Sir Walter Raleigh

0: Raleigh's Path

This is the path that Raleigh took as he explored the New World.

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5: Hayes Barton, Davonshire, England

Sir Walter Raleigh was a British explorer, historian, and poet, who was born around 1552, in Hayes Barton, Devonshire, England. He led an extremely interesting life. He was very brave, and is known well for his expeditions. He is most famous for the settlement of Roanoke Island, Virginia.

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6: Hayes Barton, England

After Raleigh’s exciting journey to El Dorado, he returned to England. When he arrived, he was beheaded because he had attacked the Spanish during his travels. His head was sent to his widow, who had it embalmed, and kept it until her death.

7: Jarnac, France

When Raleigh was about seventeen years old, he went to Jarnac, France to fight for the Huguenots. The Huguenots were French Protestants, who were forced to flee France, due to religious persecution. The King of France was forcing his countrymen to be Catholic. The Huguenots did not want to be Catholic, or in other words wanted religious freedom. In England, the people there were also Protestants. Raleigh decided to help the Huguenots fight, because he supported them completely.

8: Munster, Ireland

About 10 years later, Raleigh (who was a Protestant), went to fight against the Irish (who were Catholics). The Irish had enlisted the help of the Spanish and Italians to fight with them. A year after the battle, mid 1850, it was quite obvious that the English were going to win. But, that was not the case. Later that year, the Irish were indeed defeated by the English army. The war ended when the commander of the Irish army was killed in 1583.

9: Orinoco River,South America

In 1595, Raleigh decided to go to Venezuela, South America, in order to explore the Orinoco River. He was searching for El Dorado, which was claimed to be “The City of Gold.” Raleigh had several goals for his expedition. He wanted to find the City of Gold, and he wanted to possibly create a new settlement there. Raleigh searched for a while, but never did find El Dorado. However, he was still convinced that there were some riches yet to be found in South America. He found gold in riverbanks and Indian villages. He also believed that there was enough gold to be mined in the northern part of South America. Unfortunately, he did not have enough tools or men to excavate it. Although he did not find El Dorado, Raleigh still considered his journey to be a success. He made valuable contacts with the Indians, and he thought that he had convinced them to ignore the Spanish, and accept any new English explorers.

10: Roanoke Island, North Carolina

In 1584, Raleigh hired two explorers named Philip Amadas, and Arthur Barlowe on the first journey to the New World. Raleigh was hoping that the area for the new settlement would be somewhere in the Chesapeake Bay. He wanted this location because of the mild weather (unlike the more northern areas). Another reason for exploring was to find mineral riches. When the two men returned to England, Queen Elizabeth gave Raleigh a patent to explore all the lands that he could occupy. He then named this new land, Virginia, in honor of the Virgin Queen. Ralph Lane was sent as the leader of Raleigh’s second expedition. By the time that they got there, it was too late in the season for planting, and supplies were running short. To make matters worse, Lane (who was a military captain), alienated the Indians who were nearby, and murdered their chief over a stolen cup. Around 1856 Sir Francis Drake happened to visit the colony. Lane and his men had had enough, and Drake took them back to England. Ironically, a supply ship came to the island a week later. When the ship’s captain saw that the island was deserted, he left 15 of his men to stay there while he went to get reinforcements. Later, Raleigh sent 117 men, women, and children, to the colony to create a more permanent settlement.