2.3 - Supporting Question 3
|
Compelling Questions: Was colonization a good thing? For whom? |
Supporting Question 3: How does the “Lost Colony” demonstrate the difficulty in establishing a new colony? |
Introduction
The mystery of the Lost Colony captivates contemporary students because there remain so many unanswered questions about the fate of the colonists at Roanoke. While Gerald Johnson (1949) referred to these first colonists as “the expendables” (p. 9), others such as historian William Powell (1988) believe “their contributions were significant” in that “They enabled England to try several forms of colonial government and to develop and test theories of colonization” (p. 19). So, while the mystery is intriguing, the colony can also perhaps serve as a case study to learn about European motivations to settle in the Americas and the experiences of these early settlers.
| Click next to view secondary sources on supporting question three. |
