Roanoke and Early Trade

Reaching for the wider world

Under Elizabeth, England began to look far beyond its own shores, chasing glory, riches and a share of the wider world that Spain and Portugal already dominated. ⭐ The record was mixed, not a simple triumph. The bold attempt to plant a colony at Roanoke failed completely, and the settlers were lost. ⭐ Yet at the same time trade links to the east were beginning. These early connections, including first contacts with India, mattered far more in the long run than any early colony. ⚠️ So weigh both sides. Your task is to judge how significant these connections really were, achievements and failures together.

Bold ambition, hard reality

The whole topic turns on the gap between what Elizabethans HOPED to do overseas and what they actually managed. A strong answer sets the two against each other.

Order the story of Roanoke

Put the stages of the Roanoke colony into order.

• England wants a colony to rival Spain across the sea
• Settlers are sent to Roanoke, on land already home to Native Americans
• They struggle for supplies and fall into conflict with the local people
• The relief ship is delayed by the war with Spain
• When help finally arrives, the colony has vanished

Why the Roanoke colony failed

The colony at Roanoke ended in total failure. Why?

• Poor supplies, conflict with the people already living there, and relief delayed by the war with Spain left it unable to survive
• A single storm sank every ship on the first day
• The colonists grew too rich and simply went home
• The queen ordered the colony closed at once

Words for the wider world

Five words that let you explain the ventures, rather than just tell the tale.

Spot the real achievements

Three of these were genuine achievements or beginnings of the wider-world push. Choose the three.

• An English captain sailing right around the world
• The first trade links reaching towards the east
• Setting up a company to trade with India
• Building a lasting English colony in America
• Conquering Spain and taking its empire

The quiet beginning of trade

While the colonies failed, something less dramatic was taking root. English merchants pushed for routes to the east. They wanted the spices, cloth and goods that flowed from India and beyond, and they were willing to sail huge distances for them. Near the end of the reign a company was set up to pursue that trade. It was small at first and easy to overlook, yet it was the seed of a trade that would one day dwarf every Elizabethan colony.

Match each part of the story

Find the balanced judgement

A student judges how significant these connections were. Select the ONE sentence that WEIGHS them fairly.

• The record was mixed: the Roanoke colony failed, but the first trade links to the east began, and these mattered far more in the long run.
• It was a total triumph that built a great empire straight away.
• It achieved absolutely nothing of any kind.
• It cannot be judged, because the sea is very large.

A worked example: the flop and the sleeper

Think of a company that opens a grand new shop with great fanfare, only for it to close within a year. By that measure the company looks like a failure. But quietly, in the same years, its small mail-order side keeps growing, and years later it becomes the part that makes the company huge. Hold that idea. Judging a bold venture only by its most visible flop can miss the quiet beginning that turned out to matter most.

Complete the account of the ventures

A settlement planted overseas was a _____. A seeker of glory and riches abroad was an _____. A captain licensed to raid enemy ships was a _____. A sea path for merchants was a _____. The company set up to trade with the east was the _____.

Judge the significance

Which is the soundest judgement on the significance of these Elizabethan connections with the wider world?

• A mixed record: colonies failed, but the trade beginnings, especially towards the east, mattered far more in the long run
• A complete triumph that built an empire at once
• A total failure that led to nothing at all
• Important only because of its successful colonies

Achievements, and failures

The strongest answers weigh both, because Elizabethan overseas ambition delivered real firsts and real failures at once.

Judge the ventures like an examiner

You are marking three claims about the wider-world ventures. For each, choose the soundest judgement.

• An essay says Elizabethans built a great empire. Is that safe?
• An essay says the ventures achieved nothing. Is that safe?
• An essay tells only a glorious success story. Is that safe?

Write: how significant were the connections

How significant were the Elizabethan connections with the wider world? Weigh the achievements against the failures, and reach a judgement. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Give two achievements or beginnings
• Give two failures or costs
• Say why the trade beginnings mattered most in the long run
• Reach a supported judgement