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Roanoke: England's Attempts at an American Colony Humphrey Gilbert and…
Roanoke: England's Attempts at an American Colony Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh
Humphrey Gilbert and Newfoundland
Humphrey Gilbert went on an expedition to establish England's first colony in North America. Gilbert wished to establish a north-west passage around America which would give England a trade route with China
Gilbert hated Catholic Spain and presented Queen Elizabeth I with his ideas on how a colony in North America could provide a base to attack Spanish ships
In 1578, Queen Elizabeth granted him a charter to establish a colony in North America. His first attempt in 1579 was a disaster. Only the ship captained by his younger half-brother, Walter Raleigh managed to cross the Atlantic
In 1583, Gilbert planned a scheme to claim lands in North America and sell the land to wealthy Englishmen. His fleet of five ships left Plymouth in June 1583. Gilbert arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland (modern day Canada). Many English, Spanish and Portuguese boats were there as the port had been used by European fishermen for decades. Gilbert took possession of Newfoundland by digging some turf and putting up a post which had the arms of England engraved in it.
Gilbert claimed the land but failed to establish a colony. The land was cold and barren; food was scarce. His fleets sailed south with one ship getting wrecked off the rocky coast killing 80. The fleet got caught in violent storms on the way home. Gilbert's ship, the Squirrel, sank and Gilbert drowned
Walter Raleigh and Roanoke
Walter Raleigh made plans for a colony at Roanoke in Virginia
Walter Raleigh wished to establish a colony in North America. He hoped to find a northern sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
Raleigh knew that the gold and silver mines of Central and South America had made Spain and Portugal wealthy. He hoped to discover gold in North America
In 1584, Queen Elizabeth I granted him a royal charter to explore and colonise North America in return for one-fifth of the gold/silver found there. In April 1584, Raleigh set off on a reconnaissance voyage where they discovered an island called Roanoke - they made contact with the local Algonquian people
Raleigh asked his friend, Richard Hakluyt, to write a pamphlet explaining the benefits of colonisation. It focused on spreading Christianity, trade benefits and providing a base to attack Spanish treasure ships
The Queen did not allow Raleigh to lead the expedition to Roanoke in 1585. Instead, it was led by Raleigh's cousin, Richard Grenville and military commander, Ralph Lane
The colony failed but the English did learn a lot with Thomas Harriot and John White publishing an account in their Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia which helped the colony of Jamestown (1607)
In 1595, Raleigh set out to discover gold in the fabled city of Manoa (El Dorado) in the region of Guiana. It also failed but his knowledge helped in future colonisation
The 1585 expedition to Roanoke
Raleigh was not allowed to leave the royal court so the expedition of 600 soldiers, sailors and colonists was led by Sir Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane. They took a scientist, Thomas Harriot and an artist, John White, to record the people, landscapes and wildlife. The expedition of 600 colonists left Plymouth in April 1585
Storms
7 ships carried 600 people, but storms meant only 1 ship survived. Grenville got split up from the group
Sandbanks
When the ship arrived in 1585 it got stuck in sandbanks as storms approached - the settlers lost most of their supplies including seeds they had brought
Settlement
Grenville returned to England to get more settlers while Lane stayed behind as governor with 107 men to build a settlement and fort on Roanoke Island
Starvation
Relations between settlers and the Algonquian people were at first good. The Algonquian people supplied corn. As supplies ran low tensions built and Lane attacked the natives after learning the natives were going to attack their colony. The Algonquian chief, Wingina, was killed. The Algonquian became hostile. As supplies continued to run low, the colony was abandoned and the settlers were rescued by Francis Drake in 1586
Second Expedition (1587)
A second expedition was led by John White in 1587 to establish a colony at Chesapeake Bay. He left in 1588 for more supplies and when he returned in 1590 there was an established fort but the people there had disappeared and historians do not know what happened to them. The cryptic word 'Croatoan' was found carved into the palisade of the fort which White interpreted to mean the colonists had relocated to Croatoan Island. No trace was ever found
What was the Impact of Raleigh's Colonisation
A stronger economy
Improved trade links led to merchants and investors becoming very wealthy. Investors made large profits from cargoes of gold and silver captured from Spanish ships by Sailors such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins. Elizabethans set up new trading companies such as the Levant Company and the East India Company
These new trading companies would become very powerful in the 17th Century particularly the East India Company
A stronger navy
Voyages of exploration improved the skills of English sailors. They gained experience of fighting at sea and started to make use of new technology such as the triangular sails. John Hawkins overhauled the English Navy when he became Treasurer of the English Navy in 1578
Faster ships equipped with quick-firing cannons helped to defeat the Spanish Armada
The beginnings of an empire
Harriot and White turned their records into a book called A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia. Raleigh's next expedition was to Manoa in Guiana, South America. Spain had built up a large empire in the New World in the Americas. During the Elizabethan period, English sailors started to challenge the dominance of Spanish sailors. For example, the Spanish Armada was defeated. Walter Raleigh tried to set up a colony at Roanoke.
Explorers such as Walter Raleigh set up colonies overseas. Although not successful they created foundation for the British Empire
What was the significance of Walter Raleigh
What was Raleigh's relationship with Elizabeth like
Raleigh was a favourite of Elizabeth and spent time in Ireland fighting Catholics who rebelled against Elizabeth. He was given a lot of land (patronage) in England and Ireland as a reward
During the 1580s, Raleigh tried to set up a colony in North America (which he would have named Virginia). He financed two voyages to Roanoke in 1585 and to Chesapeake Bay in 1587
In the summer of 1592 he married Bess Throckmorton, one of Elizabeth's maid of honour, without her permission. Elizabeth sent both Raleigh and Bess to the Tower of London
Raleigh was released after a few months but was banned from Court and had to wait 5 years before Elizabeth would speak to him
In 1595, Raleigh led an expedition to South America to try and find the legendary city of El Dorado
In 1596, he wrote a book called The Discovery of the Large, Rich and Beautiful Empire of Guiana. Its tales of riches encouraged other explorers
Imprisoned after, and again during James I's reign
Executed, after Spanish pressure, in 1618