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The Mystery of the Lost Colony

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For centuries the disappearance of the Roanoke colonists has been one of the great mysteries in the historical community. Within the span of three years, 120 colonists disappeared from an English colony on Roanoke Island, a small piece of land off the coast of North Carolina. The evidence left behind barely gives us a clue as to what could have happened to the entire colony. With the testimony of John White, the leader of the colony that left the settlement to get more supplies, and what little evidence there is, there have been many theories as to what actually caused the disappearance. When trying to make a logical conclusion about the disappearance of the 120 inhabitants of the colony at Roanoke, there are many factors to consider. …show more content…

The purpose of this overtly hostile action was to obtain information from the chief about the defensive capabilities of the surrounding Indian nations. This action only served to alienate the tribe and force the settlers to depend on the fruits of their own labors… within months the first Roanoke colony was in disarray and the settlers were near starving (Croatoan).
The colony barely lasted until Sir Francis Drake’s fleet sailed by in 1586 when Drake offered supplies or a trip back to their homeland. The settlers, starving and homesick, quickly accept the offer and return to England. Not even a week later a relief ship arrives with supplies to discover the settlement abandoned. The supply ship left fifteen men with a reasonable amount of food before departing (The Settlement). Raleigh’s first colony was an instructive test run for a second, more planned effort. He determined that if the colony was relocated 80 miles north in the Chesapeake Bay shipping would be essentially easier. He also decided to reconfigure the core of the colony by allowing seventeen women, nine children, and two ex-convicts under their new leader. John White was the expeditionary artist during Lane’s colony and

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