Compare and Contrast the Lost Colony at Roanoke to the Fabled Lost City of Atlantis
The disappearance of the Colony at Roanoke is one the biggest mysteries in American History. Its disappearance confuses historians to this day. Compare that to Atlantis, a fabled city, the disappearance of which is one of the greatest mysteries in the world. For one thing, we don’t know whether or not Atlantis is real. Roanoke was real, but suddenly it disappeared.
Roanoke Colony was the first attempt by the English to set up a colony in the New World. It went pretty well. Relations with Native Americans were relatively peaceful, and a supply of food, left by past Native Americans was a god-send. Eventually, John White was sent back to England to get supplies. Before he left, John White told the other members of the colony to write a symbol on a tree if they were attacked. The other members said that they would, and John White was on his way.
When John White got to England, it wasn’t quite the same as when he had left. The English were in the middle of a war against Spain. Unfortunately for John White, and the Roanoke Colony, this meant that it would take a long time to get the supplies. Three years later, John White arrived back in the New World. He didn’t like what he saw.
Atlantis was supposed to be the greatest city ever, with amazing technological advances that we can only dream of today. There are many different myths about how it ended. The most famous is that a giant wave, presumably a tsunami, destroyed the entire city. Since we don’t even that the city is real, we can never be certain about how it ended.
John White arrived back at Roanoke, to find very little of what had been there before. He did not see the symbol on the tree, which would mean that the colony had been attacked. However, he did the see the word Croatoan carved onto a tree, and the Crow carved onto a fencepost. The forts that had been there didn’t look like they had burned down, or been destroyed, simply it looked as if they had been taken down in the proper fashion. Unfortunately for history, John White did not immediately go to the nearby city of Croatoan, where Powhatan Native Americans lived. He and his men decided to go back to England.
How does this relate to Atlantis? Well, Atlantis is famous for its trading abilities. This would have meant that there were traders and merchants who were not on the island when it sank. When they came back to Atlantis and found it gone, they must have been as devastated as John White was. History has many mysteries that may never be solved. Historians work continuously to learn more, and to try and find more clues.
In the middle of last year, a new clue was uncovered for the mystery of Roanoke. When John White first came to the New World, he made many maps of the landscape. When something needed to be changed on the maps, a patch would be put over the old part. On one of the maps, it showed where the colony was. After the colony was destroyed, a patch was put over the map, just showing the landscape, since the colony was gone. Last year, a researcher discovered the patch, and asked what is underneath it. Once permission from The Library of Congress is given to look underneath the patch, we may find where the colony used to be. This clue could tell archeologists and historians where to focus their efforts, to finally solve the mystery once and for all.
We may eventually solve the mystery of Roanoke Colony, or we may never know what happened. The same is true for Atlantis, if it is actually more than just a myth. But if we do find the answers to either question, we know that we have just taken a great step forward in our understanding of history.
The disappearance of the Colony at Roanoke is one the biggest mysteries in American History. Its disappearance confuses historians to this day. Compare that to Atlantis, a fabled city, the disappearance of which is one of the greatest mysteries in the world. For one thing, we don’t know whether or not Atlantis is real. Roanoke was real, but suddenly it disappeared.
Roanoke Colony was the first attempt by the English to set up a colony in the New World. It went pretty well. Relations with Native Americans were relatively peaceful, and a supply of food, left by past Native Americans was a god-send. Eventually, John White was sent back to England to get supplies. Before he left, John White told the other members of the colony to write a symbol on a tree if they were attacked. The other members said that they would, and John White was on his way.
When John White got to England, it wasn’t quite the same as when he had left. The English were in the middle of a war against Spain. Unfortunately for John White, and the Roanoke Colony, this meant that it would take a long time to get the supplies. Three years later, John White arrived back in the New World. He didn’t like what he saw.
Atlantis was supposed to be the greatest city ever, with amazing technological advances that we can only dream of today. There are many different myths about how it ended. The most famous is that a giant wave, presumably a tsunami, destroyed the entire city. Since we don’t even that the city is real, we can never be certain about how it ended.
John White arrived back at Roanoke, to find very little of what had been there before. He did not see the symbol on the tree, which would mean that the colony had been attacked. However, he did the see the word Croatoan carved onto a tree, and the Crow carved onto a fencepost. The forts that had been there didn’t look like they had burned down, or been destroyed, simply it looked as if they had been taken down in the proper fashion. Unfortunately for history, John White did not immediately go to the nearby city of Croatoan, where Powhatan Native Americans lived. He and his men decided to go back to England.
How does this relate to Atlantis? Well, Atlantis is famous for its trading abilities. This would have meant that there were traders and merchants who were not on the island when it sank. When they came back to Atlantis and found it gone, they must have been as devastated as John White was. History has many mysteries that may never be solved. Historians work continuously to learn more, and to try and find more clues.
In the middle of last year, a new clue was uncovered for the mystery of Roanoke. When John White first came to the New World, he made many maps of the landscape. When something needed to be changed on the maps, a patch would be put over the old part. On one of the maps, it showed where the colony was. After the colony was destroyed, a patch was put over the map, just showing the landscape, since the colony was gone. Last year, a researcher discovered the patch, and asked what is underneath it. Once permission from The Library of Congress is given to look underneath the patch, we may find where the colony used to be. This clue could tell archeologists and historians where to focus their efforts, to finally solve the mystery once and for all.
We may eventually solve the mystery of Roanoke Colony, or we may never know what happened. The same is true for Atlantis, if it is actually more than just a myth. But if we do find the answers to either question, we know that we have just taken a great step forward in our understanding of history.