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Lost
Colony of Roanoke Mini Unit Study
One of my favorite "history mysteries" is the story
of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, one of the earliest settlements
in America. In 1587, Sir Walter Raleigh established a settlement
(his second try) of 114 people on Roanoke Island located off the
coast of present-day North Carolina.
Governor John White was the leader of the expedition. After a
little over a month on Roanoke Island, he returned to England
for supplies, promising to return by the next year. Almost three
years later, he finally returned with more ships and colonists.
But Roanoke was deserted - the settlers had vanished! The only
clue they left were the words CRO carved into a fencepost. Many
theories abound about their disappearance, some more credible
than others, but none has been found conclusive to date.
In this mini-unit study, you can: read about the Lost Colony -
including how and why the settlers came to Roanoke Island, who
discovered they were missing and popular theories about what happened
to them, hear a first-hand account of the colony from John White,
see a map of coastal Virginia and other early English settlements,
view a list of the names of the Roanoke Island settlers, read
about new evidence from that time that has come to light, take
the Mystery at Roanoke quiz, and write about what you think happened.
Reading
This is an account of
the events of the Lost Colony. It has a nice, logical summary
at the end of most of the more popular theories as to the fate
of the settlers:
The
Roanoke Voyages
This is an older newspaper
article about one of the more popular disappearance theories -
fascinating stuff!
The
Lost Colony
A recent geological
find that may help explain why the settlers disappeared:
Lost
Colony and Jamestown Droughts
Primary
Sources
Read John White's personal account of his voyages to Roanoke Island
and the shocking discovery of the disappearance of the settlers:
John
White
Look through this list
of names of the original Roanoke settlers to see if you can find
one that shares your name (Even though they disappeared, they
had very common English surnames):
Roanoke
Surnames
Multimedia
Think you know everything about Roanoke there is to know now?
Take the Mystery at Roanoke Quiz to test your knowledge of events:
Roanoke
Quiz
Maps
See a map of where the Roanoke Island Colony was and other English
coastal settlements. Note that Roanoke Island is not in present-day
Virginia, it is in North Carolina. In 1587, it was all just "Virginia":
Settlement
Map
Writing
Project
Choose one of the following theories below about what happened
to the Roanoke settlers that you believe best explains what happened
to them. Write a paragraph that describes why you think this explanation
is the best one OR give a speech to family members about why you
think this explanation is the best one:
Theories
1. They left Roanoke
Island and went to live with the Native Americans.
2. They left Roanoke Island and went to live in some other place.
3. They made boats out
of wood, left Roanoke Island and were lost at sea.
Recommended
Resource
Lyon's Roar
This book is the first
in a series of books called "The Lyon Saga", a fictional
account of what happened to the Roanoke Island Colony between
the years of 1587 to 1613. Jessabel Archarde, a 14-year-old girl,
is the narrator of this series, and we see things happen through
her eyes.
In the Lyon's Roar we travel with Jessabel across the Atlantic
and see the struggles of the Roanoke colony as they fight for
survival. The author has her own answer as to what happened to
the colony, but you'll have to read it yourself to find out!
Book (Paperback)
Authors: M. L. Stainer, James Melvin
Price: $6.95
Read
more about the book on Amazon
