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Essay Lost Colony of Roanoke

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For centuries, the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island has been a controversial issue. Many theories exist that explain the disappearance of the colony. Some theories suggest that the colonists left the island to live with friendly neighboring Indians. Others suggest that a hurricane wiped out the colony or that a savage Indian tribe massacred them. The possibility of disease destroying them is also a debated topic. However, evidence indicates that the men and women left behind on Roanoke Island did not die because of massacre, disease, or starvation but went to live with the Croatoan Indians. 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…show more content…
Furthermore, physical proof indicates that after John White left the colony to return to England, the colonists intermarried with the Indians. According to David Beers Quinn, author of Set Fair for Roanoke, the colonists and the Indians did intermarry (350). The colonists intermarrying with the Indians would cause some of the offspring to have genetic traits unusual for Indians, such as blue eyes or light colored hair. In his article about the lost colony, Scott Dawson writes that an explorer named John Lawson discovered blue eyed Indians dressed in English apparel; Dawson also says that the Indians claimed to have “White” descendants (6). Therefore, by making Manteo lord of Roanoke and intermarrying with the Indians, the colonists proved their strong relationship with the Croatoans.
Upon his return, John White met with no indications of the deaths of the colonists. Linda Kramer states that John White and the colonists agreed that in the event of leaving Roanoke, the colonists in a noticeable location would engrave the name of the place to which they were departing and that an engraving of a Maltese cross above the name of the location would signal leaving because of danger (3). When White returned to the colony after three years of being absent, he discovered one of the signals the colonists promised to engrave if they left. The Article “Lost: An American Colony” describes what
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