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The Lost Colony of Roanoke (a special episode for Brownin Hariel)
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Episode 156: The Lost Colony of Roanoke (a special episode for Brownin Hariel) Learn more about our partnership with ! Want a birthday shout-out?
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Foreign. This is Angela Odell, and you are listening to Real Cool History for Kids, a podcast show featuring history told from a distinctly biblical worldview perspective. Welcome to an adventure. Welcome to episode 156 of Real Cool History for Kids. This episode is for Brown and Harrell, who wanted to hear the story of the mysterious lost colony of Roanoke. Hey, Brown, this one's for you. I've told you guys about the colony of Jamestown in 1607 and about how the pilgrim came and settled the colony of Plymouth in 1620. But did you know that these colonies were not the first English attempt at establishing a colony in the New World, which is what the Europeans called the Americas? To learn the whole story of that first colony of Roanoke, we have to travel back in time, way back to the late 1500s. This was a time when maps were. Well, they weren't like what they are now. They were incomplete. There were whole sections not even known about, so they couldn't draw them. And the ocean was full of danger. And America was still an unknown wilderness to the people of Europe. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth I of England gave permission to a man named Sir Walter Raleigh to begin colonizing Norwalk, North America. Raleigh never actually came to America himself, but he sent people to explore and set up a colony. The first group of men landed on Roanoke island, which is off the coast of what we now call North Carolina. They tried to build a settlement there in 1585, but they ran into a lot of trouble. First, they didn't have enough food. That's a big, big, big problem, isn't it? And they didn't get along well with the local Native American tribes. And mostly they just weren't prepared for life in the wilderness. After about a year, the entire group just gave up and went home to England. But Raleigh didn't give up his idea of colonizing. In 1587, a new group of settlers came to Roanoke. This time, it wasn't just soldiers and explorers. It was families. It was a group of families. Over 100 men, women and children crossed the Atlantic Ocean hoping to build a permanent colony in the New World. The leader of this group was a man named John White. He was an artist and a mapmaker who had visited Roanoke before. He was actually part of the first group of people who had tried to settle Roanoke. And John White is an absolutely. A famous and just an incredible artist from early America. You should check out his work. One of the most exciting moments of this new colony was when John White's daughter, Eleanor Dare, gave birth to a baby girl named Virginia Dare, and she was the first English child to be born in America. Well, the settlers began building homes and trying to grow crops, but they soon realized that they were running out of supplies. So John White made the difficult decision to sail back to England to get more food and tools and help. John White left Roanoke in 1587 and sailed back to England. But when he got there, England was at war with Spain. All the ships were being used for battle, and he couldn't find a way to return to his colony in America. Three long years crept by as John White waited. Finally, in 1590, John White was able to return to Roanoke Island. But when he arrived, he found something shocking. His settlement was completely empty. All the people were gone. The houses had been taken down carefully, not destroyed. And there were no signs of a fight. There were no bones or bodies or messages or clues. Except for one strange thing. Someone had carved the word croton into a wooden post, and the letters CRO were carved into a nearby tree. John White thought this meant the settlers had moved to Croatan island, what we now call Hatteras island, where a friendly Native American tribe lived. He wanted to search for them, but before he could, a terrible storm came and the ship's captain was refused to wait. John White had to return to England, and he was absolutely brokenhearted. He never saw his daughter or his son in law and their child, his granddaughter, Virginia Dare. He never saw them again, and the settlers were never found. So what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke? Historians have been asking that question for more than 400 years. Hey guys, I'm going to take a quick break right here in the middle of our story about the lost colony of Roanoke, to give a shout out to a recent family of podcast reviewers, the Stark sisters, who said this about real cool history for kids. Hi, Mrs. O'. Dell. We're the Stark sisters and we really love your podcast. Our favorite episodes that you made are the ones about Molly Pitcher and Annie Oakley. You really make it fun to learn about history. Thanks for making such amazing podcasts. Thanks girls for such an awesome review. I'm so happy that you are enjoying the podcast show. Hey everyone, I'm inviting you to join our Patreon platform. For just $8 a month, you get all kinds of great resources added throughout the month. By joining our Patreon platform, you are helping to keep real cool history for kids on the air. And of course, make sure you stick around to hear this episode's birthday shout outs. This episode is made possible in part by the America Story series Written by me, Angela o', Dell, and published through Master Books, creators of homeschool curriculum designed for everyday life, written from a distinctly biblical worldview perspective. At Master Books, our purpose is ink on paper to impact eternity, because education is never neutral. Okay, let's get back to our story about the lost colony of Roanoke. What actually happened to the settlers? Where had they gone? Well, there are many theories, so let's take a look at the most popular ones. John White believed that since the Croton people had been friendly before, maybe the colonists had gone to live with them. There is some proof for this theory. Some later stories told of Native Americans with gray eyes. Very unusual, which might have meant they were descended from the English settlers. Some people think another tribe or even Spanish soldiers may have attacked the settlers. But if that had happened, why were there no signs of a battle? No burned buildings, no broken tools, no graves. So this theory seems unlikely. Another idea is that the colonists tried to build a boat to get back to England. But crossing the Atlantic without a proper ship or sailing knowledge would have been, well, pretty much impossible. If they had tried to do this, they likely didn't survive. Many historians now believe that the settlers may have split into small groups and joined different Native American tribes to survive. Over time, they would have adopted the new languages and customs and clothing. And if this had happened, their story would have just slowly blended into native history as the English settlers simply became part of the American wilderness. Archaeologists are still looking for clues. They've found tools and pottery near Roanoke and on Hatteras island that might have belonged to the missing settlers. But so far, there's no real solid evidence to tell us exactly what happened. One of the best ways of learning history is to imagine yourself in the time period and in the situations in which the event takes place. So imagine this with me. You and your family are boarding a wooden ship in 1587 and sailing across the vast Atlantic Ocean to a place you've never been. There are no phones and there's no GPs, no stores. It's just you. You and your fellow settlers and a huge dream of starting a new life. Well, that's exactly what the people of Roanoke Colony did. They were brave, but they were also really, really alone. They didn't have a backup plan, and they didn't have help nearby. The forest around them was wild and unknown, and the weather was unpredictable. Food was hard to find, and if anything went wrong, there were no supply trucks or rescue teams coming to help. It's hard to even imagine how scary that must have been. And then John White, their leader, had to leave them and return to England for more supplies. And they must have waited and waited, hoping each day that they would see his ship again. But they never did. And by the time he came back, three years had passed and, well, our whole colony was gone. That's where you come in history, Detective. We've talked about a few different ideas about what might have happened to the lost colony of Roanoke. So let's go over them again just one more time and think carefully through each one. Okay, so theory one was the colonists moved to Croatan island to live with the friendly Native American tribes. Okay, theory two is they were attacked by maybe by another tribe or even by the Spanish soldiers. Theory 3 says they tried to build their own boat and sailed back to England but didn't make it. And then finally, theory four was that they broke into small groups and joined different tribes, becoming part of the native communities. Each of these theories has a little bit of evidence, but no one has ever found solid proof to solve the mystery completely. Right. So what do you think? Which theory makes the most sense to you? And here's a fun do you have a theory of your own? What if something totally different than any of these happened that no one has thought of yet? You know what? That's what makes history so fun and exciting. It's not just about facts and dates. It's about puzzles and mysteries and people and about asking good questions and using our BR to make those connections. We do know this. The people of Roanoke showed incredible courage by leaving everything they knew behind. They faced real danger, real fear, and real hardship. And even though we may never know exactly what happened to them, their story still matters. It's really an important story. It reminds us that history is full of both mystery and lessons to learn. And that's why I love history so much. And now it's time for this episode's birthday shout outs. Happy birthday to Anderson holt, who turned 10 on June 2. Happy birthday to Zara Nunez, who turned 5 on June 4. Happy birthday to Benson Brown, who turned 8 on June 6. Happy birthday to Benjamin Cookie, who turned 7 on June 7. Happy birthday to Bennett Lodwig, who turned 2 on June 10. Happy birthday to Ruby Logan, who also turned 2 on June 10. Happy Birthday to Micah Roberto, who turned 8 on June 11. Happy birthday to Aria Taylor, who turned 12 on June 11. Happy birthday to Eloise Roberto, who turned 6 on June 12. And happy birthday to Leonatus Silva, who turned 4 on June 15. Happy birthday to all of you from the real cool history for kids. Family, thanks for joining me on this adventure in history today. And you guys remember to keep exploring, to keep asking questions, and to also remember this history is full of real people, real adventures, and really cool stories. I'll meet you here soon for our next episode of Real Cool History for Kids. Until then, with the help and grace of Jesus our Savior, be the best you ever.