Raleigh's Charter
See also: Anglo-Spanish War (1585)On March 25, 1584, Queen Elizabeth I granted Raleigh a charter for the colonization of the area of North America known as Virginia. This charter specified that Raleigh needed to establish a colony in North America, or lose his right to colonization.
Raleigh and Elizabeth intended that the venture should provide riches from the New World and a base from which to send privateers on raids against the treasure fleets of Spain. Raleigh himself never visited North America, although he led expeditions in 1595 and 1617 to South America's Orinoco River basin in search of the legendary golden city of El Dorado.
Read more about this topic: Roanoke Colony
Famous quotes containing the words raleigh and/or charter:
“Sir Walter Raleigh might well be studied, if only for the excellence of his style, for he is remarkable in the midst of so many masters. There is a natural emphasis in his style, like a man’s tread, and a breathing space between the sentences, which the best of modern writing does not furnish. His chapters are like English parks, or say rather like a Western forest, where the larger growth keeps down the underwood, and one may ride on horseback through the openings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Farewell! thou art too dear for my possessing,
And like enough thou know’st thy estimate:
The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing;
My bonds in thee are all determinate.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)