CHAPTER 1 PLANTING ROOTS In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh received important news from England’s queen She had given him permission to colonize North America This would allow English people to sail across the Atlantic Ocean and start new lives But North America was not empty It was already home to many American Indian nations Sir Walter Raleigh did not travel to North America but he made two voyages to South America 5
The British did not believe they needed American Indians permission to create colonies there Raleigh himself never went to North America But he paid for others to go They started the colony of Roanoke in It was on an island off the shore of present-day North Carolina The settlers had difficult lives They were not able to grow enough food As a result the colony lasted only a few years Some of the settlers returned to England Others decided to stay However they were never heard from again England’s first colony in America had ended in failure 6
In 1587 colonists celebrated the birth of the first English child born in North America In 1607 the English tried again This time approximately 100 settlers traveled to what is now Virginia This area was home to the Powhatans an American Indian tribe The English settlers started a small colony on the Powhatans land They called it Jamestown Sometimes the colonists traded with the Powhatans for food and other supplies
