Walter raleigh 1585

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Sir Francis Drake participated in some of the earliest English slaving voyages to Africa and earned a reputation for his privateering, or piracy, against Spanish ships and possessions.

He was a celebrated soldier, a hero on land and sea. He was responsible for the first ever English colonies in the New World. And he wrote poetry that ranks with some of the finest in early modern England. Yet at the age of 66 Sir Walter Raleigh was executed for treason.

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan c. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the The story of North American exploration spans an entire millennium and involves a wide array of European powers and uniquely American characters.

In , Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias c. The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon in on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East.

After sailing down the western coast of Africa and rounding the Cape of Good Hope, his expedition made numerous stops in Africa The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in , , and He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not really Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century.

By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1, A. A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. Ask Steve: Walter Cronkite. The stop in Puerto Rico had caused conflict between Grenville and Ralph Lane, an Irishman appointed governor of the new colony.

In addition to the hostilities between Grenville and Lane, one of the largest ships in the fleet, the Tiger, was too large to enter the sounds surrounding Roanoke Island. It, along with other larger English ships, were forced to anchor off the Atlantic coast, exposing themselves to more volatile weather and seas.

With the loss of valuable supplies, Lane was left with only men on the island to construct temporary shelter from which to scout for a more permanent location; Grenville, after briefly scouting the region for a more suitable location as well, would sail back to England with the rest of the men and return next year with more colonists and supplies. Lane and his men quickly constructed a small fortification with homes surrounding it. In addition to the homes constructed along the perimeter of the earthwork, the metal-working shop of Thomas Hariot and Joachim Gans was located nearby.

Although it was initially believed the colonists could subsist on agricultural ingenuity, it soon became clear that in order to survive they would have to consistently rely on the Carolina Algonquian for assistance. This reliance may have led to an increasing paranoia in Ralph Lane; he began to exert strict control over the colonists, going so far as to construct a jail to maintain order and discipline. In addition, what began as peaceful, mutually beneficial relationships with the Algonquian population, rapidly deteriorated into violence.

Wingina, Chief of the Secoton tribe of the Algonquian across the sound from Roanoke Island began to feud heavily with Lane and his men. Smallpox and other diseases began to decimate the native population, fueling the Algonquian notion that the English were god-like creatures intent on harm. Wingina rejected this argument on the grounds that the English could not control drought or food shortages any better than the Algonquian gods could.

He decided the English should be removed from the region at all costs. Wingina, now calling himself Pemisapan possibly to signify his new hostile stance on the English, attempted to cut off all food supplies to the colonists, forcing them to break up into small detachments in search of food, detachments that could easily be overwhelmed by a larger Secoton force.

Fearful that the fleet was Spanish, Lane and his men were relieved to find that it was an English fleet under the command of Sir Francis Drake.

Drake, having made port at the Outer Banks after months raiding Spanish shipping along the Florida coast and West Indies, agreed to help Lane in his continual desire to search for a more suitable settlement location. However, a violent hurricane quickly changed those plans, forcing an increasingly angry and frustrated Lane and his men to abandon Roanoke and return to England with Drake.