North Carolina as a Colony

NORTH CAROLINA AS A COLONY Page 1

North Carolina is one of the thirteen colonies established by England around 1650 . The

territory was called Carolina in honor of Charles the First

Queen Elizabeth I of England granted Sir Walter Raleigh a charter for the establishment of a

settlement in North America . Sir Raleigh and the Queen planned to establish a colony to be able to

explore for treasures and to scout for a strategic location where they can raid loaded Spanish ships

Based on these reasons , an expedition was

sent in 1584 to explore for a suitable location and also

bring samples of the nature 's bounty on the area . After the successful exploration , the group

returned to England . In 1585 , the first group of colonists was organized and they arrived at the north

end of the Roanoke Island . Ralph Lane with seventy-five men was left in the island while Sir

Richard Grenville , leader of the expedition returned to England to get additional food supplies and

additional men . Friction with the natives occurred when the settlers attacked a village in response to

the stealing of a silver cup by the natives . By April 1586 , relations with a neighboring tribe had

degraded to such a degree that they attacked an expedition led by Lane to explore the Roanoke

River .1 There was still no sign of Grenville 's fleet and due to hardships encountered , the settlers

accepted the offer of Sir Francis Drake to return to England

The second group was led by John White and they arrived in June 1587 White tried to

reestablish friendly relations with the neighboring natives . At first the natives were hostile and

aloof . But gradually the English gained their confidence by offering glass beads and dolls as signs

of friendships (Hale 128 . But the aggrieved tribes whom Ralph Lane attacked were still unfriendly

to the new colonists and shortly thereafter , one colonist was killed by these natives . Fearing for their

lives , White was elected to return to England to inform of their situation and ask for help . Two

significant events occurred shortly after the colonists ' arrival : two friendly ' Indians were baptized

and a child was born . Virginia Dare , as the baby was named , became the first child born to English-

speaking parents in the new world .2 But White was delayed in coming back to the colony because

______________________________________

1

2 NORTH CAROLINA AS A COLONY Page 2

of the following reasons : the vessel was not in good condition to travel back home and in crossing

the Atlantic Ocean the refusal of the captain to sail back to the colony during winter time and then

the war with the Spanish Armada was imminent and all the able ships were tasked to fight . He was

able to return in the spring of 1590 and found only the remnants of what was once a settlement

There were no signs of life , only the word CROATAN ' carved on a nearby tree .3 The second

failure can be attributed...