom. John Smith took charge in efforts to organize Jamestown, and at Plymouth William Bradford helped things run smoothly.

    Read More

  • The Mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke

    2870 Words  | 6 Pages

    Exploration of the east coast with intentions of finding land appropriate for building a colony began in the early part of 1584 by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been issued a charter to do so by England's Queen Elizabeth I. After significant exploration, the expedition led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe touched the area of what is now known as the North Carolina coast in the vicinity of Hatteras. It was Roanoke Island that was finally chosen as the site of colonization because of what they thought was a convenient placement ten miles off the mainland of North Carolina. In fact, the final report presented to Raleigh by the two explorers boasted of a bountiful land inhabited by friendly and benevolent natives.

    Read More

  • Roanoke and Jamestown

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first effort by the English to establish a colony in the New World was when Sir Walter Raleigh issued a charter to establish a colony at Roanoke. It was the responsibility of Raleigh to make the necessary provisions to complete the journeys to the New World and accomplish the goals of the charter. This entailed hiring ship captains and their crews, recruiting possible colonists, purchasing food and other supplies, and finding those who would invest capital in the missions. Raleigh however did not actively participate in the journeys to Roanoke Island; he was just the organizer and major financier.

    Read More

  • Roanoke Essay

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    This all began when Sir Walter Raleigh, a wealthy courtier, sought-after permission from Queen Elizabeth I to establish a colony in North America. On March 25th 1584 he got a charter to start the colony. Raleigh funded and authorized the expedition .He sent two explorers by the names of Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to claim land for the queen,they departed on the west side of England on April 27th . On May 10 they arrived at the Canaries, a series of islands near the northwest coast of mainland Africa. They arrived at the West Indies on June 10 and stayed there for twelve days then left. On July 4 the explorers saw North American land, they sailed for nine days more looking for an entryway to the sea or river and found one on June 13th. They then set off to explore the land and place it on the map . After they went back two additional journeys there followed after. One group arrived in 1585 and went there for...

    Read More

  • Roanoke Theory

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Roanoke was a small colony on an Island on the coast of North Carolina settled in the late 16th century by Queen Elizabeth I. It was governed by John

    Read More

  • Disappearance of Roanoke: The Lost Colony

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    When most people think of the early settlement they think of the first successful settlement, Jamestown, but this was not the first settlement in the New World. The settlement at Roanoke was the first attempt to colonize the New World. The settlement at Roanoke is often referred to as the “Lost Colony” because of its unusual disappearance. The reason people often do not know about the first settlement at Roanoke because it was abandoned, forgotten, and lost. The Roanoke settlement was located on an island on the northern coast of what is now North Carolina. A few more than a hundred English men first settled the colony at Roanoke Island in 1584. The conditions were harsh and between the lack of supplies and the troubles with natives of the area the settlement was all but doomed from the start. Three years after the initial settlement was founded, in 1587, more English arrived this time there were one hundred and ten colonists that consisted not just of men, but of women and children as well. Women and children were brought to the New World so that the settlement could become a fully functioning society. Of course this idea obviously did not work out as planned. The war going on in Europe between the English and the Spanish caused a delay of more supplies and people. If there had not been a prolonged delay in the resupplying process the entire course of American history may not have been what we know it to be now. If the war had started any earlier or later then people might have known more about the original first settlement of the New World. All the evidence left when people returned to Roanoke following the war in Europe was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a tree. Historians believe these to be marks left by the Croatoan Indians...

    Read More

  • The Chesapeake Colonies and New England Colonies

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1607, King James I. granted a charter to the Virginia Company which allowed them to start a colony in the New World. This colony was named Virginia after the virgin queen, Queen Elizabeth I, and was located along the Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia Company sought to build a permanent settlement, and was successful in establishing Jamestown. Virginia was also home to nearly 14,000 Algonquin speaking Native Americans who were united under the Powhatan Confederacy lead by Chief Powhattan. Other Chesapeake Bay colonies include North Carolina, whose population became dominant in African Americans with a large amount of settlers from Barbados, and Maryland. Maryland was established by the Calvert Family after King Charles I. granted 10 million acres of land to the family. Maryland became the only British colony to ever have a Catholic minority, and the population of Maryland also consisted of indentured servants, slaves, and many farmers. The Chesapeake Bay was a very hot area a...

    Read More

  • Beyond 1492-Native Reactions to Invasion

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Axtell, James. “Native Reactions to the Invasion of North America.” Beyond 1492: Encounters in Colonial North America. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. 97-121. Print.

    Read More

  • Lost Colony of Roanoke

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1587 a group of men, women, and children led by Sir John White set sail for America and landed on a North Carolina island called Roanoke (Shirley 36). However, the colonists arrived in North America at the wrong time of the year. Planting season was too far gone to attempt planting, growing, and reaping food, and the need for food was widespread in the colony (Worth 25). In the months subsequent to the colonists landing, circumstances required that John White would return to England to obtain more food and other much needed supplies. The colonists remained to fend for themselves, and that was the last John White saw of the colonists.

    Read More

  • Roanoke Island

    428 Words  | 1 Pages

    The queen was very pleased about what was being done. She was so please that she granted Raleigh a patent for all the lands he could occupy. He called the new land Virginia in honor of the Virgin Queen.

    Read More

  • What Challenges did Explorers and Colonists Face in what Became North America from the 1580's to the 1630's

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first settlement was built by the English and consisted of 117 men, women, and children on Roanoke Island; which is off the coast of North Carolina. Within three years all of the colonists had disappeared leaving no trace of what happened to them. Analysis of tree rings has shown that Roanoke Island had the worst three-year drought in the past 800 years during the time they settled and disappeared. This is just one of the many challenges that colonists faced.

    Read More

  • The Colonies

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?

    Read More

More about The Roanoke Colony

Open Document