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Crystal Roby
Dr. Ridner
Colonial America: HI 4103
7 February 2013
Paper Essay 1
To the New World: From the Familiar to the Unknown
The settlers of Roanoke arrived in the New World in 1584, and
then again in 1587 and
Jamestown who arrived in 1607, all had one common when they
reached the New World. They
all wanted to escape the harsh environment of their lives in
England. They all believed that they
could change their fortunes by coming to the New World. They
believed that make a new life in
the New World. The Roanoke settlers settled in Chesapeake Bay in
April 1584, they were led by
Arthur Barlowe and Philip Amadas who were send off by Sir Walter
Raleigh who wanted
Amadas and Barlowe to travel around eastern shoreline of North
America. Amadas, Barlowe and
the colonists reached Roanoke on July 1584.This expedition was
completely different from when
the Spanish came to the New World, the Spanish goal was to take
resources and use the natives
as slaves. The English wanted to claim the land for England, and
the colonists declared that the
land in North America in the name of Queen Elizabeth I. Horn
states, No Indians were present
to witness the event by which the newcomers had asserted their
ownership of the land, as if they
really werent concern about how the Indians might have viewed
it. I believe that if that if the
English really paid attention expedition of the Spanish to the
New World, the English
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colonization wouldnt have failed. I think the colonist were
surprised when they finally met the
natives, I think they expected to be savages who would attack
them on sight, instead they were
meet with curiosity, rather than savagery. In author Louise A.
Breen book, a document written
by Thomas Harriot, describing the Indians, They are a people
clothed with loose mantles made
of Deere skins, and aprons of the same rounde about their
middles; all els naked; of such
difference of statures only as wee in England; having no edge
tooles or weapons of iron or steele
to offend1It seems that the English colonists werent really
concern with having a conflict with
the Indians, by the way Harriot describes the Native people.
Harriot also talks about the Indians
belief, Harriot states, They believe also the immortalitie of
the soule, that after this life as soone
as the soule is departed from the bodie according to the workers
it hath done.2
Harriot writes as
if he understands the Indians
The colonists didnt want to start any conflict with the Indians
in the region, they only
wanted to set up a colony, and maybe set up a trade the Indians,
who knew the area better than
they did, they also wanted to settle in an area that they were
far from Spanish settlements. The
colonists soon encountered the native Indians the Secotans and
the Croatans. To better
communicate with the Natives and to get information about the
area, Amadas and Barlowe
aligned themselves with two Croatan Indians named Wanchese and
Manteo. In 1584 Wanchese
and Manteo alongside Barlowe voyaged to England. When the
American Indians arrived in
England, they caused a media frenzy while they were there, while
in England Manteo had
1Louise A. Breen. Converging worlds: communities and cultures in
colonial America. New York: Routledge, 2012.
Print. Ex. Harriot, James.A Briefe and True Report of the New
World Land of Virginia: Thomas Harriot reports on
the Nature and Manners of the Nature people at Roanoke. Document
1 pg. 562
Louise A. Breen pg. 58
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learned English while Wanchese was still very suspicious of the
English motives. When Manteo
and Wanchese arrived back to Roanoke, Wanchese broke off ties
with the colonists, while
Manteo converted to Anglican. Because the colonist arrived so
late to Roanoke, the land was not
very fertile, so they could not plant crops or produce food. The
newly converted Manteo offered
food to the colonists enabling them to survive the brutal winter
that year. Author James Horn
states that, relations between the English and Secotans had
deteriorated rapidly during the three
or four months that Armadas expedition was away.3The thing that
amazes about the English
settlers is that they remain of little children expecting the
Indians to talk care of them, because
they felt they were superior to them, this superiority to the
colonists to raid Indian tribes often
searching for food or out of boredom. Horn states that the most
important reason for the
relationship between the English and the Natives becoming
strained was when the Secotan
Indians began getting gravely and dying because of the diseases
that the English had brought
with them.
The Jamestown settlement was a continuation of the Roanoke. The
colony was located near
James River in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Jamestown was settled on muddy
land also contain insects that carried deadly diseases the begin
plaguing the colonists. The
colonist came in contact withChief Powhatan was the leader of
theTsenacommacah Indians.
Just like the Roanoke colony, Jamestown would also have a
friendly relationship with the
Natives; they would also depend on them for food supply. Just
like Roanoke, Jamestown was
meant to be a permanent settlement on the behalf of England and
the Queen. Unlike Roanoke,
3James, Horn.A Kingdom Strange, The Brief And Tragic History Of
The Lost Colony Of Roanoke. New York: Basic
Books.2011. Print. Pg. 89
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Jamestown learned from the past mistakes of the colony of
Roanoke by succeeding in having and
maintaining a relationship with the Natives. I dont believe the
settlers of Jamestown didnt see
themselves as being superior to the Indians; they just wanted to
build a life for themselves from
the harsh life of England.
Even though the settlements of Roanoke and Jamestown werent
successful, but they start a
trend of many English coming over to the New World to start
their new life, where they could
leave their past life behind in England even though many knew
that they might not live long, that
the journey was worth it. The persistence of the English
settlers to continue, even in the face of
danger and death, its just like the sayingsays. If at first you
dont succeed, try again.
