[originaltext] England was the first country to compete with Spain for claims

England was the first country to compete with Spain for claims in the New World, although it was too weak to do this openly at first. But Queen Elizabeth of England supported such explorations as early as the fifteen seventies.
   Sir Humphrey Gilbert led the first English settlement efforts but failed. Gilbert’s half brother Sir Walter Raleigh continued his work. Raleigh sent a number of ships to explore the east coast of North America. He called the land Virginia to honor England’s unmarried Queen Elizabeth.
   In 1585 .about one-hundred men settled on Roanoke Island, off the coast of the present day state of North Carolina. These. settlers returned to England a year later. Another group went there the next year. This group included many women and children. But the supply ships Raleigh sent to the colony failed to arrive. When help got there in 1590, none of the settlers could be found.
   History experts still are not sure what happened. Some research suggests that at least some of the settlers became part of the Indian tribe that lived iii the area.
   One reason for the delay in getting supplies to Roanoke was the attack of the Spanish Navy against England in 1588. King Phillip of Spain had decided to invade England. But the small English ships combined with a fierce storm defeated the huge Spanish fleet. As a result, Spain was no longer able to block English exploration.
   England discovered that supporting colonies so far away was extremely costly. So Queen Elizabeth took no more action to do this. It was not until after her death in 1603 that England began serious efforts to start colonies in America.