Vivian Gabler, age 15, of Jackson, Miss., for her question:
WHAT DID SIR WALTER RALEIGH DO?
Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the most colorful men in English history. He was a scholar, explorer, writer and businessman. He also was a close friend of Queen Elizabeth I.
He was born in 1552 and attended Oxford University. He became a captain in the army in Ireland and distinguished himself by his ruthlessness at the siege of Smerwick.
There's a famous story about his meeting with Queen Elizabeth. He went to court with dispatches and met the queen, who was out walking. Stopping before a large puddle of mud, Raleigh removed his coat and placed it over the puddle for her to walk on.
Historians now tell us that this story probably isn't true. But it is true that Raleigh became the queen's favorite. She granted him an estate of 12,000 acres in Ireland. It was on this land that he first planted the potato in 1596.
The queen also gave Raleigh trade privileges and the right to colonize in America. In 1585 she made him a knight.
Like many prominent Englishmen of his day, Raleigh became deeply interested in exploration. He sent several expeditions to America and spent a fortune trying to establish an English colony there. His settlers landed in what is now North Carolina and explored the coast as far as present day Florida.
Raleigh named this entire region Virginia in honor of Elizabeth, who was known as the Virgin Queen.
Raleigh's first colonizing expedition in 1585 established a colony on Roanoke Island in Pamlico Sound. But sickness and fear caused the survivors of this first English colony in North America to go home with Sir Francis Drake in 1586.
Raleigh made a second attempt to colonize Roanoke Island in 1587.
In 1588 Raleigh took part in the victory over the Spanish Armada. He had other expeditions against the Spanish and returned with much booty.
Raleigh lost the queen's favor by marrying one of her maids of honor. Hoping to recover his position and the money he had spent, he led an expedition to Guyana in South America to search for gold. But the expedition failed.
Elizabeth died in 1603 and the new king, James I, distrusted and feared Raleigh. He charged Raleigh with treason and imprisoned him in the Tower of London. There Raleigh lived comfortably for 12 years with his family and servants, and wrote his "History of the World."
He was released in 1616 to lead an expedition to again search for gold in South America. The king ordered him not to invade Spanish territory. But Raleigh's men attacked the Spanish and he had to abandon the project. Returning to England, he was sentenced to death for disobeying orders.