Story of America Cards

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

This Topic shouldn't be that obscure, we all know the Colony of Roanoke which became what is known as the lost colony on the Island that went missing and still to this day there is no answer to what happened....like this is a topic they actually teach you in school...(Or that was it for me). With the only clue "Croatan '' carved into the tree, and over the years news like that rock which turned out to be a hoax this will talk about The Lost Colony of Roanoke from the Story of America cards category; Coming to America.

(What was the Lost Roanoke Colony?)

The Roanoke Colony was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The colony was first founded in 1585, but after only five years, when a ship visited the colony in 1590, the colonists had disappeared under unknown circumstances. The colony has since been known as the Lost Colony, and the fate of the 112 to 121 colonists remains unknown to this day.

(Mysterious Disappearance)

During the late 1500s the British government was eager to expand its influence in the New World. Spanish settlers were moving into Florida and Central America, and the English were afraid they might lose out on the riches they thought were in America. Walter Raleigh, a friend of Queen Elizabeth, sent sea captains Philip Amados and Arthur Barlowe to explore the North American coast and find a good place to start a colony.

Their enthusiastic reports excited Raleigh, and in 1585 he dispatched a group of 108 men from England to form a colony. The colonists landed on Roanoke, an island about 12 miles (19 km.) long and 3 miles (4.8 km.) wide in Virginia (now part of North Carolina).

They built homes and a fort naming their settlement the "Cittie of Raleigh" in honor of the men who sent them there.

At first the local Indians became friends of the settlers, but the English commander, Sir Richard Grenville, angered and then attacked the Indians (Well there you got ruining a peaceful coexistence), The natives retaliated by killing several colonists and ruining their crops.

Within a few months the settlers ran out of food and were in constant danger. They pleaded with Sir Francis Drake, who was then exploring the area for England, to take them home, which he did.

A new group of settlers arrived in Roanoke from England the following year (1587). This time women and children were included, and soon they were celebrating the arrival of the first child born of English parents in the colonies. The baby, whose grandfather was the governor, John White, was aptly named Virginia Dare.

The homes that had been destroyed earlier were rebuilt, and the settlers worked hard to make a go of it.

Meanwhile, Governor White sailed back to England hoping to return in a few months, But was unable to return to Roanoke until 1591 (Which we know why because England and Spain started fighting which could be the "Anglo-Spanish War" judging by the year, but back to the card). Nearly four years later and when he arrived all traces of the colonists had vanished.

The only evidence he could find of their fate or whereabouts was a name carved in a fort post: CROATAN. White thought it meant that the colonists had joined some friendly Indians on the nearby Croatan Island, but stormy seas prevented him from searching there.

Historians have never solved the mystery of the Roanoke colonists' fate. It is possible that unfriendly Indians killed them as they tried to reach Croatan island, or perhaps Spaniards captured them in order to keep English out of North America. The true story will probably never be known.

(What happened to the Colony?)

You have obviously been wondering and asked the question "What happened to the Roanoke Colony?"......Well, I don't know! It's obvious from the beginning too no one knows and it's still being investigated to this day....but it should be obvious; my math is bad but bare with me; 1590 - 2023 = 433 Years ago. At this point not a clear answer will be found....most likely not in good shape and then if Morden Research does find something then you got people debating if it's fact here and there and that's just how it is, but hey who knows.

Anyway I'm not gonna get into John White from after (if anyone came for that...so I'll just say it there), I'm just gonna go over the theories as to what happened.

First there was an Integration with local tribes: People have considered that missing colonists by possibly may have assimilated into nearby Native American tribes since at least 1605, it was successful the assimilated colonists would gradually exhaust their European supplies (ammunition, clothing) and discard European culture (language, style of dress, agriculture) as Algonquian lifestyle became more convenient (Form can be found on the wikipedia).

Second is that They attempted to go back to England, this theory says the colonists decided to rescue themselves they built a boat....(Like Noah's ark way i guess), and sailed home, but since there is no evidence and any trace is unlikely, but going further maybe they took a different route because of England's war with Spain which is what caused John White to not be able to get back as he has planned could be a caution for them to be aware of.

Now the biggest one should be known as The Dare Stones story about this goes from 1937 to 1941 so about 300 years now as this takes place a series of inscribed stones were discovered that were claimed to have been written by Eleanor Dare, the mother of Virginia Dare. it told the travelings of the colonists and there ultimate deaths, but most historians say that the stones were part of a Hoax and fraud by stonecutter Bill Eberhardt, But the first dare stone out of all the others with linguistic and chemical analysis has some possibly as genuine to what happened if they were from Eleanor Dare...so who knows really all the others are duds expect the first.

(Ending)

Ok so there is a lot I can't just go on and explain the Lost Colony of Roanoke or we will be here for a while if you had made it to the end, but that's all I have gone over, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in my other card histories and videos.

(QUIZ)

What are the Dare Stones?

They are said to be stones carved out by Eleanor Dare to explain what happened to the Roanoke Colony.

They are stones Created by a hoaxer; Bill Eberhardt.

All of the Above

EX: Both The first two answers can be said as true, everyone believes as the Dare stones describe to be written by Eleanor Dare herself, however the first stone is more likely depending on age but there's really no proof if it was actually written by Eleanor Dare, the second question is that a lot more of the stones that came after the first were fakes created by Bill Eberhardt a Georgia stonecutter, however each ever this true is hard to be proven.