Two decades preceding the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, England would attempt to establish its first North American colony at what is modern-day coastal North Carolina. The original settlement would not in fact be referred to as Carolina, but rather Virginia in honour of Queen Elizabeth I, or the Virgin Queen. The successful colony some twenty years later would also be christened Virginia, despite King James sitting on the throne. The early days of Jamestown's existence would prove to be difficult, fraught with hardship, disease, Native American attacks and starvation, yet there'd prove to be no repeat of Roanoke's misfortune. In an effort to succeed a second time around, Walter Raleigh would grant a corporate charter to prospective settlers in order to permit roughly a hundred of them to establish a presence there in the hope of cementing a permanent colony, thus granting England itself a foothold in the New World. From the outset the colony at Roanoke would run into trouble, most notably concerning attacks from local tribes due to tensions. Yet another enduring threat would be that of patrolling Spanish ships potentially spotting the settlement for an English presence across the Atlantic would prove to be a beachhead of sorts for the spread of Protestantism - then contained to Northern Europe alone. Its colonial governor John White having left for England in order to resupply dwindling resources returned in 1587 only to find the entire colony and its inhabitants had vanished from the face of the earth. Numerous theories concerning its disappearance have been put forth down through the years:
▪︎That colonists had simply moved inland.
▪︎That Spanish patrol ships captured and imprisoned everyone present.
▪︎That Native Americans slaughtered every last inhabitant, for after all tensions had been high between locals and settlers to begin with.
You'd have to wonder if the aforementioned final point coloured European American views of Indian tribes for the following three hundred years and thereafter. What had been a Noble Savage of sorts in the mind of settlers would in no short time become the hostile, dangerous and brutish barbarian lurking in the woods, waiting to strike at any moment and willing to commit unimaginable acts of cruelty against the unsuspecting. For a century thereafter future inhabitants of the southern colonies would report encountering tribes who somewhat resembled European peoples in their physical appearance. While it's possible settlers would integrate with local tribes, purely driven by survival-related motives, such stories may very well be old wives tales or the result of overactive imaginations, yet not entirely beyond the realm of possibility. What would be your guess as to what happened? It's certainly a fascinating and enduring mystery for the ages. What's likely certain is that had Jamestown gone the way of Roanoke, then the world would be a much different place today as there'd be no such thing as a United States of America.
