Sir Walter Raleigh and the First English Attempts to Colonize America
[1552-1618]
[Illustration: Sir Walter Raleigh.]
Only five years after Columbus made his discoveries in the West India
Islands, John Cabot sailed from England in search of a short northwest
passage to Asia. Directing his course across the northern part of the
Atlantic Ocean, he landed somewhere on the eastern coast of North
America, perhaps on the shores of Labrador. His son sailed in the
following year along the coast from Nova Scotia down as far as North
Carolina. By reason of these discoveries and explorations, England laid
claim to North America.
Nearly a hundred years passed before England took any further steps
toward getting a foothold in America. In the meantime Spain, by means of
her naval power, had conquered Mexico and Peru, and planted colonies at
various points in the New World.
The precious metals collected by Spanish explorers in Mexico and Peru
had furnished the money with which Spain was enabled to carry on her
expeditions as well as the almost continuous wars with other European
powers. Some people think that Spain took out of these two countries
gold and silver to an amount that would now equal five thousand million
dollars.
At this time England had not so strong a navy as she has to-day, and the
Spanish King hoped because of her weakness to conquer England and make
her a dependency of Spain. Of course this roused the English people, and
they determined to thwart the ambitious scheming of the Spanish King.
Although England had not a fighting navy, English seamen were alert to
capture Spanish vessels and rob them of their gold and silver. To seize
these prizes, such bold sea-captains as Drake and Hawkins roamed the
sea, burning and plundering Spanish fleets and Spanish settlements along
the coast of Mexico and South America.
Conspicuous among these daring sea-rovers and explorers was Sir Walter
Raleigh, one of the most distinguished Englishman of his time. He was
born in a town near the sea-coast in Devonshire, England, in 1552, his
father and mother both being of high social rank.
In this town lived many old sailors, who could tell the wide-awake boy
stirring tales of seafaring life and of bloody fights with Spaniards.
Walter was a patriotic boy, and therefore soon learned to hate Spain,
because of her insolence toward the English people. As he became older
and learned more of the power of Spain, especially that which came
through possessions in the New World, he was envious for his country's
sake and wished her to become Spain's rival in wealth.
[Illustration: Cabot's Route. Land discovered by him darkened.]
When Walter was old enough, he was sent to Oxford University, where he
became an earnest student. But at seventeen he put aside his studies and
went to France to join the Huguenot army.[4] After remaining there for
about six years, he returned to England and served for a short time in
the English army, fighting against Spain and Austria in the Netherlands.
Later he went as captain of a hundred men to Ireland, and there proved
himself a brave soldier.
[4] The Huguenots were French Protestants, who were then at war
with the Catholics in France.
Returning again to England, by a simple act of courtesy he won the
admiration of the powerful queen Elizabeth. It happened in this way. On
one occasion, when with her attendants she was about to cross a muddy
road, Raleigh stood looking on. Noticing that the queen hesitated for an
instant, he took from his shoulder his beautiful velvet cloak and
gallantly spread it in her pathway. The queen, greatly pleased with
this delicate attention, took Raleigh into her Court and in time
bestowed upon him much honor. She not only made him a knight, but
presented him with costly gifts and estates, and showered upon him
offices of rank and dignity. The brave knight, Sir Walter Raleigh,
became a man of great wealth and influence.
As a courtier his dress was rich and dazzling. He wore a hat with a
pearl band and a black jewelled feather. His shoes, which were tied with
white ribbons, were studded with gems worth six thousand six hundred
gold pieces. He had also a suit of silver armor that glittered with
diamonds and other precious stones.
This splendor did not seem so much out of place in those days as it
would now, for much display and ceremony were customary in court life.
Queen Elizabeth, with her ten hundred and seventy-five dresses and
mantles, ornamented with lace, embroidery, and jewels, and with her
eighty wigs of various colors, set a gorgeous example which her
courtiers were delighted to follow.
But Raleigh was not satisfied with the glamour of court life. He was
eager to achieve glory for England and if possible to elevate her upon
the ruins of her enemy, Spain.
It was his desire to build up a new England for the glory of the old,
and to that end he secured from Queen Elizabeth a charter for planting a
colony in America. He therefore fitted out two vessels which were to
sail to the land north of Florida, then occupied by Spain, and bring
back reports of the country.
The captains of these vessels arrived in Pamlico Sound, and landed on an
island which they found rich in grapes and woods and abounding in deer
and other game. The explorers received kind treatment from the Indians,
two of whom accompanied the voyagers to England on their return. Queen
Elizabeth was so pleased with the good reports from the new country that
she called it Virginia in honor of herself--the Virgin Queen.
[Illustration: Queen Elizabeth.]
The next year, 1585, Raleigh sent out to Virginia seven vessels and one
hundred colonists, under his cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, and Ralph
Lane. They landed on Roanoke Island, and made a settlement there, but
the colony was not prosperous. At the outset, by unwise and cruel
treatment they made enemies of the natives. It is related that, an
Indian having stolen a silver cup from one of the colonists, the
Englishmen burned an entire village and ruined the corn belonging to its
people. Such punishment was out of all proportion to the petty offence.
It is not surprising, therefore, that from that time the settlers found
the Indians unfriendly.
Very soon Grenville sailed back to England, leaving the colony in charge
of Ralph Lane. The colonists instead of building houses and tilling the
soil to supply food, were bent upon finding gold. Hence they listened
with eager interest to a story that the Indians told of the Roanoke
River. According to this story, the river flowed out of a fountain in a
rock so near the ocean that in time of storm the waves dashed over into
the fountain. The river, the Indians said, flowed near rich mines of
gold and silver, in a country where there was a town with walls made of
pearls. Lane and his followers foolishly started up the river in a vain
search for this wonderful land. They encountered many difficulties,
including hostile attacks by Indians, and suffered so much from lack of
food that they had to eat the flesh of their own dogs.
But despite these hardships, they made their way back to Roanoke Island,
reaching it just in time to save the colony from destruction by the
Indians. A little later Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of twenty-three
vessels, appeared off the coast. He had come on his way home from the
West Indies, where he had been plundering the Spanish settlements, and
cheerfully consented to take the destitute and homesick colonists back
to England. A few days after their departure Grenville arrived with
fresh supplies, and found the settlement deserted. Leaving a garrison of
fifteen men, with provisions for two years, to hold possession, he then
sailed back to England.
Although the settlement did not succeed, this effort to plant a colony
was not wholly fruitless, for the colonists took to England on their
return three products which gave to the people a somewhat different idea
of the real wealth of the new lands. These were not precious metals, but
products of the soil, namely, tobacco, the white potato, and Indian
corn.
[Illustration: Section where Raleigh's various colonies were located.]
The discovery of the tobacco plant introduced into England the custom of
smoking, and a curious story is told of it in connection with Sir Walter
Raleigh, who soon learned to smoke. One day his servant, who knew
nothing of the new custom, came into his master's room and found him
smoking from a silver pipe. Believing Raleigh was on fire, the faithful
servant hastily dashed a mug of ale at him to quench the flames and
rescue him from death.
The wealth that lay hidden in the soil was yet unknown, and no one felt
any enthusiasm over the new colony of Virginia. Most men would by this
time have lost hope. But Raleigh was not daunted. Two years later he
made a second attempt to plant a colony in the New World, this time
sending over three ships, with a hundred and fifty settlers, including
seventeen women. John White was appointed governor of the colony. These
settlers had the fore-thought to carry with them farming implements to
use in tilling the soil. When they landed on Roanoke Island they found
no trace of the fifteen men left there two years before by Sir Richard
Grenville. The new settlers had not been on the island long before they
were in need of help from England, and begged Governor White to return
home for provisions and more settlers. White at first refused to leave
them, but finally consented. A warm interest in the feeble settlement
and love for his little granddaughter, born soon after the settlers
arrived, persuaded him to yield. This little girl, the first white girl
born in America, was named after the new country, Virginia, her full
name being Virginia Dare.
[Illustration: Entrance to Raleigh's Cell in the Tower.]
When Governor White left the settlement he expected to return
immediately, but upon reaching England he found his countrymen greatly
excited over the coming invasion of the much-dreaded "Spanish Armada."
Everybody was astir, and Raleigh was aroused to his fullest energy in
preparation to meet the hated foe.
But, notwithstanding this, he found time to fit out two small vessels
for Governor White. Although they sailed, trouble with the Spaniards
compelled their return to England, and not until two years later, when
the Spanish Armada had been defeated, did Governor White sail again for
Virginia, this time as a passenger in a West Indiaman. He landed on
Roanoke Island as before, but there remained of the settlement only some
chests of books, some maps, and some firearms, all of which had been
ruined by the Indians.
Upon bidding Governor White farewell, the colonists had agreed to carve
on a tree the name of the place to which they would go if they should
decide to leave Roanoke Island. They were also to carve above the name a
cross if they were in serious trouble. Governor White found the word
CROATOAN cut in capital letters on a large tree, but he found no cross.
Before White could sail to Croatoan, which was an island not far away,
he had to return to England because the captain of the vessel, having
encountered stormy weather, refused to sail further. What became of the
lost colonists is still a mystery. It is possible that the Indians
either killed them or captured and enslaved them.
Raleigh sent out other expeditions in search of the lost colony, but
without success. He had already spent a sum equal to more than a million
dollars in trying to plant this colony, and now felt that he must give
up all hope of accomplishing his purpose.
[Illustration: Tower of London.]
But this was only one of his many disappointments. Because he was a
favorite of the queen and had been a successful man he had many enemies
who were jealous of his good fortune. Men of power envied him and tried
to weaken his influence and do him injury. As his failures increased,
his popularity diminished and he at length became bitter in spirit.
On the death of Queen Elizabeth, James I. became king and, not favoring
Raleigh, at length threw him into prison on a charge of treason. After
an imprisonment of twelve years in the Tower of London, Sir Walter was
beheaded. Just as he was about to lay his head upon the block, he felt
the keen edge of the axe, saying, "This is a sharp medicine, but a sound
cure for all diseases." Although he failed to carry out the great desire
of his heart, Raleigh gave the English people some definite ideas in
regard to the value of the New World as a place for colonizing--ideas
which before many years found expression in the settlement of Jamestown.
[Illustration: An Indian Pipe.]
REVIEW OUTLINE
JOHN CABOT DISCOVERS THE MAINLAND OF NORTH AMERICA.
ENGLAND AND SPAIN UNFRIENDLY TO EACH OTHER.
ENGLISH SEA CAPTAINS CAPTURE SPANISH VESSELS.
SIR WALTER RALEIGH'S FAMILY AND EDUCATION.
RALEIGH THE SOLDIER.
HE WINS THE FAVOR OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.
RALEIGH'S DRESS; DISPLAY IN COURT LIFE.
HE SENDS TWO VESSELS TO AMERICA.
HIS FIRST COLONY LANDS ON ROANOKE ISLAND.
A VAIN SEARCH FOR GOLD.
TIMELY ARRIVAL OF SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
THREE AMERICAN PRODUCTS TAKEN TO ENGLAND.
AN AMUSING STORY ABOUT RALEIGH.
RALEIGH'S SECOND ATTEMPT TO PLANT A COLONY IN THE NEW WORLD.
GOVERNOR WHITE RETURNS TO ENGLAND.
HE SAILS TWO YEARS LATER FOR VIRGINIA.
CROATOAN.
RALEIGH IMPRISONED AND BEHEADED.
TO THE PUPIL
1. Tell in your own language what was done by John Cabot and his
son.
2. Why did Raleigh when a boy hate Spain?
3. Write an account of the failure of Raleigh's first and second
colonies, and give their dates.
4. What did Raleigh try to do? What did he succeed in doing?