The Roanoke Colonies were an ambitious attempt by England's Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a permanent North American settlement with the purpose of harassing Spanish shipping, mining for gold and silver, discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean, and Christianizing the Indians. The English attempt to establish a colony on Roanoke Island resulted in: The disappearance of the colonist. Many of the New worlds early explorers were looking for a shorter and sager route around Africa to India.
