Americas First Colony Roanoke Setting the Scene England

America’s First Colony: Roanoke

Setting the Scene England plans to settle the new world. They had seen the profits that Spain and Portugal had made conquering Latin American regions. This begins a race for dominance among the English, Spanish, and French. The English looked further north, towards the Mid-Atlantic region, to be farther away from the Spanish controlled Florida region. A big rise in England’s population increased the need for looking outside of England for people to relocate. This increase in population led to food shortages, and homelessness. Going to America could give these people new hope!

The First Voyage 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh organizes the first English voyage to the New World. Queen Elizabeth gives him the charter (permission to organize a colony, and land settled would belong to England) The Queen liked Raleigh and didn’t want him to go… so he sent Arthur Barlowe (19) and Philip Amadas to lead the expedition. They left in April and arrived on July 4, 1584. They landed at the Pamlico Sound, and anchored at Hatteras Island.

The First Voyage They named the new land “Virginia” in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the virgin queen. They met the Algonquin Indians from Roanoke Island. It was friendly, they had dinner and traded some items. More trade continued, the Algonquin did not see the English as a threat, and wanted an alliance for trade. On the return journey, the leader of the Algonquin sent Manteo and Wanchese back to England with them to learn about their culture.

The First Voyage The leaders gave a glowing review of their newfound land to Raleigh begins putting together a second expedition to officially start the colony. Queen Elizabeth agreed to give a ship to Raleigh for the trip. Manteo and Wanchese came to find very different opinions of English culture.

The Second Voyage 1585: Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane set out on the second journey to Roanoke. Manteo and Wanchese came with them to return home. Thomas Hariot and John White (artist) came to assist. Hariot came to study the culture, White came to illustrate it. The ship ran aground in the Pamlico Sound, which ruined their food supply. The colonists chose a settlement site and called it “Fort Raleigh. ”

The Second Voyage Since the food was gone, they needed the Indians to survive. Manteo urged the Natives to help Wanchese said NO! The Natives decided to give the colonists food. Hospitality was Native American culture. There was no shortage of food anyway. Richard Grenville left for England to get more supplies. Lane was left in command. Colonists were soldiers, not farmers, so they were unproductive.

The Second Voyage The colonists spent too much time looking for gold and not enough time looking for food. Winter came, and they hadn’t even built permanent homes yet. They continued to rely on Natives for food. Spring came, and the Natives were fed up! They were uneasy because of the colonists burning a nearby tribal village over a silver cup. The Natives stopped giving the colonists food, and Lane became very angry… he invited the Native leaders for a conference, and killed them when they arrived.

The Second Voyage Sir Francis Drake arrived a week later. A sudden hurricane blew the ship carrying their supplies out to sea. Ralph Lane (and company) decided to leave with Drake to get back to England. Manteo tagged along. Grenville returned to find the colony abandoned, so he left a few soldier stationed to hold the claim. They were never seen again.

The Third Voyage John White didn’t want to give up. Sir Walter Raleigh planned a new expedition with White as the leader. This time, they sent families instead of just men. He even sent his own daughter, Eleanor Dare and husband Ananias. The new expedition occurred in the spring of 1587 with 110 colonists. They meant to settle farther north (in modern day Maryland). The captain refused to go north because of storms, so they went back to Roanoke.

The Third Voyage This time they began to build homes and farm. August 18, 1587: Virginia Dare is the first English child born in America. Manteo tried to repair Native/Colonist relations, but Wanchese refused. The Croatoan Indians were much friendlier. The colonists planned to trade for food, but the Natives had no food to spare, which caused major problems.

The Third Voyage John White left on the only small boat they had to get supplies and come back. The trip should’ve only taken a few months. When White arrived in England, he found the English at war with Spain, and his ship was taken for the war effort. It took White 3 years to get back to Roanoke Island. When he finally returned, he found the colony destroyed and: The letters CRO carved into a tree CROATOAN was carved on a post. White had told colonists to carve a cross if they were in danger. A hurricane threatened, so White left and never saw his family again. The Lost Colony remains a mystery to this day.