Welcome to the History of the Americans podcast episode 38.

I am your host, Jack Heneman, and I am recording this way too early in the morning.

On September 14th, 2021, I have a 9 o'clock flight to the coast, as we used to say.

So I've got to get this out of the way, so I don't have to schlep my microphone around Southern California.

Before we get to the history fun, I want to thank a bunch of people for spreading the word about this podcast.

Twitter rascal David Burge is mentioned it several times, as has Nancy Rommelman, both of whom

he might follow if you swim in the Twitter pool, and Brian McGrath, who can be found on

Substack and Twitter learnedly discussing all things naval.

Brian sent me a note that he quoted Drake on assuming his first command,

which strikes me as an excellent idea for all you future Navy captains.

Finally, a special thank you to Glenn Reynolds,

the founder and lead blogger of Insta pundit,

for a very supportive endorsement.

Countless others have spread the word on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you all. It is truly humbling.

This episode is The Road to the Roanoke Colonies.

If you haven't already done, you might give a listen to the last few episodes on Francis Drake,

as well as episode 31, England in the 1500s in the Rise of the Merchant Adventurers,

which went up on July 23rd for relevant background.

It is the spring of 1581.

In early April, Elizabeth I had knighted Francis Drake,

conferring Her Majesty's blessing on his private hearing against Spain in the Pacific. The geopolitical importance of Drake's journey had become apparent to the Queen during their long

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