FREE ESSAY ON ROANOKE

ROANOKE

The very first effort to colonize The New World was attempted by the English in the late
sixteenth century, at Roanoke Island. Beginning in the year of 1584 efforts were made to
explore the east coast of The New World and find land that would be habitably for future
colonists. It was in 1587 that a permanent colony was finally established. However, this
accomplishment for the colonists and for England was learned to be one of the greatest
American mysteries when the colony was discovered abandoned in 1590. There are theories
on what could of happened to the men, women and children who called this land their home
but no one knows for sure.
Roanoke Island is an island just off the coast of present day North Carolina. The
Albemarle Sound, Croatoan Sound, Roanoke Sound, and the Pamlico Sound are four bodies of
water that surround this island. The Atlantic Ocean is less than ten miles away from
Roanoke on it's eastern coast, and direct contact with the ocean is connected by a strip
of land called Bodie Island, which is part of the Outer Banks. The western coast of the
Island is also less than ten miles from the mainland of North Carolina. 
In the late 16th century Queen Elizabeth encouraged exploration and settlement of new
lands by issuing charters for exploration, and it was during this time period when the
English discovered Roanoke Island. However it was not until March 25, 1584 when the
significant history of Roanoke was made with the re-issuing of the charter to Sir Walter
Raleigh. 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. So
Raleigh began hiring ship captains and their crews who were worthy seamen and could
succumb to the new environment on the ship and on their new homeland. He would recruit
possible colonists who had a dream of leaving their homeland in pursuit of a new land and
who could also adapt and help build this new colony. He would need to purchase food and
other supplies that would last them their voyage over the Atlantic and until they could
manage their own crops. And the most difficult was finding those who would invest capital
in the missions. Although Raleigh named the land he found Virginia, the queen would not
give him the financial assistance that he needed for his mission.
There were a total of four expeditions, under the Raleigh charter. The first and second
expeditions took place from 1584 to 1586. The accomplishments of these missions included
producing contact and establishing friendly relations with a native tribe called the
Croatoan, the fortification of the island, and searching for an appropriate place for a
permanent settlement. It is during the second expedition that Raleigh decided to leave
behind some of the colonists, while the ships returned to England for supplies. They left
a few more than one hundred men to continue the search for a permanent settlement sight,
and to keep an English hold on the island. This effort failed due to the lack of
supplies, weather conditions, and the strained relations with the Croatoans and other
more violent native tribes. These men who were left also did not have the skills of
building, cooking, and hunting their own food therefore survival on this new land was a
struggle. The situation becomes extremely desperate for the men when they resort to their
dogs as a source of food. Some claim they even dug up the newly deceased as a source of
food. Luckily for the colonists, a ship came to their rescue and took all but fifteen of
the men back to England. 
The mystery of Roanoke begins with the third expedition of 1587. John White was named
governor of the colonist, which would now include women children. The permanent structure
of this mission was due in part by the involvement of entire families. To further insure
success, the colonist themselves were the investors. The third expedition comprising of
almost one hundred twenty men, women and children ready for colonization, arrived on the
island in the spring of 1587. Their intent was to locate the fifteen men who were left
behind in the second expedition, and then rebuild their new colony. It was discovered
that the colony built by the colonists the year before had been abandoned and there were
no clues as to the fate of the fifteen men left behind. The next step was to find a new
sight for settlement. Raleigh and John White chose the new settlement to be located in
the Chesapeake Bay area to the north on the mainland. The colonists were denied the
agreement that Raleigh and White had suggested. This was due to the strained relations
between White and the ship captain. Therefore the colonists were forced to settle in the
area of the abandoned fortifications for the time being. 
While the colonists were redeveloping their homes it was determined that contact with the
Croatoans was reestablished. In their communications the fate of the fifteen men left
behind in the previous expedition was revealed. The Croatoans explain how an enemy tribe,
the Powhatans, attacked the fort and killed some of the men, but how many of the men's
lives were taken was not known. John White, upset with the news of the dead men, decides
to launch an attack against the enemy, the Powhatans. Instead of attacking the enemy John
White's men attack their friends, the Croatoans. This was the second time an incident of
this nature had happened. It had occurred in the second expedition with Ralph Lane
(Governor of the colony left by the second expedition). With this violation of trust, the
relations between the Croatoans and the colonists quickly deteriorated. The Croatoans
refused to supply the colonists with food, and the supplies brought with them had begun
to spoil. With the shortage of supplies and their lack of knowledge on survival, and the
winter soon approaching, it was decided by the colonists that someone must return to
England with the ships in order to relieve them of their supply shortage. John White was
sent for the supplies in the late summer of 1587. He leaves approximately one hundred
sixteen men, women, and children on Roanoke Island. John White does not return with the
requested supplies until 1590. 
This three-year delay was caused by a war between England and Spain. When he does finally
arrive back at Roanoke he finds the colony abandoned. There is only a small clue as to
where the colonist could be. This clue was the word "Croatoan", carved into a tree. This
word indicated to White that the colonists moved near or with the Croatoans, but White
cannot determine whether his assumption was correct. Before White could make any more
progress the captain and his crew, not having much interest in the colonist's fate
decided to return to England. 
White returns to England not knowing the fate of the Roanoke Colonists. In late 1590
White tries to convince investors and Sir Walter Raleigh to send yet another expedition.
Due to the lack of interest in Roanoke by investors and Raleigh, White was unsuccessful
in his attempt. In 1603 due to the failed attempt to colonize, James I, the newly crowned
king of England took all possessions from Raleigh and imprisoned him for a decade. When
Raleigh was released he was sent on one final expedition to the New World, which was his
last failed attempt. King James I took no more of Raleigh's inadequacies and executed him
in 1618. 
In 1608 John Smith was the first to gather information about the outcomes of the Roanoke
settlement. He questioned the local natives about Roanoke. From this line of questioning
he came up with three similar stories. One story was the attack of the settlement and the
massacre of all the colonists. In another story the settlement was attacked and the women
and children were assimilated only. The final story was that the entire colony was
peacefully assimilated into the local native tribes. 
It is not until the Jamestown settlement twenty years later that a firm effort was made
to find the true fate of the colonists of Roanoke Island. Due to the fact that an
investigation was not launched for twenty years, no one knows what became of the
colonists. Therefore there are several theories that attempt to explain their
disappearance. 
No new information or theories were concluded until many years later. These theories
include the possibilities of an attack by the Spanish, which themselves were beginning to
colonize on the New World. Another was smallpox epidemic that also had killed many of the
natives. Starvation due to the horrid winters they faced and lack of experience of
cultivating the land. There is also a theory that the colonists abandoned their land to
return to England in a small ship and then being lost at sea. Only spurts of interest in
the fate of the colonists occurred throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
There was also major destruction of the fort on Roanoke Island during the American Civil
War, so most of the artifacts that could have answered question about the fate of these
men, women, and children had been destroyed. 
It was not until 1959 that a theory was openly agreed upon by a group of historian and
scholars. They theorized that the colony did go to the Croatoan village and may have been
assimilated into the tribe. It was possible that they later moved to one of two areas,
either the Chesapeake Bay area or the Chowan River area. They also agreed that there was
the possibility that the group disbanded. If the colonists did not go to the Croatoan
village, it was surmised that the Powhatan attacked them and the women and children were
taken captive. 
However, the panel did not agree on one solid theory because they lack any physical
evidence. These few possibilities may be as close as anyone will get to an answer of the
lost colony of Roanoke Island.
References
Article
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. Roanoke: Lost and Found. Reviews In American History (14 March
1986): 55-60. 
Books
Lefler, Hugh T., and William S. Powell. Colonial North Carolina, A History. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973. 
Lefler, Hugh Talmage, and Albert Ray Newsome. The History of a Southern State, North
Carolina. 3rd ed. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1973. 
Quinn, David B. North America From Earliest Discovery To First Settlements. New York:
Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975. 
Quinn, David B. Set Fair for Roanoke: Voyages and Colonies, 1584-1606. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1985. 
Schoenbaum, Thomas J. Islands, Capes, and Sounds; The North Carolina Coast.
Winston-Salem: John F. Blair, 1982. 
Stick, David. The Outer Banks of North Carolina, 1584-1958. Chapel Hill: The University
of North Carolina Press, 1982