I'm always fascinated by that. One of the great things about North America (most of it that is) is that it was settled by the English, with their strong civil and increasingly democratic traditions.
If one looks at the sh*thole countries of Mexico on south, or even the French parts of Canada or Louisiana, one sees how different history could have been.
I've always had a bit of a pet peeve with "The Lost Colony" though. Most of us were taught that it was the first European colony in the New World, but it was established in 1587. The French had established a fort and colony on the St. Johns River in 1564 followed by the Spanish establishing St. Augustine in 1565. By the time the first "English" settlers were mysteriously disappearing, St. Augustine was a thriving town; 42 years before Jamestown and 55 years before the pilgrims landed.
Local folks have a pretty good idea of where they went. The colony was more or less abandoned and survivors went native. Many of the local Indians have had surnames from the colony's roster and there were individuals among them that looked like Englishmen according to Jamestownians. Dare is a big name among the local Indian derivatives.
This may be too recent in history for a GGG ping, but I'm pinging you anyway.
Can you jog my memory?
What was that word that they found carved in the tree?
"Despite failing to sustain a settlement, they were England's earliest LAND GRAB in North America."
LOL. Those evil White people again.
Archaeologist promises to return Croatan ring (N.C. / Lost Colony)
Durham Herald-Sun (Durham, NC) | September 3, 2002 | The Associated Press
Posted on 09/04/2002 10:21:06 AM EDT by Constitution Day
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/744407/posts
Volunteers To Dig Into Croatan Indian Village Site Again ("Lost Colony")
Virginian - Pilot | 5-28-2006 | Catherine Kozak
Posted on 05/28/2006 9:25:38 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1639893/posts
For those unfamiliar with NC geography, Roanoke Island is just inside the Outer Banks chain of barrier islands. The city of Roanoke, VA, and the town of Roanoke Rapids, NC have only a vague connection to Roanoke Island: both are far upstream on the Roanoke River, which empties into Albemarle Sound 60 miles or so west of Roanoke Island.
The Native American connection is controversial, with some among the Lumbee tribe, now centered in Robeson County, south of Fayetteville and approximately 200 miles SW of Roanoke Island, claiming descent from the Croatroan tribe. Quite a few Lumbees have blue eyes, which some cite as evidence of intimate contact with the British colonists.
As always, history involves conjecture and disagreement. North Carolina's status as home to the first "permanent" English settlement is disputed (does a failed "permanent" settlement count?); our claim to being the home of the First State University is challenged by some Georgians; and our claim to being First in Flight based on Wilbur and Orville Wright's 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk (only 15 miles or so from Roanoke Island) is challenged by Ohioans who point out that the brothers were from Dayton and fabricated the plane there.
More tenuous is our claim as Andrew Jackson's birthplace near my present abode (most historians, not to mention Jackson himself, think he was born just over the line in South Carolina), and more unrealistic still is the claim of Charlotte as the site of the Mecklenburg [County] Declaration of Independence, May 20, 1775, thus predating the Declaration of Independence -- a claim few outside of North Carolina take seriously.
History is fun, but not to be taken too seriously. It's usually written by the winners, and revised to their will. If historical facts of relatively recent vintage can be the subject of so much disagreement, it boggles the mind to ponder how truly ancient history has evolved after the fact.
I own a brick from the original fort. It was dug up by my mom in the 1950's. Croatan.
I don't understand why there would be a food shortage problem with fish and game abound.
"they were England's earliest land grab in North America"
The choice of words here tells me that the article is written from the point of view of an anti-English interest. If you know history, you know what I mean.
Anyone interested in this topic should read Lee Miller's book Roanoke. It's fascinating and well researched.
ping
From Beer & Food: An American History by Bob Skilnik. Coming February, 2007
As far back as the period of 1584 to 1586, when a first attempt was made by English settlers to establish a colony on Roanoke Island, now a part of North Carolina, beer was foremost on their minds. What was lacking, however, was the kind of good quality malted barley that was (and still is) the foundation of the English brewing industry. Instead, multi-colored native corn, whether referred to by the settlers as pagatown, Turkie wheate, or mayze, served the purpose of not only making palatable bread, but also having produced “as good ale as was to be desired.” The Roanoke settlement, however, disappeared in a few short years, the debate is still going on today as to the fate of the original inhabitants.
Some years later, a new Virginia colony was established. Like the original English settlers, these adventurers also discovered the versatility of Indian corn and attempted to make beer from it. In a letter submitted by explorer Captain George Thorpe to the records of the Virginia Company in London, Thorpe wrote that the Virginia colonists had supposedly found a way to brew “a good drink from Indian corn...” There’s enough evidence, however, to suggest that these claims were a bit of puffery for the benefit of investors back home, and that when it came down to it, some of these same colonists who bragged about their delicious corn ale would do almost anything for a pint or two of English-brewed ale made with imported malt. On occasion, that opportunity appeared with the arrival of “ship’s beer” from England.