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You know that things don’t just disappear.
A person may lose something. They may misplace something. Or forget where they put it. But it doesn’t just disappear. Yet, that’s what seems to have happened to a whole settlement in North Carolina in the late 16th century. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The story of Europeans in North Carolina begins decades earlier. . . .
◀ In the early 1500s, Spain wanted to control land in North America. And to discover gold and silver. Hernando De Soto led the first expedition to achieve those goals. The year was 1539. From Cuba, his group of around 600 explorers sailed to Florida. Then they traveled north. They reached the Piedmont and the western mountains of present-day North Carolina. Once there, they followed the Nolichucky River. De Soto depended on the Indigenous peoples for help with directions. At the same time, he took their food. And he enslaved many of their members. De Soto did not find the riches he was looking for.
▲ From 1566 to 1568, Juan Pardo led two expeditions to western North Carolina. The goal of the first expedition was to reach Joara. This was a tribal community at the bottom of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There, Pardo built Fort San Juan. This was the first European settlement in the center of North Carolina. The goal of his second expedition was to find Zacatecas in Mexico. And its silver. Pardo never reached Mexico. But he did set up quite a few forts along the way.
◀ In 1584, British adventurer and writer Walter Raleigh sent Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe on an expedition. Their goal was to find a place for a future British colony. They sailed for three months. Finally, they reached the North Carolina coast. They arrived just north of Roanoke Island. Amadas and Barlowe claimed the land for England. While there, they met members of Indigenous tribes. In his report, Barlowe describes how they made their boats:
Their boats are made of one tree. . . . They have no edge-tools to make them. . . . The manner of making their boats is thus: they burn down some great tree . . . and putting gum and resin upon one side thereof, they set fire into it, and when it has burnt it hollow, they cut out the coals with their shells . . . and by this means they fashion very fine boats. . . .
Think Piece!
What do you think of the way Indigenous peoples made boats? How else could they have done it?
▲ In July 1587, 117 English colonists arrived on Roanoke Island. Their idea was to start a new settlement. John White was their governor. Among the colonists were White’s daughter and son-in-law. Their baby, Virginia Dare, was born soon after they arrived on the island. Virginia Dare was the first English child born on what would become American soil. White soon had to leave the island for England. He was not able to return for three years. Upon returning, he found that the settlement had disappeared. The letters “CRO” were carved into a tree. The word “CROATOAN” was carved into a post. The Croatoan were Indigenous peoples in the area. Was this a clue to what had happened to the settlers? To this day, no one knows for sure. Here is what White wrote about the experience:
We passed toward the place where they were left in [many] houses, but we found the houses taken down, and the place very strongly enclosed with a high palisade of great trees . . . and one of the chief trees . . . at the right side of the entrance had the bark taken off . . . and . . . in . . . capital letters was graven CROATOAN.
Check It Out!
What do scientists say about the colony?
People have several ideas about what happened to the colony. Maybe the settlers had been killed by a hurricane. Perhaps they ran out of food. Or became very ill. They might have moved away from Roanoke. Many believe the settlers joined the Croatoan. There is evidence that supports this idea.
Think Piece!
What do you think happened to the settlers?
In 1663 King Charles II gave the land south of Virginia and north of Florida to eight English proprietors, or owners. They named it the Province of Carolina. The name was in honor of the king. But the area was too large to govern. In 1712, it was split in two parts. One part was North Carolina. The other part was South Carolina. Edward Hyde (right) became the first governor of North Carolina. ▶
◀ The northern part of North Carolina was settled earlier than the southern part. That’s why it’s called, “The Old North State.” Today, “The Old North State” is the title of our state song. Below are the first and last verses of the song:
Carolina! Carolina! Heaven‘s blessings attend her!
While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her;
Though the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame her,
Our hearts swell with gladness whenever we name her.
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Old North State forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The good Old North State!
Then let all who love us, love the land that we live in
(As happy a region on this side of Heaven),
Where Plenty and Freedom, Love and Peace smile before us,
Raise aloud, raise together, the heart-thrilling chorus!
Perhaps you’ve heard of the pirate Blackbeard. His real name was Edward Teach. He was born in England and became a wicked pirate. Teach earned his nickname from the bushy black beard that covered his whole face. In 1718, Teach settled in Bath. ▶
◀ Originally, the Great Wagon Road was a trail made by Indigenous peoples. The road helped settlements in North Carolina grow. Newcomers followed it south from Pennsylvania. They were looking for new homes in the western Piedmont. Often, they had to use picks and shovels to widen the road. Over time, they settled villages that became cities. Salem, Salisbury, and Charlotte are among them. In 1775, pioneer Daniel Boone opened the Wilderness Road. It connected the Great Wagon Road to places in the west, like Tennessee and Kentucky.
▲ The western and eastern parts of North Carolina were very different. Along the Coastal Plain were large plantations. Rice and tobacco were grown. In the Cape Fear part of the coast, indigo was farmed. Indigo was a popular blue dye in Britain at the time. Like rice and tobacco, farming indigo depended on enslaved labor. In the Piedmont and the mountains were subsistence farms. Subsistence farms are small farms where families grow food to feed themselves. Wheat, corn, peas, and beans were grown for trading. Farmers used the Great Wagon Road to move cattle and hides to cities.
◀ The capital city of colonial North Carolina moved around a lot. Often, governors lived in their own houses. They did not live in official residences. People in the legislature met in one another’s homes. In 1722, Edenton was made the capital. But government meetings also took place in Bath and New Bern. In 1776, New Bern was named the permanent capital. But the matter was still not settled. Why not? The American Revolution had started. The soon-to-be state government moved and moved again. Finally in 1794, the state government met in Raleigh. That’s where the capital has been ever since.
