Unit 3 Notes

1. Unit 3 Notes The Exploration and Colonization of NC

2. Building an Empire Queen Elizabeth encouraged Sir Humphrey Gilbert to explore the New World. She gave Gilbert a charter to explore all ___ lands and claim them for England. While at sea (off the coast of Newfoundland), Gilbert was killed at sea. His half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, took over the charter.

3. Raleigh's Expeditions Raleigh never visited North America. Instead, Raleigh sent 3 expeditions over a 3 year period to try and establish a colony in the New World. The first expedition was exploratory only. Amadas and Barlowe led a group of men to North America in 1584. They landed on Roanoke Island in present-day NC. This group found fertile soil, a nice climate and friendly natives. They reported this back to Raleigh who was now excited about trying to establish a colony. They also returned with Manteo and Wanchese (2 N.A.)

4. Raleigh's Expeditions The first attempt at a colony was led by Ralph Lane. He sailed from England with Capt. Grenville (NOT Greenville) and landed on Roanoke Is. in 1585. A storm seperated the ships and they tried to regroup. This delayed their arrival at Roanoke. When they finally did arrive, the ship containing their food and supplies hit a shoal near Ocracoke Inlet. The food was ruined, but the ship was saved. When they finally arrived at Roanoke, they pressured the Indians to give them food. Sometimes, they took the food they needed leaving the Indians short on food themselves.

5. Raleigh's Expeditions Lane's colony was made up of about 100 military men. They were bad tempered and agressive. They fought (argued/mistreated) with the Indians from the beginning. Lane began to fear the Indians were plotting against he and his men. When Sir Francis Drake stopped by unexpectedly, Lane asked him to take the colony's men back to England (fearing an Indian attack). The colony was a failure.

6. Raleigh's Expeditions Raleigh was determined to succeed. In 1587 he sent another group, this time led by John White, to establish a colony at Roanoke. John White had been on both the previous expeditions and knew the land and the Indians well. He had a more positive relationship with the Indians. This group also contained women and children. It was thought that the lack of families played a role in the failure of the first attempt. They arrived at Roanoke in July.

7. Raleigh's Expeditions Because they arrived so late in the year, planting crops was going to be a challenge. They had also counted on help from some mean that Lane left behind. When Lane left so quickly, they abandoned a group of men who had been away from the settlement (exploring the Chessapeake Bay area) when Drake arrived. They did not find the men, but did find one skeleton. They tried to re-establish relations with the Indians. The Indians refused to meet with them. They realized they were on their own. They begged John White to return to England to get help (more people and supplies).

8. Raleigh's Expeditions White agreed and returned to England in late 1587. He left behind 115 colonists including his daughter, son-in-law, and their new baby Virginia Dare (first English child born in the New World). It was dangerous to cross the Atlantic at that time of year. The ship captain refused to return from England until Spring. By Spring, England found itself at war with ___ and every ship was commandeered to fight the fleet, Because of the war, it was August 1590 before White returned to Roanoke. He returned on his granddaughter's 3rd birthday.

9. Raleigh's Expeditions When White arrived he could find no one...no trace of any of the colonists. He found their houses dismantled (taken apart diliberately) which meant they didn't leave in a hurry. He also found the word "Croatoan" carved on the fence post of the fort and the letters "CRO" carved in a tree. White had told them to carve a cross if they were forced to leave, but since he only found Croatoan, he thought this meant they had gone to Croatoan Is. to live. He was not able to go to Croatoan Is. because of a storm. The men refused to go any further and they returned to England.

10. Raleigh's Expedition There are different theories about what happened to the Lost Colony...     A. The Indians attacked and killed them all OR the colonists might have gone to Croatan Is. to live with the Indians.     B. The colonists went north to the Chessapeake Bay area.     C. There was a drought that wiped them out.     D. The Spanish attacked from Florida.     E. The colonists tried to sail back to England in the smaller ships they had.