Walter Ralegh: Architect of Empire

Walter Ralegh: Architect of Empire by Alan Gallay

Walter Raleigh was a colonizer on multiple continents. He was involved in the British colonization of Ireland. He was said to have introduced the potato there. He later had the authorization for the Roanoke colony in North America. He never traveled to North America. However, the colonizers were under his jurisdiction. He also traveled to South America, primarily in search of gold. Is final adventure in South America would lead to his beheading. Some crew members, against his orders, ransacked a Spanish settlement. The British needed to set an example and execute the leader. Through his life, he had risen to positions of prominence in British society, while also being imprisoned when he fell on the bad side of the government. His era of colonization was the more "tame" era. The British were seen as a positive influence in lands occupied by others. Slavery and warfare with the natives were not yet commonplace.