Colonial Settlements That Weren't Big Hits Quiz

Answer: Maine

Saint Croix Island is located near the mouth of the Saint Croix River which forms part of the border between Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons led the French attempt at colonization as part of a larger area that the French referred to as l'Acadie (Acadia).

After over half of the colonists died because of sickness, the colony was relocated to a mainland location on the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy. English adventurer Sir Samuel Argall burned the remaining buildings on the island enroute to his 1613 raid on Port Royal.

In 1984, the United States established the Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. There is no public access to the island but a visitor center and signage can be found nearby on the mainland.

Answer: Delaware

Fort Christina (also called Fort Altena) was located in what is now Wilmington, DE. Peter Minuit, leader of the expedition that established New Sweden in 1638, chose the location of Fort Christina as defensible. The Fort was meant to assist Swedish participation in the beaver pelt trade. Fort Christina was conquered by forces from New Netherlands in 1655 although most of the Swedish colonists were allowed to remain.

In 1938, the State of Delaware declared the area a state park and erected a monument there, although the earthenware fort was long gone.

Answer: New York

Hendrick Christiaensen led the Dutch expedition that established Fort Nassau in what is now Albany, NY, in 1614. The Fort served as a warehouse and trading post for participation in the fur trade. At the time the Fort was built, its location (Castle Island, now Westerlo Island) was an island in the Hudson River, though it has since been connected to the mainland.

After problems with river and weather related damage, the Fort was abandoned in 1618. Fort Orange, which was built nearby in 1624, was the origin of Albany, NY.

Answer: Maryland

Kent Fort was established on Kent Island, the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Due to erosion, the location of the settlement is now offshore of the island. William Clairborne led the group that established the fort which played a role on the island for several decades before economic activity on the island shifted north. Archeological finds at the site include the sites of wells dug for the fort and blue Indian trade beads.

The root of much of colonial Maryland really springs from St. Mary's City, which was established by the Calvert family in 1634 near the southernmost point of Maryland's Western Shore.

Answer: Florida

The site of Fort Caroline was on the St. John's River in Duval County, FL. René Goulaine de Laudonnière led the French expedition that established the settlement in 1564, an attempt to create a safe haven for French Huguenots. In its brief time, Fort Caroline faced challenges in terms of both hunger and conflict with Native Americans.

In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés led a Spanish expedition which established St. Augustine in the vicinity of Fort Caroline. Spanish troops would sack and conquer Fort Caroline in 1565 and occupied the spot until 1568 as San Mateo.

The US National Park Service has a modern recreation of Fort Caroline near the site of the original fort (The exact location of the original Fort Caroline is not known.)

Answer: Texas

The Fort Saint Louis colony was located near the later community of Inez, TX. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle led an expedition in 1685 that was meant to establish a colony near the mouth of the Mississippi River but a combination of map error and navigation error led his fleet to land on the Texas coast.

The colony was beset by various problems with less than half of the original 100 settlers alive two years later. The Spanish, seeing the French encroaching on their territory of New Spain, would conquer the colony in 1688. France would not formally abandon its claim to Texas until 1762.

Answer: Georgia

Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón led the establishment of this settlement which only lasted four months in 1526. The colony's brief history is a textbook example of settlement problems--a late start, lack of supplies, and bad relations with the Native American population.

By the end of the year the about 150 people out of the original 600 in the expedition decided to return home. In addition to being the first European attempt at settlement in mainland North America, but also the location of the first presence of black slavery there.

In October 1526, a group of enslaved people revolted against the leaders of the colony--the first slave rebellion in mainland North America

Answer: New Mexico

Juan de Oñate y Salazar led an expedition of 500 people and 7,000 head of livestock from Mexico City to the new settlement in New Mexico. A 700-mile road El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (The Royal Road of Interior Land) connected the new settlement with the rest of New Spain.

After a series of attacks described variously as by Apache forces or Navajo forces, the capital was moved to a new settlement, Santa Fe, in 1610. San Juan de los Caballeros was near the modern settlement of Ohkay Owingeh, NM.

Answer: Pennsylvania

The precise location of Fort Beversreede is uncertain, but almost all accounts place it near the confluence of the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers, in or near Philadelphia, PA. In 1648, Swedish forces established Fort Nya Korsholm in the vicinity of Fort Beversreede. Established sometime after 1638, Fort Beversreede was abandoned by the Dutch no later than 1651. Overall there was a great deal of tension and competition between Dutch and Swedish settlements in the 1640s and 1650s which concluded with Dutch conquest of New Sweden in 1655.

Answer: North Carolina

The Roanoke Island colony was sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh, though he never visited the site in Dare County, NC. There were actually two attempts. The first was attempted in 1585 but lack of supplies and bad relations with nearby Native Americans caused the colonists to return to England within a year. The second and more famous attempt was led by John White, who created a series of watercolor paintings of the Algonquin Indians as well as various features and animals of the landscape. John White's granddaughter, Virignia Dare, is believed to be the first child of English descent born in what is now the United States.

John White left the colony to bring back more supplies from England. When he returned the colony had vanished. The two most common theories about the fate of the colony are that the settlers died in warfare with one or more Native American nations or that the English population was absorbed into said nations.