Roanoke Colony

The Lost Colony- English settlers first came to the island of Roanoke in 1585. The colony that they established ended up failing. They started battling American Indians but did not have enough supplies. John White was sent back to England for supplies. When he returned to Roanoke Island in 1590 everyone was gone.

The Lost Colony of Roanoke, one of the greatest mysteries of American history. The story takes place during the time of America’s birth when English families first began to trickle into the new land of opportunity and adventure. You may have been told Jamestown was the first to stake the English flag on American soil. Well, I am here to tell you, you have been lied to. On the 22nd of July, 1587, 120 English colonists settled into the new world off the coast of North Carolina (Balan). They named their colony Roanoke and began to lay foundations for the first English settlement in America, but life was difficult for the colonists and with hurricane season on the horizon, John White, the governor, and leader of Roanoke set sail to England for

They had a strange relationship, since many of the colonists respected the Indian’s way of life and were amazed by how they lived. Many attributed their strength to the tobacco that they consumed. Others saw them as savages and wanted to convert them to the European way of life. The colonists ended up waging war with them and killed some Croatoans. White went back to England to request supplies, and when he came back, the colony was abandoned, with evidence that they joined the Croatoans. “CRO” was written on a tree, a sign that the colonists left to tell him where they had gone. However, they were to carve a cross over the name if they were forced to vacate, but there was no such mark. An entrance post also had the word “Croatoan” carved into it, also without any crosses. Big items like weapons were left behind, but all smaller supplies were gone. The book uses Professor David Quinn’s theory to explain what happened. The bulk of the colony moved to the Chesapeake Bay and lived in peace while the rest stayed behind to guard the heavier equipment. However, the Spanish threat and Indian hostility forced them to leave. They were the ones who left the notes. Rumors continued to spin when Indians told stories to the people of Jamestown in the Chesapeake Bay about whites living with the Indians. Unfortunately, White, Ralegh, and everyone else searching for the colony never found them. Even after hearing of why Roanoke failed,

White and his assistants all agreed that one of them needed to go back to England to secure additional supplies for the colony. The one chosen to go was John White. On August 27, 1587, White set sail for England in the smaller of the ships with a crew of about fifteen men. His journey was a treacherous one due to an accident at sea that injured twelve of his crew of fifteen , virtually disabling the ship. However, thought to be a perilous journey, White finally arrived with news of the city of Raleigh. But there would not be a return voyage in six months as expected.

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

Queen Elizabeth I desired to establish a permanent English settlement in America, known then as "the New World." In the summer of 1587 a group of nearly 120 men and women from England arrived on Roanoke Island, one of a chain of barrier islands now known as the Outer Banks, off the coast of what is now known as North Carolina. This group of settlers set sail from England with the mission of making the Queen's wishes a reality.

On July 22, 1587, long before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock, 117 hopeful colonists from England landed ashore onto a tiny island along the coast of what is today North Carolina. The group unpacked and founded a settlement, Roanoke Island. Then they vanished without a trace.

The Roanoke was an important part in Virginia history, it was the first attempt for a permanent English settlement in the new world. It was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in the 1585 and he brought 100 colonists with him to Virginia and left them behind. Walter also had brought his daughter which soon gave birth to the first English child born in America. Her name was Virginia Dare. He had to go back to England because he had to fight in the Spanish war. He sent a fleet of ships in between the 3 years he was fighting but they did not make it to the settlement, instead they landed on a different island and the captain of the ship refused to go any farther than that island. When Raleigh returned 3 years later the only clues that him and the colonists that came with him found were the words CROA and CROATON carved into 2 trees. Before Raliegh had left them 3 years earlier he told them if there was was any trouble then to carve a cross in a tree. They searched all the trees around but did not find any crosses carved. But recently they have done a tree test on the wood that the word CROATON was carved into and they figured out that when he was gone there was extreme drought conditions that were going on while Raleigh was gone. Nobody really knows what happened to the settlement but there has been very educated guesses from historians. One guess came from a historian studying this subject ”That the croaton indian tribe 50 miles away might have something to do with it.” But the

The lost colony of Roanoke was a colony on an island off of the North Carolina coast. It is now located in the Outer Banks. Their governor returned to England for supplies, his return was delayed by a war between England and Spain. He returned three years later and found nothing but the buildings they built. It is believed the colonists split into many smaller groups and unified with local American indians. The main indian tribe they joined was the croatoins. There are many reasons why they left. We will explore the reasons why they left and where they went.

“Croatoan” was carved into a tree.John white told the colonists before he left for England

The Lost Colony of Roanoke may have vanished into the ever changing culture of Indians or was killed by leaving the colony disbanded and scattered. Even though, the colony contained hundreds of people all of them disappeared. Furthermore, the name “Lost Colony” was given to a english establishment that sailed to the Island of Roanoke in America (“Roanoke Colony). The colony consisted of 117 people-- seventeen woman, ninety-one men and nine children (ABC-CLIO). Also, their leader, Raleigh White, had to sail back to sail back to England due to the lack if food and imminent starvation of the colony(“The Lost Colony).

Island). In 1587, John White made his second attempt at settling a colony at Roanoke. The trip

Colonists arrived on Roanoke Island in 1587, with the hopes of becoming the first English colony in America (Bernstein 2:55). The colony was to be governed by John White and was composed of English families who wished to make a new home for themselves, among the colonists was John White 's daughter, Virginia Dare. Several months later the colony 's governor sailed back to England for supplies. The shortage of supplies was due to skirmishes with the Natives, loss of supplies due to storms, and with the time for planting over the colonists had no way to find enough food. John White promised to return as quickly as possible, but due to unforeseen circumstances was unable to return as soon as was expected. Three years later, John White returned only to find

Imagine, a small colony of about 110 people peacefully getting settled into their new lives in North America only to vanish three years later without a trace. This was a reality for John White as the only thing he came back to in the colony of Roanoke was the word “CROATOAN” and the mystery of their disappearance.

After examining all the theories I support the theory that the colonists traveled to Croatoan Island and then integrated into the native american tribe. It is a reasonable theory with a lot of evidence. First of all are the carvings on the palisades that say CROATOAN and CRO, but there was no cross found indicating danger. Then all of the houses and forts were gone. There were no bodies found, so they can’t have died or been killed. We know that John White was gone for 3 years, so that gave them plenty of time to pack up and leave. Also we know that Croatoan was a familiar island to the English, since it was the home town of Manteo. They tried to establish a colony there. Also the colonists in 1585 had a feast there.