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Article: The Lost Colony of Roanoke; England's Pirate Base in America
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- April 9, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Long before Capt. John Smith met Pocahontas at Jamestown or the
Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock, the first English colony in
America was established in North Carolina in 1585. It was, however,
doomed.
Beset from the beginning by ill fortune, misplaced expectations,
greed and arrogance, the settlers abandoned the village, then
resettled it, before the entire population mysteriously vanished in
1590. The lost colonists of Roanoke Island were never seen or heard
from again.
Roanoke's story began with the earliest of reasons for
colonization. While subsequent English settlements in America were
established as havens for religious freedom or as commercial
ventures to trade in natural ...