To this day, no one has found any conclusive evidence about what actually happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke, yet we (my family) came up with a theory about what really happened. Keep in mind that this is probably totally fictional unless somehow I am right. (For the historical record of what happened, check out my previous post, SOLVED: The Lost Colony of Roanoke Part 1)
John White journeyed to the New World with his daughter and her husband to start a new life. He loved his daughter dearly, and being an Englishman, he was very naturally concerned about his social status.
When the colonists mistakenly landed on Roanoke Island instead of on the Chesapeake Bay, everyone decided to make the best of it and start a colony where they were.
When John White was elected governor, he had reached the peak of his career. In 14th century England, if you weren't born into royalty or if you didn't marry into the royal family, being governor of a colony was the highest you could climb.
During his time on Roanoke as governor, the situation of the colonists began to worsen. And John White made a few dire mistakes. (This part is factual) White and a few other men attacked a Native American tribe, thinking it was a tribe that had previously killed other Englishmen. Yet instead, the tribe they had brutally attacked had been friendly. This quickly made relations with other friendly Native tribes in the area disintegrate.
Because of this mistake he made, we can assume that without the help of the Natives, the colonists had a much harder time growing food and hunting. We can also assume that this caused people to go hungry, possibly even starve.
It was around this time that the colonists asked White to return home. But why would the governor of a colony just leave? Especially since his daughter and granddaughter were both left on Roanoke? Voyages across the ocean were dangerous, but isn't it a little strange that he wouldn't take his family back home with him? In fact, he could have easily just sent a messenger home and stayed with his colony.
The theory goes, that when things started to go wrong, a lot of people died and had many doubts in Mr. White. They feared he could not govern the new colony. It is possible that his daughter even had some unlawful relations with other men, or even just outright disagreed with White. This would have destroyed their family name if word ever got out.
Maybe everyone had left or had died before White left to return to England. Being the sole known survivor of the colony, White's story told from his perspective is all historians can go on. As far as the destruction of the buildings in the colony, it wouldn't be surprising if White and the crew of the ship sold the supplies gathered in the colony to the Spanish. It is possible that White himself carved the word "CROATOAN" into the posts, so that the English would find his story tragic, but wouldn't put too much stress on searching for the lost colonists, thinking they had moved on and were safe.
White only came back to the New World once to search for the lost colony after his leisurely three years in England. Which is also odd, seeing that his daughter and granddaughter were lost.
So what happened on Roanoke Island?
John White. According to my theory, he did it all.
Now how is that for a conspiracy theory?
This was really fun to do, it's possible it's even true, though of course no one can be sure. What do you think happened? Do you think I'm totally wrong, or do you think this maybe has some truth in it?
Jess
***
John White journeyed to the New World with his daughter and her husband to start a new life. He loved his daughter dearly, and being an Englishman, he was very naturally concerned about his social status.
When the colonists mistakenly landed on Roanoke Island instead of on the Chesapeake Bay, everyone decided to make the best of it and start a colony where they were.
When John White was elected governor, he had reached the peak of his career. In 14th century England, if you weren't born into royalty or if you didn't marry into the royal family, being governor of a colony was the highest you could climb.
During his time on Roanoke as governor, the situation of the colonists began to worsen. And John White made a few dire mistakes. (This part is factual) White and a few other men attacked a Native American tribe, thinking it was a tribe that had previously killed other Englishmen. Yet instead, the tribe they had brutally attacked had been friendly. This quickly made relations with other friendly Native tribes in the area disintegrate.
Because of this mistake he made, we can assume that without the help of the Natives, the colonists had a much harder time growing food and hunting. We can also assume that this caused people to go hungry, possibly even starve.
It was around this time that the colonists asked White to return home. But why would the governor of a colony just leave? Especially since his daughter and granddaughter were both left on Roanoke? Voyages across the ocean were dangerous, but isn't it a little strange that he wouldn't take his family back home with him? In fact, he could have easily just sent a messenger home and stayed with his colony.
The theory goes, that when things started to go wrong, a lot of people died and had many doubts in Mr. White. They feared he could not govern the new colony. It is possible that his daughter even had some unlawful relations with other men, or even just outright disagreed with White. This would have destroyed their family name if word ever got out.
Maybe everyone had left or had died before White left to return to England. Being the sole known survivor of the colony, White's story told from his perspective is all historians can go on. As far as the destruction of the buildings in the colony, it wouldn't be surprising if White and the crew of the ship sold the supplies gathered in the colony to the Spanish. It is possible that White himself carved the word "CROATOAN" into the posts, so that the English would find his story tragic, but wouldn't put too much stress on searching for the lost colonists, thinking they had moved on and were safe.
White only came back to the New World once to search for the lost colony after his leisurely three years in England. Which is also odd, seeing that his daughter and granddaughter were lost.
So what happened on Roanoke Island?
John White. According to my theory, he did it all.
Now how is that for a conspiracy theory?
This was really fun to do, it's possible it's even true, though of course no one can be sure. What do you think happened? Do you think I'm totally wrong, or do you think this maybe has some truth in it?
Jess
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