Colony of Roanoke

The Colonie of Roanoke on the island of Roanoke in the current North Carolina was a company financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh for the account of Elisabeth Ire of England in the years 1580. Two groups of colonists tried to live there. 2nd disappeared after three years without provisioning from England. This is why the island is called " The Perdue" Colony;.

Account

After the half-failure of Humphrey Gilbert to seize Newfoundland (1583), Walter Raleigh, captivated by the work of Bartolomé de Las Put ( The Spanishe Colonie , 1583), decided to establish a colony in the north of the “Spanish Florida”. It sent as a scout a forwarding carried out by the captains Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe . The log books of the two captains, published by Richard Hakluyt, provide a detailed account of this voyage. Hesitating to engage in the strait of Florida, the flotilla of Richard Grenville doubled the Cape Fear and put at damping in the island of Roanoke, an island of Outer Banks, on July 5th, 1584. The size of this island was estimated at 20 Mile S length (approx. 30 km) and 6 miles of width (approx. 10 km). Barlowe and Amadas brought back to England two Indian algonquiens of the tribe of the Powhatan. The abundance of the wood area (of the “cedars” in particular, that Verrazano had already described; undoubtedly conifers of the red species Pine), out of fruits (a variety of grapes, undoubtedly of the Bilberry S) and out of fish, decided Raleigh to launch the one second forwarding, this time to colonize this baptized area Virginia (in homage to Elisabeth Ière of England, the “Queen-Virgin”). This attempt lasted only one year (1585-1586) because, in consequence of a food food shortage and lassitude of the Indians, the colonists entered in conflict with the natives and had to leave the island precipitately. For as much, the last year on these shores made it possible Thomas Harriot to deliver a detailed study of the country and language of the algonquiens, and the engraver John White to deliver the first illustrated boards of the life of the Indians of North America: these boards will appear later in the republication by Theodore de Bry of the relation of André Thévet, “ singularitez Them of France the Antarctic ”. The colonists also brought back in England the use of plants considered medicinal, the Tabac and the Sassafras.

A third colony, this time of 112 colonists men and women, and comprising several craftsmen, are established on July 1st, 1586. The governor of the colony, John White, decided to turn over to England in September 1587 in order to convince the authorities to send new colonists and especially building machinery. But on its return, which, in consequence of the attack of the Invincible Armada on the English coasts, could be carried out only in August 1590, this colony had disappeared without leaving of trace.

The area was finally colonized since north only starting from the colony of Jamestown and the pacification of the grounds bordering the Baie of Chesapeake, obtained by the famous captain John Smith, between 1603 and 1607. This date, the incomes drawn from the sale of the tobacco in Europe made it possible to cover the maintenance costs of the colony and made Virginia a prosperous establishment.

Sources

Thomas Harriot, Voyages in Virginia and Florida… (edition of 1927)
Gilles Milton, Big Chief Elizabeth: The Adventures and Fate off the First English Colonists in America , ()

See too

External bonds

American sketches of John White
Web site of the Library of North Carolina: account detailed on the first English colony in the New World.
The Lost Colony Blog Watercolours of John White, articles and charts of Roanoke.

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