The Lost Colony
Sir Walter Raleigh’s brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, attempted an English settlement in North America first. He made landfall in Nova Scotia and sailed down the coast, searching for possible settlement locations. His expedition was met with constant storms and hostile American Indians, and Gilbert was forced to return to England. His ship foundered and he was drowned before reaching home. Raleigh was determined to achieve his brother’s goals. He petitioned the Queen to take up Gilbert’s cause, and Raleigh won the right to explore as much of the coast of North America as he wished and make settlement in the name of the Queen. In 1584 Raleigh outfitted a military expedition, which sailed first to Florida before sailing north and making landfall on the North Carolina coast. Although he was not personally part of the expedition, Raleigh named the new land Virginia, after Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. The expedition returned with glowing reports of the abundance to be found along the coast and the affable and welcoming indigenous peoples.
Raleigh quickly sent another expedition, this time with the intent of establishing a settlement. In 1585 Sir Richard Grenville landed on the North Carolina coast with 108 settlers. Grenville quickly angered the American Indians of the islands and mainland, even killing a chief in a petty dispute over a drinking cup. When Grenville returned to England for supplies, the men he left there found themselves in a hostile land with little food and less hope for survival. When another English explorer, Sir Francis Drake, sailed by, the settlers jumped at the opportunity to sail home to England.
Raleigh was undaunted at the failure of the first settlement. In 1587 Raleigh sent a third expedition, this one with families instead of soldiers. The 150 settlers, led by John White, established a community on Roanoke Island. It was too late to plant crops for the season, and relations with the Indians turned from bad to worse. To stave off starvation, White soon returned to England for supplies. However, White arrived in England to find his country at war with Spain. The mighty Spanish Armada was destroyed in 1588, but the constant sea battles essentially closed the Atlantic to nonmilitary vessels. When White finally returned to the coast of North Carolina in 1590, the community on Roanoke Island that would later become known as the “Lost Colony” had disappeared.
