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The Lost Colony of Roanoke Part 1

The Lost Colony of Roanoke Part 1

Astonishing Legends vor 6 Jahren

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Few realize or remember that the very beginnings of English
colonization in North America were fraught with tremendous
hardship, peril, and connected to an enduring mystery. A
charter was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh by Queen Elizabeth I of
England in 1584 to explore and colonize lands unclaimed by
Christian kingdoms, south of Newfoundland, and north of Spanish
Florida. With hopes of finding vast riches as the Spanish
Empire had done in Central and South America and a possible
Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, Raleigh had initiated two
attempts at establishing an English settlement along the coast of
present-day North Carolina. The first colony was set up by
Governor Ralph Lane in 1585 on Roanoke Island, located in the
Outer Banks. This enterprise would end in failure and
evacuation from scare resources and hostile relations with the
local Native American tribes. A second attempt at a colony
came in 1587 with Governor John White and around 115 men, women,
and children who had agreed to settle in this wondrous but
challenging new country. Unfortunately, a curious order
left these hapless planters on Roanoke Island, which had now
become dangerous from the actions of the former colony. The
colonists persuaded White to return to England to plead for help,
but due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances, he was not able
to return to Roanoke until 1590. When White and the relief
mission finally made their way to their last known location, the
settlers had vanished, including White's daughter and his infant
granddaughter. White's granddaughter Virginia Dare would be
known as the first English child born in a New World English
possession, but what happened to her remains unknown. The
only clue as to their whereabouts were the letters "CRO" carved
into a tree and the word "CROATOAN" carved into the fort's
palisade. These enigmatic carvings and the strange
disappearance of the Lost Colony at Roanoke would ensure that
their fate would become one of the first and lasting mysteries of
the English occupation in the New World.

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