Why Carolana?
As We All Know - Timing is Everything !
Why Not a Bigger Virginia?
Sir Walter Raleigh's first choice for his 1587 New World
settlement was the site where Jamestown, Virginia was ultimately settled in
1607. Although he never lived in either of the two Roanoke settlements, he
never forgave himself for being dissuaded from his first choice. Raleigh
habitually fell "in" and "out" of favor with the enigmatic Queen Elizabeth,
but at her death in 1603, Raleigh no longer had a staunch supporter in the
new Crown - King James I.
King James I had been convinced by Raleigh's enemies that
Raleigh was opposed to his succession. Many of Raleigh's offices and
monopolies were taken away, and, on somewhat insufficient evidence, he
was found guilty of intrigues with Spain against England and of
participation in a plot to kill the king and enthrone Arabella Stuart. Saved
from the chopping block by a reprieve, Raleigh settled down in the Tower
and devoted himself to literature and science.
Raleigh was released in 1616 to make another voyage to the New
World in search of gold, but he was warned not to harm Spanish possessions
or ships on pain of his life. The expedition failed, but Laurence Kemys
captured a Spanish town. Raleigh returned to England, where the Spanish
ambassador demanded his punishment. Failing in an attempt to escape to
France, he was executed in 1618 under the original sentence of treason
passed many years before by King James I.
But, Sir Walter Raleigh was comfortable in his grave knowing
that his nephew, Raleigh Gilbert - son of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Raleigh's
half-brother - was one of the founders of the Virginia Company, the "owner"
of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. Jamestown was no instant success,
but the settlers - and the Virginia Company - managed to keep things
moving forward, slowly expanding their small colony into the New World
"wilderness." Captain John Smith led many excursions along the
Chesapeake Bay in his small ship Discovery and mapped much of the area
along the Virginia and North Carolina coastline.
By 1620, Jamestown began to have growing pains - it was still
not thriving, but new settlers were arriving and many wanted more and more
land. The Virginia Company was not about to stop growing. The
"management" decided that it was in their interest to secure more land - and
of course, they first looked to the south, to the "land of Ronoque" where
their predecessors had been unsuccessful in 1587.
In order to distinguish between the new colony of Virginia
centered in Jamestown and Raleigh's Virginia of 1587, the name Roanoke
[Ronoque sometimes] was frequently used for the older area. John Smith's
map of 1624 called the region "Ould Virginia," while at a later time the
terms South Virginia and the Southern Plantation were applied.
In March of 1620, at the recommendations of the Virginia
Governor Sir George Yeardly, the Virginia Company employed Marmaduke
Rayner to explore the surrounding region in a logical manner "which would
produce good benefit to the Plantation." The company would pay all
expenses, and in the summer Rayner made the voyage for which he had been
employed, exploring "to the Southward to Roanoke."
Less than two years after the visit to Roanoke by his friend
Marmaduke Rayner, the secretary of the Virginia government, John Pory,
led an expedition to the south. He went to the Chowan River region in
February 1622. Pory's report suggested that settlements there would succeed.
He found the Indians to be friendly and their king "desirous to make a
league" with the English colonists in Virginia. His is the first such trek from
Jamestown of which more than a bare mention survives.
But, no action was taken to expand Virginia into Raleigh's
Virginia. Time marched on, and the Virginia Company started having
"problems" - the usual - internal struggles to see who would control things.
And, this became more and
more evident even to
"outsiders," especially King
●Enigmatic - perplexing; mysterious
James.
●Reprieve - to delay the impending
King James
punishment or sentence of a condemned
became concerned that his
person.
whims were not regarded by
●Whim - a sudden or freakish fancy or
these officials as commands.
desire
The case was taken to court
and in a decision rendered
●Vacate – to make void; to do away
on May 24, 1624, the
with
company's charter was
●Domain - the territory governed by a
declared vacated. After
single ruler or government
eighteen years under the
●Proprietor - a person who has the
direction of a joint stock
exclusive right or title to something; an
company, the colony of
owner
Virginia came under the
●Province - (in England) all parts of
control of the crown as the
the country outside of London
first royal colony in English
history.
●Status quo - The existing order of
So, no one won.
things
Within a year, King James
●Debacle - a complete collapse or
died, and King Charles I
failure
was crowned. And, Charles
wasted little time in
proclaiming the territory formerly held by the Virginia Company to be a part
of the royal domain. The king was then free to dispose of the ungranted land
in that region as he pleased. Except for the settlement along the James River
and the infant colony at Plymouth on Cape Cod Bay, the Atlantic seaboard
from somewhere north of Spain's St. Augustine might now be enjoyed by
King Charles.
On October 30, 1629, in the fifth year of his reign, King Charles
exercised his right by granting to his attorney general, Sir Robert Heath, the
territory between 31 degrees and 36 degrees North latitude. This is the region
lying from about thirty miles north of the Florida state line to the southern side
of Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.
Except for Roanoke Island it did not include the territory already
explored by Virginians. Heath held this vast domain from the Atlantic to the
Pacific as sole proprietor.
King Charles declared the region granted to Heath to be a province
and he named it Carolana for himself. At one point in the charter it is also
referred to as New Carolana. Heath was directed to have ready in his province
for the use of the king or his successors, in case they should enter Carolana, a
20-ounce "Circle of Gold, formed in the fashion of a crown ... with this
inscription engraved upon it, “deus coronet opus suum."
Vocabulary
Why Not New France?
King William’s War (also known as the War of the Grand Alliance
- 1689 to 1697) was the first in a series of colonial conflicts between France
and England for supremacy in North America. The major goal, other than
prestige, was the control of the fur trade. All of these struggles had European
counterparts that were often of greater significance than the American events.
“King William” refers to William III of England, the new monarch
imported from the Netherlands at the time of the Glorious Revolution in 168889.
In North America, hostilities began when Louis de Buade, Comte
de Frontenac led attacks against English frontier outposts.
Peace was temporarily established in the Treaty of Ryswick in
1697. North American territorial gains were returned to the original holders,
establishing a status quo back to where things were before the war..
Fighting was renewed in the New World in Queen Anne's War
(also known as the War of Spanish Succession) from 1701 to 1714.
The French stuggled at first to establish a foot-hold in North
America. Jacques Cartier explored the New World from 1519 to 1522,
yet the first French settlement was in 1542 at Cap Rouge, but it was a
debacle and soon abandoned. It would be over sixty years before the
French were back in North America - and they came back slowly. Pierre
Du Guast, sieur du Monts settled Port Royal in 1605, and Samuel de
Champlain settled Quebec in 1608. Montreal came next in 1642, and the
"Louisiana Territory" was explored between 1673 and 1682, with
French settlements following soon thereafter.
But, the French - like almost every other European nation was plagued with near-constant wars during the 1500s, 1600s, and
1700s. All affected the French's capability to sustain North American
colonialization, but the War of Religion (1563-1598), the Huguenot
Rebellion (1625-1628), the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), and the
Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) seriously hampered their global
aspirations.
Somehow, the English "won out" in North America. They
were at war as much as any other European country, perhaps more so.
Yet, they persevered and their barrage of colonial settlements all along
the East Coast quickly deterred the other "powers" from gaining the
upper hand during the 1600s and early 1700s.
Why Not Northern Florida?
After Sir Francis Drake had almost destroyed St. Augustine
in 1585, the Spanish decided to concentrate their forces there. With the
withdrawal from Santa Elena to St. Augustine in 1587, South Carolina
was again left to the Native Americans until the English established the
first permanent European settlement at Albermarle Point on the Ashley
River in 1670.
Although the Anglo-Spanish war (1585-1601) was never
officially declared, it was a full-fledged "fight for imperial domination"
for the New World, primarily regarding North America. Since finding
the West Indies in 1492, the Spanish focused their efforts on searching
for gold, not for establishing settlements. The Spanish were profuse
explorers, and with their conquistadors they were profound conquerors
of the Native Americans that they met along the way.
But, the early Spanish conquistadors had no great dreams of
establishing cities, towns, or farms - and apparently neither did King
Ferdinand nor King Carlos I. The leaders were smart enough to set up a
somewhat localized system of government by establishing their
American headquarters on Hispaniola, complete with governor and
supporting staff.
As early as the 1520s, the remote staff somehow realized that
there just might be something worth looking at north of Florida, and in
1514 and 1521 small expeditions were sent north to see what might be
along the East Coast. Positive reports arrived and by 1526 Hispaniola
sent forth a small group with the express orders to establish a fort and
settlement at Winyah Bay, near what is present-day Georgetown, South
Carolina. This group even explored up the Santee River, deep into
Indian territory, but the settlement's leader died and the remainder of the
group decided to go back to Hispaniola.
Hernando de Soto brought a very large expedition into the
Carolinas in 1540 - looking for gold, of course. Finding none, the
Spanish lost interest until the 1560s, when two other expeditions were
sent to Carolina. One settled on Port Royal Island (Santa Elena) and
even "made a go of it" for over a decade. However, when Sir Francis
Drake sacked St. Augustine the Spanish on Hispaniola rethought their
North American goals and objectives and decided that they had plenty of
other areas - in South America, Central America, and the Southwestern
part of North America that were not as formidable as the "English
Virginae."
1556, handing out Irish land to her loyal subjects. This was just the
beginning of "the troubles" that continue to this day (even though this
policy had been launched much earlier by Henry II in the late 1100s, it
didn't really take off until Mary's plantations of 1556).
How a small country with so many internal "turmoils" could
successfully launch a global imperialization effort in the late 1500s and
early 1600s is very hard to imagine, but England did just that. It was not
easy. It was not without the loss of many lives. Fortunately for the
English, the other "world powers" had plenty of their own problems at the
same time - and due to many of the same reasons.
So, how did all of this "history" influence Carolana?
Meanwhile in Spain, the homeland was embroiled in as many
European wars as France and England. And, Spain was very focused on its
domination of The Netherlands in the late 1500s and early 1600s that most
of the gold it gathered from the New World was spent on paying for all of its
European obligations. Add to that the off-and-on alliances that seemed to
switch yearly, the Spanish royalty had managed to win its way into the Holy
Roman Empire, which was a source of pride - and a royal pain in the .....
From approximately 1500 until 1720, Spain was warring with some other
country nonstop.
Therefore, once again the English "won out" in North America.
Timing WAS everything.
ENGLISH INFLUENCE
There were many "events" in English history that played some
part (minor or major) in the establishment of Carolina. From the year that
John Cabot first claimed Carolana on behalf of England (1497) until long
after Carolina had split into two separate colonies (1729), the English were
at war - with someone.
Furthermore, and probably more important, England was at war
with itself as well. As Carolina was being established, England experienced
its own internal civil war (1642-1649), with its king stripped of all power
and even beheaded, and the country was "managed" for over ten years
without any royalty whatsoever. England survived.
Add to all of this, the Protestant Reformation simply "sprung up"
almost overnight, and spread like a wildfire all over Europe as well as all
over the British Isles. Wars of "religion" erupted all over the civilized world.
England and Scotland quickly accepted and embraced the downfall of the
Catholic Church by the mid-1500s, just a few short years after Martin Luther
tacked his 95 Theses on the door of the Church of All Saints in 1517. Ireland
was a different story, and of course, the English could not let Ireland "slide"
on this.
Henry VIII invaded Ireland in 1534 and an eight-year war
ensued, with Henry asserting himself as the new King of Ireland and vowing
to cram the newly-established Anglican Church down the Irish throats.
Luckily, he died before he could do so. But, where he failed, his wife Mary
dreamed up the idea of "the Plantations" and stormed northern Ireland in
The many wars in Europe kept the other countries from
competing successfully with the English on the colonization of North
America's eastern seabord. Spain, France, and The Netherlands - the only
nations truly interested in the New World (Portugal had been taken out of
the running thanks to their agreement with Spain not to interfere with any
lands west of 50° W latitude) - were seriously embroiled in fighting each
other over who should rule The Netherlands, as well as fighting against
the Holy Roman Empire for many various reasons.
Although England was involved in some of these many
European wars, England did not commit as much money or as many lives
as France and Spain did. Therefore, England "won" the entire eastern seabord
of North America by 1664. Carolana was firmly established as an English
colony instead of having to worry about the French, the Spanish, or the Dutch.
The Protestant Reformation of the 1500s led to much internal stife
within the British Isles and even helped to bring about the English Civil War.
Henry VIII firmly established the Church of England (also known as the
Anglican Church) in the 1540s, and from that point forward almost every
Protestant sect sprang up in the British Isles, each espousing that the others
were "not as good as themselves."
By the mid-1600s, the many Protestant sects were all fighting each
other in England, Scotland, and Wales - and all of them were just praying to
get over to Ireland to totally destroy the deep-seeded Catholicism that
continued there. By the mid-1600s, England had taken over the Dutch
colonies of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania - and the
New England colonies were actually beginning to thrive and expand. All
coming over for the alleged "guaranteee" that they could worship as they
wished. Some even actually could.
By the time that Carolana was firmly established by King Charles
II and the eight (8) Lords Proprietors in 1663, just about everyone on the
British Isles was more than ready to go to the New World. But, not all were
granted that "right" - only the English (which of course included the Welsh
since they were already considered to have been on the English team for two
centuries) could go to the New World. As one might expect, most could not
"afford" to just pick up and go - it was not a free trip for most, unless one was
willing to go as an indentured servant to pay for passage.
The first English settlers of Carolana were Virginians (1663) - in
the Albemarle region of what is now northeastern North Carolina.
The second group of settlers of Carolana were Barbadians - first
along the Cape Fear River (only lasted three years, 1665-1667), then
permanently along the Ashley River in 1670 at what is now Charleston, South
Carolina.
But, the English/Welsh who came later arrived directly from
England - from 1670 to 1729, they primarily landed at either Charles Town or
at Jamestown, Virginia. Some landed first in Philadelphia then caught smaller
boats down to Carolana. Those that arrived were split roughly 50-50 between
Anglicans and Dissenters (those Protestants opposed to the Church of
England), and the Dissenters were of almost every Protestant denomination
known in the 17th century.
Although the Lords Proprietors originally conceived of a
colony with "landed gentry" - and even went so far as to define noble
titles such as Landgraves, Cassiques (Caciques), and Barons - those who
actually settled the colony soon said "this is bull." The landgraves, etc.
were actually put into place and they all received great quantities of
land, but the "working class folks" had no need for them. Those who
came to Carolana came for "peace and quiet" and to be "left alone." That
lasted about one day.
During the founding years of the colony, the English
considered anyone who lived on "the Plantations" (in Northern Ireland)
to be English - so, some folks left "the Plantations" and came to
Carolana. Once here, some no longer considered themselves English they called themselves Ulster Irish or Scots-Irish, which of course
irritated the existing English - and those from "the Plantations" who
continued to consider themselves English. However, prior to 1729, there
were no big emigrations from "the Plantations" to Carolana - just a
handful.
So, this section is on the English, but we're leaving out two
major portions of the English - the Virginians and the Barbadians. So,
what does that leave?
English government, laws, customs, habits, and even their
style of clothing. Even though Carolana was settled by many other
groups, it was the English "style" that dominated everything in the
colony. The English language was quickly adopted by all immigrants, no
matter their country of origin. The English standards were adopted weights, measurements, etc. And, the greatest majority of all "place
names" were of English origin. Charles Town. Dorchester. Albemarle.
New London. George Town. Ashley River.
The English that had dominated the British Isles certainly
dominated Carolana - from the beginning. This domination was not
smooth, it was not painless, and it was not perfect - but, it worked in
Carolina, as it had worked on the British Isles for hundred of years.
READING COMPREHENSION
1. Who was Sir Walter Raleigh’s biggest supporter in England?
2. Why did Raleigh become a non-factor in later English colonization in
the New World?
3. Why did the Jamestown colony grow? Why might they have needed
more and more land?
4. What does the phrase “desirous to make a league” mean as it is used
in the story?
5. Why could the French not establish a colony on the east coast of
America?
6. Why did the Spanish have no interest in establish a colony near
present-day North Carolina?
7. Why was there a war of religion in England in the 15th and 16th
centuries?
8. In what year was the Carolana colony established and by whom?
9. Where did the first two groups of Carolinians come from?
10. Name at least two towns or cities that have English place names.