A Kingdom Strange Analysis

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Sam Nguyen HIST 1301 (5018) A Kingdom Strange by James Horn October 1st, 2015 From the earliest journeys to North America, to the claiming of New World land, Spain was the leading empire in colonization. With King Henry VIII's creation of the Church of England, a conflict between Catholics and Protestants developed. With Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth, ascending the throne, Puritans' frustration with the Anglican church began to build up. In 1583, Queen Elizabeth I sent Sir Humphrey Gilbert out to North America to create the first English colony. This first attempt had failed but Gilbert's half brother, Walter Ralegh, shared his interest in America, and continued to dream of England's first colony. The Roanoke Colony was the…show more content…
A settlement in the New World would make it so that “English privateers could harass Spanish shipping...establishing a long-term English presence...that would in time fatally undermine Spain's empire” (Horne, 60). As a colony in the New World was established, there was also conflict with a new people- the Indians. Relations with the Indians were friendly at first but soon deteriorated, leading to struggles within the colony. There were two colonies in Roanoke. Ralegh's first expedition, in 1584, was lead by Sir Richard Grenville. He was sent to create a settlement first, and then more settlers and reinforcements would come. Ralegh had sent Thomas Hariot, a scientist, and John White, an artist, to survey, inspect, and record the land. At first, the Indians were friendly towards the English but then Grenville ordered soldiers to burn fields and towns because the English believed that the Secotans stole from them; this left the Indians with an impression of violence and hostility. The colonists were not very worried about Spanish assaults, since ships were unable to get in, or the Secotans, who were their…show more content…
They hoped to be able to own land, make a profit, and have new chances and opportunities. Ralegh had appealed to the young middle class, making promises of 500 acres for every one who agreed to go to Roanoke. White, and others, had recruited many of his family members. Arrangements were made for relatives to take care of children being left behind. Many of the settlers were related to each other and many of them might have been Puritans that didn't want to be under Queen Elizabeth's rule. They thought the Church of England was had too many aspects of Catholicism, and they wanted religious
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