1. 1584 - Raleigh plans colonisation of North America and sends a team to explore Virginia and report back

2. 1585 - Colonisation begins - 107 men set out for Roanoke

3. 1586 - Surviving colonists abandon colony, struggling to feed themselves and facing hostility - they go back to England

4. 1587 - New English colonists return and set up a colony

5. 1590 - Raleigh goes to check on colony and it was abandoned and colonists mysteriously disappeared

Raleigh:

• Noblemen and courtier - became an explorer during Elizabeth’s reign

• 1584 - Elizabeth gave him a grant to explore and settle lands in North America

• Needed to raise huge amounts of money and encourage potential colonists to leave home

• Did not lead the colonists, but he was significant because he raised funds and persuaded people to go

Virginia was colonised because:

• Trade

• England would be less dependent on other countries for imported goods

• Welcoming natives

• Raleigh persuaded investors that the trip would be profitable

• Provide a base to attack Spanish settlements and colonies

• Make it easy to fund other ventures

Why did the attempt fail:

• Lack of cooperation

  • Many had come in search of getting rich quickly and were not prepared to put the work in

  • Some were not cut out for the difficult life

  • People thought they could use the natives for labour but found controlling them hard

  • Farmers had gone to farm their own land and not work for upper-class colonists

• Inexperience

  • Too many craftsmen but not enough farmers

  • Soldiers could defend but were ill-disciplined

  • Colonists had to rely on natives for survival

  • Gunpowder was spoilt so hunters found it hard to shoot

• Voyage and food

  • One of the ships got damaged and supplies got ruined

  • Relied on the natives for food

  • Arrived too late to plant crops

  • Temperature was hot and their food rotted quickly

• Native American resistance

  • Natives got angry with the diseases the English brought

  • English constantly demanded for food during the hard winter

  • Violent fights between them

  • Chiefs were attacked

The colony served as a template for future settlements.