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First Settlement

Roanoke Island is famous for having the first ever English colonial settlement in the New World. But what it is most famous for is how mysteriously these first English settlers disappeared after a short time. Some say that they were killed; others say that they hid; still others say that they were absorbed into the native tribes. These settlers in Roanoke Island, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace, are popularly referred to as

“The Lost Colony.”

While Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in the New World, Roanoke Island was host to English settlers even before the start of the 16th century. Roanoke Island is where the first child of English decent was born in the New World, and there had been many speculations as to what happened to the colony after that. King James I of England even made it a point to go on the first voyage to Jamestown to search for the first colony in America.

The Return

It was in 1584 when the first group of English settlers made settlements in Roanoke Island. This first batch of settlers consisted of a hundred men, but the quickly abandoned their first settlement due to harsh weather conditions and their failure to keep a good relationship with the native tribes. After three years, the second batch of English settlers set foot on the island in July. After a month, the first English child was born in the New World. A week after Eleanor Dare’s child was born, his grandfather, Captain John White, set sail for England to bring them back food supplies and materials. What Captain White expected to be a short trip turned out to be a long

stay in his motherland. The Spaniards attacked England, and there were many other unexpected events, and so he managed to return to Roanoke Island three years later.

A Mystery

What Captain John White saw was mysterious and utterly unbelievable. His daughter, Eleanor Dare, and his granddaughter, Virginia Dare, were nowhere to be seen! He saw no one from the English settlement he left three years earlier, and the place was bare of any signs of life as even the houses were nowhere to be seen. The letters “CRO” was sketched on a nearby tree and the word “Croatan” was found on a post, but even a visit to the Croatoan Indians gave him no answer as to where his family and the English colony had gone.

Some say that the colony was wiped out by a violent deadly storm, and it was easy to imagine that on an island. Others say that the settlers had been the subject of brutal attacks by nearby native tribes, to help prevent future colonization on the island. Others say that they had intermingled with and become absorbed into the native population, that they became comfortable with living as natives that they ultimately decided not to return to the colony. The loss of more than a hundred people—consisting of 90 men, 17 women and 9 children—marks the mysterious end of the first ever attempt to establish a permanent settlement in the New World.

The Lost Colony

The fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke is one of America's most famous unsolved mysteries.

By the late 16th century, the race for the New World was on, and Sir Walter Raleigh was charged with establishing an English foothold in the Americas. This would allow England to scout out resources (i.e. gold), claim some territory, convert some pagans and establish a base camp for raids on Spanish ships.

In 1584, Raleigh financed a scouting expedition in order to find the perfect spot for his new venture. Captains Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlow returned with glowing reports of a "most pleasant and fertile" land, inhabited by a "loving and faithful" people, and it was decided that Roanoke Island's

protected shores would be the perfect place to start England's first colony in the New World. With the Queen's blessing (and financial support), a boatload of soldiers was promptly sent off to the shores of North America.

The 108 men dropped off on Roanoke settled on the north side of the island and built a defensible fort. Artist John White diligently recorded the local people, flora, and fauna of Roanoke. Scientist Thomas Hariot busied himself with the metals and minerals of the island. Initially the colonists traded beads and trinkets to the Indians for food and supplies. As winter set in, food became scarce and tensions grew between the ill-prepared colonists and the Roanoke Islanders. By spring, there was open conflict between the parties. At war with the Native Americans, and tired of waiting for overdue supply ships, when the colonists saw Sir Francis Drake's fleet passing by, they hopped on board and headed back to England. The tardy supply ships showed up just days later, and a group of 15 men were left to "hold down the fort" until a new group of settlers could be recruited.

For his second attempt at colonization, Sir Walter Raleigh decided to mix it up and add women and children to the group. He offered each settler a plot of land in the "cittie of Raleigh" that they were sent to establish. These brave new colonists (two of them pregnant!) arrived at Roanoke in July of 1587. They had planned to make a quick stop to resupply the 15 soldiers and then move inland. Upon their arrival, they found little evidence of the soldiers, and it was feared to be too late in the season to safely venture further. The colonists were left on Roanoke to settle in the abandoned ruins of their predecessors. Shortly after the colonists arrived, they celebrated the birth of the first English child in the New World, baby Virginia Dare.

Relations with the Native Americans were still troubled and grew worse after a series of miscommunications and ill-fated actions by the colonists. John White, now governor of the fledgling colony, left for England on what was to be a quick supply run. The colonists were instructed to leave a note if they moved on or ran into trouble. Due to a series of unfortunate events, White was unable to return for three years. Upon his belated homecoming, he found his family and community missing and the colony in ruins. The letters "CRO" were carved into a tree near the water, and "CROATOAN" was carved into the gate post. In what must have been a most frustrating situation, White was forced to leave with his ship without searching for the colony. White would make several more attempts to find his family and friends, but the fate of the Lost Colony of Roanoke remains a mystery to this day. Theories abound on the fate of the settlers: drought-induced starvation, Spanish attack, lost at sea trying to return home or the possibility that the colonists moved inland and set up camp with the friendly Indians on Croatoan. We may never know what happened to the Lost Colony, but finding where the settlement was on Roanoke Island would be a great place to start unravelling this 400-year-old mystery.

Fort Raleigh Site Timeline

Having trouble keeping all of this straight? So did we! Here is a timeline to help:

• 1584 — Sir Walter Raleigh's men Captains Phillip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe first land on Roanoke Island and find it suitable for settlement.

• 1585 — 108 soldiers come to Roanoke to establish first colony.

• 1586 — Colonists and Native Americans at 'war,' and colony abandoned.

• 1587 — Second group of 117 colonists come to Roanoke.

A Brief History of JamestownThe founding of Jamestown, America’s first permanent English colony, in Virginia in 1607 – 13 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts – sparked a series of cultural encounters that helped shape the nation and the world.  The government, language, customs, beliefs and aspirations of these early Virginians are all part of the United States’ heritage today.

The colony was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, a group of investors who hoped to profit from the venture.  Chartered in 1606 by King James I, the company also supported English national goals of counterbalancing the expansion of other European nations abroad, seeking a northwest passage to the Orient, and converting the Virginia Indians to the Anglican religion. 

The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, carrying 105 passengers, one of whom died during the voyage, departed from England in December 1606 and reached the Virginia coast in late April 1607.  The expedition was led by Captain Christopher Newport.  On May 13, after two weeks of exploration, the ships arrived at a site on the James River selected for its deep water anchorage and good defensive position. The passengers came ashore the next day, and work began on the settlement.  Initially, the colony was governed by a council of seven, with one member serving as president.

Serious problems soon emerged in the small English outpost, which was located in the midst of a chiefdom of about 14,000 Algonquian-speaking Indians ruled by the powerful leader Powhatan.  Relations with the Powhatan Indians were tenuous, although trading opportunities were established.  An unfamiliar climate, as well as a brackish water supply and lack of food, conditions, possibly aggravated by a prolonged drought, led to disease and death.  Many of the original colonists were upper-class Englishmen, and the colony lacked sufficient laborers and skilled farmers.

The first two English women arrived at Jamestown in 1608, and more came in subsequent years.  Men outnumbered women, however, for most of the 17th century.

Captain John Smith became the colony’s leader in September 1608 – the fourth in a succession of council presidents – and established a “no work, no food” policy.  Smith had been instrumental in trading with the Powhatan Indians for food.  However, in the fall of 1609 he was injured by burning gunpowder and left for England.  Smith never returned to Virginia, but promoted colonization of North America until his death in 1631 and published numerous accounts of the Virginia colony, providing invaluable material for historians.

Smith’s departure was followed by the “starving time,” a period of warfare between the colonists and Indians and the deaths of many English men and women from starvation and disease.  Just when the colonists decided to abandon Jamestown in Spring 1610, settlers with supplies arrived from England, eager to find wealth in Virginia.  This group of new settlers arrived under the second charter issued by King James I.  This charter provided for stronger leadership under a governor who served with a group of advisors, and the introduction of a period of military law that carried harsh punishments for those who did not obey.   

In order to make a profit for the Virginia Company, settlers tried a number of small industries, including glassmaking, wood production, and pitch and tar and potash manufacture.  However, until the introduction of tobacco as a cash crop about 1613 by colonist John Rolfe, who later married Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas, none of the colonists’ efforts to establish profitable enterprises were successful.  Tobacco cultivation required large amounts of land and labor and stimulated the rapid growth of the Virginia colony.  Settlers moved onto the lands occupied by the Powhatan Indians, and increased numbers of indentured servants came to Virginia. 

The first documented Africans in Virginia arrived in 1619.  They were from the kingdom of Ndongo in Angola, West Central Africa, and had been captured during war with the Portuguese.  While these first Africans may have been treated as indentured servants, the customary practice of owning Africans as slaves for life appeared by mid-century.  The number of African slaves increased significantly in the second half of the 17th century, replacing indentured servants as the primary source of labor. 

The first representative government in British America began at Jamestown in 1619 with the convening of a general assembly, at the request of settlers who wanted input in the laws governing them.  After a series of events, including a 1622 war with the Powhatan Indians and misconduct among some of the Virginia Company leaders in England, the Virginia Company was dissolved by the king in 1624, and Virginia became a royal colony.  Jamestown continued as the center of Virginia’s political and social life until 1699 when the seat of government moved to Williamsburg.  Although Jamestown ceased to exist as a town by the mid 1700s, its legacies are embodied in today’s United States.

The Plymouth Colony

The Virginia Company of Plymouth, a group of English merchant investors, had failed to establish permanent colonies in the northern reaches of what was then known as Virginia.

The stockholders' spirits were further dampened when they noticed that their chief rival, the Virginia Company of London, had established a settlement at Jamestown, where a lucrative tobacco economy began to develop in the late 1600s. Sir Edwin Sandys, a major figure in the Plymouth group, hoped to salvage some of his investment by convincing James I that he should allow a group of religious dissenters to settle on the company’s lands.

Earlier, in 1608, group of religious separatists from the English town of Scrooby had moved quietly to Amsterdam and Leiden, Holland, in search of religious freedom. Their journeys earned them the name "Pilgrim."

Despite their enjoyment of religious toleration, the separatists were denied entry to the lucrative Dutch guilds and found it hard to support themselves. They also were concerned about the fact that their children were growing up as young Dutch people and not adhering to their parents’ religious dictates.

Separatist leaders secured a land grant from Sandys in 1620, and embarked in the ship Mayflower for the New World in September. They arrived in November initially at Provincetown Bay and later settled at what became Plymouth.

The Pilgrims had intended to settle near the mouth of the Hudson River, but had been blown off course in stormy weather. Since they were well outside the confines of Virginia, the colonists sought to legitimize their venture by forming the Mayflower Compact.

The Pilgrims established their first home in an empty Indian village where the inhabitants had recently been wiped out by

an epidemic. With typical religious certainty, the leaders concluded that God had cleared the site for his chosen people. During the first winter, adverse weather conditions and lack of food took a heavy toll among the original 102 colonists.

In 1621, the Pilgrims concluded a peace treaty with chief Massasoit of the neighboring Wampanoag tribe. The natives provided critical instruction on adaptation to the new environment, particularly in the cultivation of corn. That fall, following a successful harvest, the Pilgrims feasted with the Wampanoag in the first Thanksgiving celebration.

The Plymouth economy developed around trade in fish and furs. The sandy, rocky soil had made agriculture difficult, but basic crops were grown successfully.

Plymouth was never a prosperous settlement, but the religiously faithful were content to be ignored by English officials and left to direct their own affairs.

Plymouth remained a separate political entity until it was absorbed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1691.

 Massachusetts Bay — "The City Upon a Hill"

This woodcut represents the earliest known map of New England from 1677. The mapmaker showed west at the top with north to the right.

The passengers of the Arbella who left England in 1630 with their new charter had a great vision. They were to be an example for the rest of the world in rightful living. Future governor JOHN WINTHROP stated their purpose quite clearly: "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us."

The Arbella was one of eleven ships carrying over a thousand Puritans to Massachusetts that year. It was the largest original venture ever attempted in the English New World. The passengers were determined to be a beacon for the rest of Europe, "A Modell of Christian Charity," in the words of the governor.

John Winthrop travelled to the New World aboard the Arbella. He was elected and dismissed as governor of the Massachsetts Bay Colony several times.

Puritans believed in PREDESTINATION. This doctrine holds that God is all-powerful and all-knowing; therefore, the fate of each individual soul is known to God at birth. Nothing an individual can do or say could change their ultimate fate. Puritans believed that those chosen by God to be saved — the elect — would experience "CONVERSION." In this process, God would reveal to the individual His grace, and the person would know he was saved.

Only the elect could serve as Church members. If a person were truly saved, he would only be capable of behavior endorsed by God. These "living saints" would serve as an example to the rest of the world. During the early years, ministers such as JOHN COTTON carefully screened individuals claiming to have experienced conversion.

The colony needed more than a fervent church to survive. ManyDISSENTERS — Christian men and women who were not converted — also lived within the ranks of Massachusetts Bay. Towns such as MARBLEHEADwere founded by non-Puritan settlers. The Puritans allowed this for the sake of commerce. Many skills were necessary for a vibrant economy.

This engraving shows the Harvard campus as it looked during the 18th century.

An elected legislature was established, echoing the desire for self-government already seen in other English colonies. Although ministers were prohibited from holding political office, many of the most important decisions were made by the clergy. In 1636, HARVARD COLLEGE was instituted for the purpose of training Puritan ministers.

By the end of the 1630s, as part of a "GREAT MIGRATION" of Puritans out of England, nearly 14,000 more Puritan settlers came to Massachusetts, and the colony began to spread. In 1691, Plymouth colony, still without a charter, was absorbed by their burgeoning neighbor to the West.

The great experiment seemed to be a smashing success for the first few decades. In the end however, worldly concerns led to a decline in religious fervor as the 1600s grew old.

William Penn, Founder of the English colony of Pennsylvania, had an enlightened attitude for his time in regards to religious tolerance and in his dealings with Native Americans.

THE COLONIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA 1681-1730 The Quakers principles shaped, settled and developed the colony of Pennsylvania. The Quakers strongly believed in religious liberty and the inherent worth of all human beings. They established Pennsylvania as a haven for persecuted religions, and created a political and economic system that fostered prosperity and independence for middling families of England. By the 1730s, Pennsylvania was characterized by ethnic, religious diversity as well as prosperity and independence for middling families. The colony of Pennsylvania was established in the mid 1600’s by William Penn,

 This land, west of the Delaware river was the payment of a huge debt King James II of England occurred from William’s father Admiral William Penn. William Penn saw the establishment of this colony in the new world as an opportunity to take his Quaker friends away from the prosecution they were experiencing in England. William Penn was also enriching himself though the selling of these newly gifted land parcels of Approximately 47,000 square miles of it initially to his

fellow Quaker family’s and “weighty friends”(Quakers of wealth) then later by the

(A Quaker meeting held at what is called a Friends House)

Scottish-Irish Presbyterians, German sectarians and other mixed European immigrants. Who were these Quakers you might ask? The Quakers were considered a radical religious sect within England. They were a tight nit collection of middle class farmers, tradesmen, shop keepers and manufacturers. The Quakers also know by their original name of “Religious Society of Friends”, These “society of friends” at its core believed that all people carried an” inner light” or” a Piece of God within them”. The Quakers met at weekly meetings, sat silently as equals until the divine spirit inspired someone to speak.

 The Quakers religious beliefs of equality before god with no social hierarchy had them at odds with the established hierarchy model in England of “the great chain of being” which ran from top “God” to the “King” down through the lords, lesser lords, Gentry, landholders and so forth. There challenge to the political hierarchy and state run church and refusals to except this order of things had Quakers fined, whipped, beaten and jailed because of this, in fact William Penn himself was jailed for a few years because of his Quaker beliefs.

The Georgia Colony

In the 1730s, England founded the last of its colonies in North America. The project was the brain child of James Oglethorpe, a former army officer. After Oglethorpe left the army, he devoted himself to helping the poor and debt-ridden people of London, whom he suggested settling in America. His choice of Georgia, named for the new King, was also motivated by the idea of creating a defensive buffer for South Carolina, an increasingly important colony with many potential enemies close by. These enemies included the Spanish in Florida, the French in Louisiana and along the Mississippi River, and these powers' Indian allies throughout the region.

Twenty trustees received funding from Parliament and a charter from the King, issued in June 1732. The charter granted the trustees the powers of a corporation; they could elect their own governing body, make land grants, and enact their own laws and taxes. Since the corporation was a charitable body, none of the trustees could receive any land from, or hold a paid position in, the corporation. Too, since the undertaking was designed to benefit the poor, the trustees placed a 500-acre limit on the size of individual land holdings. People who had received charity and who had not purchased their own land could not sell, or borrow money against, it. The trustees wanted to avoid the situation in South Carolina, which had very large plantations and extreme gaps between the wealthy and the poor.

The undertaking was paternalistic through and through. For example, the trustees did not trust the colonists to make their own laws. They therefore did not establish a representative assembly, although every other mainland colony had one. The trustees made all laws for the colony. Second, the settlements were laid out in compact, confined, and concentrated townships. In part, this arrangement was instituted to enhance the colony's defenses, but social control was another consideration. Third, the trustees prohibited the import and manufacture of rum, for rum would lead to idleness. Finally, the trustees prohibited Negro slavery, for they believed that this ban would encourage the settlement of "English and Christian" people.

Georgia's first year, 1733, went well enough, as settlers began to clear the land, build houses, and construct fortifications. Those who came in the first wave of settlement realized that after the first year they would be working for themselves. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe, who went to Georgia with the first settlers, began negotiating treaties with local Indian tribes, especially the Upper Creek tribe. Knowing that the Spanish, based in Florida, had great influence with many of the tribes in the region, Oglethorpe thought it necessary to reach an understanding with these native peoples if Georgia was to remain free from attack. In addition, the Indian trade became an important element of Georgia's economy.

It didn't take long, however, until the settlers began to grumble about all the restrictions imposed on them by the trustees. In part, this grumbling may have been due to the fact that most of those moving

Map of Virginia, Maryland and the Carolinas, 1714Map Collections

to Georgia after the first several years were from other colonies, especially South Carolina. These settlers viewed restrictions on the size of individual land holdings as a sure pathway to poverty. They also opposed restrictions on land sales and the prohibition against slavery for the same reason. They certainly did not like the fact that they were deprived of any self-government and their rights as Englishmen. By the early 1740s, the trustees slowly gave way on most of the colonists' grievances.

Religion and Rulers in England

Henry VIII 1509-1547

Edward VI 1547-1553

Jane Grey 1553

Mary I 1553-1558

Elizabeth I 1558-1603

STUART

James I 1603-1625

The Princess Mary was born in 1516, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England. During Mary's childhood, as the daughter of the King of England her value as a potential marriage partner for the ruler of another realm was high. Mary was promised in marriage to the dauphin, son of Francis I of France, and later to the emperor Charles V. A 1527 treaty promised Mary to Francis I or to his second son.

Soon after that treaty, however, Henry VIII began the long process of divorcing Mary's mother, his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. With the divorce of her parents, Mary was declared illegitimate, and her half-sister Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, successor to Catherine of Aragon as wife of Henry VIII, was declared Princess instead. Mary refused to acknowledge this change in her status. Mary was then kept from seeing her mother from 1531 on; Catherine of Aragon died in 1536.

After Anne Boleyn was disgraced, charged with being unfaithful and executed, Mary finally capitulated and signed a paper accepting that her parents' marriage was unlawful. Henry VIII then restored her to the succession.

Mary, like her mother, was a devout and committed Roman Catholic. She refused to accept Henry's religious innovations. During the reign of Mary's half-brother, Edward VI, when even more Protestant reforms were implemented, Mary held fast to her Roman Catholic faith.

On Edward's death, Protestant supporters briefly put Lady Jane Grey on the throne. But Mary's supporters removed Jane, and Mary became Queen of England, the first woman to rule England with full coronation as Queen in her own right.

Queen Mary's attempts to restore Catholicism and Mary's marriage to Philip of Spain (July 25, 1554) were unpopular. Mary supported harsher and harsher persecution of the Protestants, eventually burning more than 300 Protestants at the stake as heretics over a four year period, earning her the nickname "Bloody Mary."

Two or three times, Queen Mary believed herself pregnant, but each pregnancy proved to be false. Philip's absences from England grew more frequent and longer. Mary's always-frail health finally failed her and she died in 1558. Some attribute her death to influenza, some to stomach cancer which was misinterpreted by Mary as pregnancy.

Queen Mary named no heir to succeed her, so her half-sister Elizabeth became Queen, named by Henry as next in succession after Mary.

Succession to the Throne

Edward attempted to disinherit both his sisters, favoring his cousin Lady Jane Grey for the throne. However, he did so without the backing of Parliament and his will was patently illegal, as well as unpopular. After his death in 1533, Mary succeeded to the throne and Elizabeth joined her procession. Unfortunately, Elizabeth soon lost favor with her Catholic sister, likely due to England seeing her as the Protestant alternative to Mary.When Mary wed her cousin, Philip II of Spain, Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion, which Mary blamed on Elizabeth. She sent Elizabeth to the Tower. Staying in the same apartments that her mother had waited in during her own trial and before her execution, Elizabeth feared the same fate. After two months, nothing could be proven and likely at the urging of her husband, Mary released her sister. After Mary’s death, Elizabeth peacefully inherited the throne.

After experiencing constant religious persecution and war under Mary, the English hoped for a new beginning with Elizabeth. She began her reign with a theme of national unity. Her first act was to appoint William Cecil as her principle secretary, which would prove to be a long and fruitful partnership.

Elizabeth decided to follow a path of reform in the church settlement in 1559. She favored restoring the Edwardian religious settlement. The nation at large accepted the reestablishing of Protestant worship. Elizabeth demanded only outward obedience, unwilling to force consciences. She was mostly easygoing about this decision and it was only after a number of plots on her life that she enacted harsher legislation.

There are a number of historical perspectives on Elizabeth’s own faith. Many Elizabethan historians have pointed out that if she was a Protestant, she was a strange sort of Protestant. She disliked preaching immensely, which is an important part of the faith. Many Protestants were disappointed in her legislation, but Elizabeth was not concerned about doctrine or practice. Her primary concern was always public order, which required religious uniformity. Instability in religion would unsettle political order.

The Question of Marriage

One question that dogged Elizabeth, particularly in the early part of her reign, was the question of succession. Numerous times, the parliament presented her with official requests that she marry. Most of the English population hoped that marriage would solve the problem of a woman ruling. Women were not believed to be capable of leading forces into battle. Their mental powers were considered to be inferior to men. Elizabeth was often confronted with such sexist ideas and believed to be unable to comprehend such matters of governance. Men often gave her unsolicited advice, particularly in regards to the will of God, which only men were believed to be able to interpret.

Despite the frustration this must have caused, Elizabeth governed with her head. She knew how to use courtship as a useful political tool, and she wielded it masterfully. Throughout her life, Elizabeth had a variety of suitors and she often used her unmarried status to her advantage. The closest she came to marriage was likely with Robert Dudley, a relationship that rumors swirled around for years. In the end, she refused to marry and also refused to name a political successor. Many have speculated that her reluctance to marry could have been due to her own father’s example. It is possible that from an early age, Elizabeth equated marriage with death. Elizabeth herself declared that she was married to her kingdom and England would be fine with an unmarried ruler.

Elizabeth I and Spain

When Elizabeth became Queen in 1558 on the death of her

half-sister Mary, England had a decent relationship with Spain. Mary’s marriage to Philip of Spain obviously helped to cement this even if the marriage itself was not a success. There were those in the Privy Council and Parliament who believed that Elizabeth would marry Philip herself to ensure that both nations stayed

close. However, this was not to be and during the first ten years of Elizabeth’s reign a drift occurred between England and Spain. Historians do not believe that this was a deliberate policy by either nation – it simply happened. Religion was not the cause of this as Philip made it clear that he wanted Elizabeth on the throne of England as opposed to Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots) who would have been pro-France, the result of her marriage to Francis II, king of France. Even though Francis died young and Mary returned to her native Scotland, she was still held in high regard in Paris and she, herself, was pro-France. The last thing that Philip wanted was a pro-French English monarch. On two occasions he used his influence to pressuring the Pope into excommunicating Mary. While Elizabeth was a heretic in the eyes of Spain, a good relationship with England ensured that the French felt sufficiently surrounded by two enemies – enough to put her off of any expansionist policy.

 Regardless of this, a separation between Spain and England did occur. It may have been the result of Elizabeth’s failure to marry Philip. Philip may have got the idea that Elizabeth would marry him as a matter of course. When this did not occur, Philip may have let his personal feelings influence his policy decisions. However, there is no proof of this. In 1568 a major incident occurred that effectively meant that Spain and England would never come to terms while Elizabeth was on the throne. Whereas the decline in relations had been ongoing slowly from 1558 to 1568, it dropped markedly in 1568. In this year, the English seized some Spanish bullion ships that had been blown into English waters. These ships had gold on board that was to be used to pay for Alva’s army in the Netherlands. The Spanish responded by seizing English merchant ships that were docked in Antwerp.

The other great difficulty, apart from the succession, with which Elizabeth had to deal, arose from the exuberant aggressiveness of England, which she could not, and perhaps did not want to, repress. Religion was not really the cause of her external dangers, for the time had passed for crusades, and no foreign power seriously contemplated an armed invasion of England for religion's sake. But no state could long tolerate the affronts which English seamen offered Spain. The common view that the British Empire has been won by purely defensive action is not reasonable, and from the beginning of her reign, Englishmen had taken the offensive, partly from religious but also from other motives. They were determined to break up the Spanish monopoly in the new world, and in the pursuit of this cause they were led to challenge Spain. For nearly thirty years Philip put up with the capture of his treasure-ships, the raiding of his colonies and the open assistance given to his rebels. Only when he had reached the conclusion that his power would never be secure in the Netherlands or the New World until England was conquered, did he dispatch the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth delayed the

breach as long as she could, probably because she knew that war meant taxation, and that taxation was the biggest cause of revolt. 

Once her mother was executed, and Edward, her half-brother was born, the chances of Elizabeth's succession to the throne became very small, since she was declared as illegitimate.At that time, Elizabeth was third in line to the throne, the first being Edward, and the second, Mary Tudor, her half sister, daughter of Lady Katherine of Aragon who was the third wife of Henry VIII.When Henry VIII died, Edward, who was just 10 years of age, became king as Edward VI. Both Edward and Elizabeth were brought up in the Protestant faith, whereas Mary Tudor, their half sister, grew up as a Roman Catholic.Mary succeeded to the throne in 1553 on the death of Edward, and immediately made Catholicism the religion of the state. She had Elizabeth imprisoned in the Tower of London for two months, suspecting her of hatching a plot with the Protestants to take over the throne.As a matter of fact, Roman Catholics always regarded her as illegitimate, and Elizabeth narrowly escaped from being executed after the rebellion against Queen Mary had failed in 1554.However, when Queen Mary died in 1558, Elizabeth finally did manage to ascend to the throne of England. Not only was she well educated, but she had also inherited the shrewdness, determination, and intelligence of both her parents.The 45 years of her rule is generally regarded as the most glorious in the history of England, which saw the establishment of a secure Church of England, with its doctrines being instituted in the 39 Articles created in 1563, which was a compromise made between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.This compromise was accepted by most of her subjects, and it is thought that this settlement probably prevented England from experiencing the religious wars that beset France in the latter part of the 16th century.When Queen Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne, England was in dire straits, with it being divided by religious strife and weakened by war, and the treasury being empty. Both France and Spain, wanted to take over the rule of England. Therefore, the people of England hoped that their new queen would marry somebody strong who could give her guidance.However, Elizabeth immediately seized the governing of her country, and although there were several suitors, and she had many men as close friends, she was steadfast in her resolve not to marry, thus getting the name 'Virgin Queen'.Elizabeth gave her country a period of peace, which led to prosperity. She reconciled the hostilities that England had with other countries, going to war only in self-defense.It was during Queen Elizabeth the First's reign that a national identity was created for England. Hence, from a small and insignificant country, England became a world power. England also became a major cultural hub during her reign, while also becoming a country of greater harmony and tolerance.Under the leadership of Queen Elizabeth I, England also extended its exploration and trade. In fact, the final years of her rule are referred to as the "Golden Age of England". The coasts of North and South America were first explored during her reign, with the first colonies being set up in the so-called New World. The State of Virginia, which was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, one of Elizabeth I's favorite courtiers, was, in fact, was named after her, as the 'Virgin Queen'.