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Why did attempts to colonise in the 1580s fail (Voyage (On the 1585 voyage…
Why did attempts to colonise in the 1580s fail
Voyage
On the 1585 voyage, the ship Tiger was damaged and the seeds on board got soaked - ruining them
They could not be planted. As a result, the colony could never be self-sufficient
This meant that the settlers arrived too late in the year to plant seeds and feed themselves
On the 1587 voyage, the threat of hurricanes meant that the ships did not travel further north to Chesapeake Bay
In both 1585 and 1587, the voyages were slower than expected
The conditions for settling were better at Chesapeake Bay
Because both voyages in 1585 and 1587 failed to set up the expedition properly
Inexperience
Whereas the Spanish and Portuguese had been establishing settlements across South America for many decades
First time that the English had tried this
The English themselves were not really experienced in setting up settlements
As a result, they did not anticipate many of the problems that they faced
because the English settlers were not sufficiently experienced to survive in conditions like the ones they were subjected to
Native Americans
Wingina and many of the other Native Americans believed that the English had supernatural powers that they were using against the Native Americans
In 1586, Wingina plotted to attack the English settlement. Wingina’s death in the fight only increased Native American dislike of the English
Although the settlers had two Native American guides to help them, the local chief (Wingina) became suspicious of the English settlers
English returned in 1587, the Native Americans remembered their previous fights and offered very little help to the English
The local Native American people were initially welcoming to the English, but became rather tired with being asked for more food by the settlers
Native Americans grew to resent the English colonists and did not help the expedition to succeed
Colonists
The soldiers were useful for defending the settlement, but they were not very good at farming
The expedition lacked enough people to carry out farming tasks
Required to be tough and search for nuts and berries to survive
The colonists did not work well together. The gentry and merchants assumed that people would work for them like back home in England
Some of the gentry and merchants had assumed that this was a ‘get rich quick’ scheme
Neither local Native Americans nor the English yeomen farmers were prepared to do this
The colonists themselves did not have the right skills to succeed on a mission of this type