chapter 7
Early Days in the Colonies
A
s the Spaniards had guessed, the English were initially more
interested in creating a base to raid Spanish ships than in
creating a colony on the Virginia coast. When Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his
half brother Walter Ralegh sponsored a series of expeditions to the New
World from 1584 to 1590, they chose Roanoke Island off the coast of
Virginia, where the Spanish treasure fleets were most vulnerable. Although
the English did not advertise this objective, and indeed doctored the record
of their adventures to disguise it, the Spaniards were well aware of their
plans.
When Gilbert vanished in a mighty storm on the Atlantic, Walter
Ralegh picked up the challenge. To encourage him, Queen Elizabeth in
1584 did what the English monarchs had been doing for years in Ireland:
she gave him a “patent.” His was “to discover, search, finde out, and view
such remote, heathen and barbarous lands, countreis, and territories, not
actually possessed of any Christian prince, not inhabited by Christian peo-
ple...to have,hold, occupy & enjoy.” (It was understood that the same
choke point where the treasure fleet was vulnerable was to be the focus.)
Ralegh was empowered to take “so many of our subjects as shall willingly
accompany him,” and the queen, who was always conscious of money,
specified that the crown was to get one-fifth of the proceeds. Thus encour-
aged, Ralegh organized a mission at his own expense to gather intelligence;
and, forewarned by Gilbert’s disaster in the stormy northern sea, he sent it
south along the route Columbus had pioneered.
After a rapid and safe trip, the mission came back to report splendid
prospects. To be sure of continued royal support, Ralegh decided to
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