Virginia
Why did the 1585 colony fall?
Mostly due to English supplies, Relations with the Natives, Food
and Leadership…
Five ships arrived in North America in June 1585. Sir Richard
Grenville was in charge. The winds and currents were bad,
meaning that the main ship was battered by waves and seawater.
The supplies (seeds for crops) were nearly all ruined. The colonists
now depended on the Natives to keep them alive.
Initially, they got on well with the natives. However, when
Grenville’s silver cup went missing, he set fire to a village and
its cornfields. Then, Natives started dying of unknown causes; the
colonists were carrying measles and smallpox, which the natives
had no resistance for.
Grenville left the colony to go back to England. Disagreements
occurred with the remaining people, one person was hanged.
The colonists arrived too late in the year to plant the remaining
seeds they had left, and struggled to catch any fish. They could
not hunt with guns as their gunpowder got wet on the boat. The
natives originally tried to help them, but then the
colonists started to steal from them.
In April 1586, Chief Wingina told his tribe not to help the English
any more. Lane attacked the tribe. Wingina was later
decapitated.
The colonists eventually managed to leave on 10th June 1586 as
Francis Drake arrived.
Why did the 1585 colony fall?
Mostly due to English supplies, Relations with the Natives, Food
and Leadership…
Five ships arrived in North America in June 1585. Sir Richard
Grenville was in charge. The winds and currents were bad,
meaning that the main ship was battered by waves and seawater.
The supplies (seeds for crops) were nearly all ruined. The colonists
now depended on the Natives to keep them alive.
Initially, they got on well with the natives. However, when
Grenville’s silver cup went missing, he set fire to a village and
its cornfields. Then, Natives started dying of unknown causes; the
colonists were carrying measles and smallpox, which the natives
had no resistance for.
Grenville left the colony to go back to England. Disagreements
occurred with the remaining people, one person was hanged.
The colonists arrived too late in the year to plant the remaining
seeds they had left, and struggled to catch any fish. They could
not hunt with guns as their gunpowder got wet on the boat. The
natives originally tried to help them, but then the
colonists started to steal from them.
In April 1586, Chief Wingina told his tribe not to help the English
any more. Lane attacked the tribe. Wingina was later
decapitated.
The colonists eventually managed to leave on 10th June 1586 as
Francis Drake arrived.
