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Italian explorer Giovanni de Verrazano arriving at Cape Fear, explores the Carolina coast of France
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Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto explorers the area in search of gold
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Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe reach Roanoke Island in July, authorised by Sir Walter Raleigh, claim the land and return to England in September
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Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618) led expeditions to both North America and South America in order to found new settlements and find gold. Raleigh sends several shiploads of colonists to the east coast of North America
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Raleigh's fleet of seven vessels under Sir Richard Greenville
(1541 - 1591) reach Roanoke Island in June -
The colonists on Roanoke Island are forced to return to England due to hardships
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John White ( 1540 - 1606 ) with 150 men, women, and children sent by Sir Walter Raleigh and found the City of Raleigh & establishes a second English colony at Roanoke and becomes Governor
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August 15 John White arrives back to Roanoke to find that the settlers have all disappeared. The word "CROATOAN" is found carved into a tree without any crosses or signs of distress. The fate of "The Lost Colony" remains a mystery
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Sir Walter Raleigh sends Samuel Mace of Weymouth on a voyage to Virginia (North Carolina) to explore and search for survivors of the Lost Colony
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10 April English investors form the London Virginia Company are backed by a royal charter to finance permanent English settlements in the New World
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Henry Hudson (1565-1611) English and navigator explores the area
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The area assumed the name of North Carolina
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North Carolina becomes a separate Colony
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The Yamasee War - An Indian confederation led by the Yamasee came close to exterminating the white settlements in their area
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North Carolina becomes a royal English colony
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July 4, 1776 - United States Declaration of Independence
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July 10, 1778 - France declares war against Britain and makes an alliance with the American revolutionary forces
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September 3, 1783 - The Treaty of Paris is signed by the victorious United States and the defeated Great Britain
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1812 - 1815: The War of 1812 between U.S. and Great Britain, ended in a stalemate but confirmed America's Independence
