Early European Settlements

Between the mid 1400 and 1500s, Spain claimed most of the Americas and settled colonies there. Other Europeans heard about the Spanish coming to the Americas and decided to come to the Americas too. England fought against Spain so they could build colonies in America. England won. After their battle with Spain, England attempted to settle two colonies, Roanoke and Jamestown. Things did not go well. There was big difference between the colonies and a few things that were the same. The Roanoke colony was England's first colony. Roanoke colony was lead by a colonist named Walter Raleigh. Queen Elizabeth trusted him to start a colony. Roanoke colony was located off the Atlantic coast. It had nice land and many rivers and streams. After awhile, the colonist ran out of supplies. John White and some other men returned to England to get more supplies. But when they returned , the colonist were gone and the word, CROATOAN was carved on a tree. Jamestown colony was England's second try to build a colony. It was near Chesapeake Bay. There was good fishing and hunting near the bay. The English settlers and The Native Americans were living together on the colony. At first they were getting along. The Jamestown colony was paid for by stock that was sold by The Virginia Company. Both the Roanoke and the Jamestown colonies suffered hard times. The colonist were hungry. Many of them became sick. Each colony fought with the Native Americans at some point. The English Europeans were determined to start a new life in North America.

5-212 January 16, 2013

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