Tiffany S.

Introduction

“CROATOAN” imagine seeing that word while you were on a hiking trail, or even just walking, would you be scared? Because that's what happened to Captain John White when he came back from his 3 year adventure trying to  get back to Roanoke.                                                            

Chapter 1: The Voyages to a new world                                                                         On April 9 1585, there were 5 main ships, named the Roebuck, Red Lion,tiger,Elizabeth and Dorothy. The goal for them was to separate and then meet up at Puerto Rico. Tiger was supposed to go to “Baye of Muskito” on May 11. While waiting for other ships Sir Richard Grenville made relationships with the Spanish. Grenville was still waiting, so he built a fort. Not long after, Elizabeth arrived, soon after the fort was done. Later Grenville ended up getting bored and tired of waiting for the ships so he left on June 7. Later on in 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh was given the land of that is now present-day Virginia in North America by Queen ELizabeth 1. Raleigh thought that he could make all the other colonies in North America make his country more powerful and wealthier. Raleigh then sent out some ships to go explore the area. He sent Captain Arthur Barlowe and Captain Philip Amada on the ships to explore the area. The sailors ended up arriving in North Carolina on July 4 where they named the island “Roanoke” after fellow Native Americans like the “Croatans” and the “Secotans” that lived there. Captain Barlowe and Captain Amada brought two croatans named Manteo and Wanchese. Manteo and Wanchese told Raleigh about the land at Roanoke, and Raleigh decide that was a perfect area to establish a colony.                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                    The First Attempt                                                                                                      

Roanoke ended up being led by Sir Richard Grenville. He and other settlers then arrived at Roanoke in 1585. Grenville left behind 107 settlers with Ralph Lane while he went back to England to bring more men and new supplies and promised to be back by April. While Grenville was still in England the settlers made a fort at Roanoke, the settlers struggled to survive.They were always fighting with the local Native Americans for unnecessary reasons--like stealing a silver cup--they even lit their village on fire. April passed and there was no sign of Grenville so the settlers just waited. Later on, Sir Francis Drake was visiting the colony and offered to take them back to England to maybe see Grenville and they agreed, so they went. When Grenville came to Roanoke he had all the supplies and gatherings he needed. But all Grenville saw was an abandoned settlement. He then decided to keep a small group of men to keep a eye on Roanoke and went back to England.

 

             

Chapter 2: Hardships of Roanoke  

England then found a land and told Raleigh that this island had fish, animals, vegetables, fruit and even some nice people. A year later Raleigh sent some men there to start a colony. Some of the men were farmers. It was a little tough for them because their supplies were running short and they were barely struggling to survive. When the fighting between Roanoke and the English settlers broke off, the colonists of Roanoke returned back to England. In 1584, Raleigh got worried about the land and sent 115 colonists, like skilled farmers, back to Roanoke. The men hoped to discover Grenville’s men who had left a year before. All they found were some human remains, but they didn’t care and started to build the new settlement. Later on, after their arrival on August 18, 1587, a little girl named Virginia Dare was born. Virginia Dare turned out to be the first born in the America to English parents.                                                                                                                                                             

Virginia Dare 

  Chapter 3: Lost Colony             

In 1587,  Raleigh took 115 colonists to make a new colony on Chesapeake Bay. It was led by Captain John White. White was the Governor of the 1587 colony.They first needed to go to pick up some people at Roanoke who were still there from when Grenville was there the previous year. When they arrived on July 22 1587 all they saw was a human skeleton that could've been the remains of a Englishman. Later, White tried to talk to the Croatan to asked if they knew what happened. But the people that Ralph Lane fought with refused to talk with White and Raleigh. Later White went back to England to explain what happened but left 115 behind. White started to sail in late 1587. The problem was that since it was late 1587 crossing the Atlantic would be tough. Then the Spanish war happened during which all the English ships that came to White didn't have the time to come back to Roanoke at the time.

                                  Maltese Cross

                                                                                                                                                                   Since the war with Spain went on for awhile White didn’t get to come back until three years later! But when White came back with    John Watts and Raleigh all they saw was nothing. They couldn't find anyone there, not one out of the one hundred. But there wasn't even any sign of any craziness that might have gone down. One thing they did find was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a post, also the letter cro on a tree. White remembered that he told the colonists to make a Maltese Cross if they were in danger. But they never found a cross.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Conclusion                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               What this whole entire passage is about is to make people learn about how things were back then. What the mysteries people had back then. Challenges people had to go through everyday.  About what happened back in history days. This whole passage was about Roanoke and the challenges they went through like trying to survive everyday, trying to find food everyday, trying to keep track of everyone everyday.   Things were not easy back then. Learning about this  topic was very interesting. What this passage is about was what they did every day, like farming, killing animals, going to war. They didn't just get to go to the grocery store and get what they wanted.