When did the british go to colonize in America and when did they leave?

Answer 1

Devonshire cousins, Sir Richard Greynvile and Sir Walter Ralegh received Letters of Patent from Queen Elizabeth I, to Colonize the New World. In 1585, Greynvile, took seven ships loaded with colonists and provisions to establish a colony on Roanoke Island. Although the settlement survived, poor relations with the natives and food shortages constantly plagued the colony.

After Greynvile's supply ships were late in reaching Roanoke Island, due to weather, the colonists returned to England on board his great rival, Sir Francis Drake's, armed merchantmen, and in the process missed the arrival of Greynvile's re-supply ship. The ship's crew found the colony deserted and left fifteen men at the site to await their return. They never did, and eventually the men returned to England.

Two years later, Grenville sent another colonial expedition of 150 men, led by artist John White. The third colony, choosing the same location their predecessors had abandoned, saw improved relations with natives and the 1587 birth of Virginia Dare, the first child born to English parents in the New World. Soon after Dare's birth, White returned to London to secure more provisions for his fledgling colony, only to return three years later to find the colony abandoned, with no trace of inhabitants and most structures destroyed.

The vanished settlement is often referred to as the "Lost Colony," a story retold each summer on Roanoke Island in Paul Green's outdoor drama.

Although the first English colonies were unsuccessful, the attempts brought attention to the dangers inherent in creating a new society in a foreign world, and laid a course for future colonists.