Why is Roanoke named the lost colony?
1 Answer
Because the entire colony disappeared.
Explanation:
The Roanoke Colony was established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh. The location is currently in Dare County, North Carolina. Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to Raleigh to establish a permanent English settlement in the New World.
Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe to help set up the colony. They arrived on July 4th and proceed to set up a relationship between the local Natives, the Secotans and the Croatans. Barlowe sent two of the natives back to England to describe the local geography to Raleigh, who decided to send out a second expedition.
115 settlers came to Roanoke in August of 1587, and they set up a colony. Later that year, John White, who was the Governor of colony, sailed to England to get more supplies. But then a war broke out between Spain and England. Queen Elizabeth I called for all available ships to be used. White's ship was commandeered. In August of 1590, White was finally able to return to the colony.
When he arrived, he saw no evidence that the colony had ever existed. The only thing that he saw was the word "Croatoan" carved into a nearby tree. Everyone, including White's wife and daughter, who was born in Roanoke, was gone.
There have been several theories about what had happened to the people of the lost colony. One is that the neighboring natives killed all of the inhabitants and they dismantled the colony. Another one is that the colony was low on resources and was desperate for survival, so the local tribes integrated the colonists into their society. Other say that the Spanish came across them during the war and killed them, another says that the colonists relocated to a more suitable environment.
No one really knows for sure what happened to the people of Roanoke, and it has caused a lot of speculation. From movies, to TV shows, to internet supernatural websites, Roanoke is a piece of history that may be forever lost.
