In 1607, a group of English colonists landed in Virginia with the aim of establishing a permanent settlement in the Americas.

This is the story of the founding of Jamestown.

A thread 🧵 England was desperate to catch up with their European counterparts, who had by now settled vast swathes of the Americas.

After failed attempts, most notably at Roanoke, they were keen to get this one right.

In the late 16th Century England was desperate to get in on the action in the Americas.

They selected a site in what is now North Carolina, which they deemed fit for colonisation.

This is the story of Roanoke and it's legendary Lost Colony.

A thread 🧵 Spain was the main player in the Americas at the time with an empire running from Florida to Cusco.

England wanted in, but Spain had a long headstart.

Queen Elizabeth therefore tasked Sir Walter Raleigh with the founding of a permanent settlement in North America.

In 1568, Captain John Hawkins was docked at Veracruz when a Spanish fleet attacked.

This act served as the prelude to the Anglo-Spanish war, and more importantly, it was the making of a young captain named Francis Drake.

This was the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa

A thread 🧵 John Hawkins was a prominent sailor of the Elizabethan Age and he had recently been making forays into the New World.

He had found an in with the Spanish colonial administrators by selling them slaves at a marked down price.

We often glamorise the great voyages of discovery, but life aboard these vessels was tough going for the everyday sailors.

Let's explore the life of a sailor during the Age of Discovery

A thread 🧵 One of the main problems that plagued ships was food, and how to store it.

This was a particular problem in the earlier days when ships were small and compact.

They carried a few livestock but for the most part sailors would have to be happy with hard biscuits and salted meats

The Elizabethan age is chock-full of daring adventurers and larger than life characters, but few can compare to Sir Walter Raleigh.

From Elizabeth's court to the search for the fabled El Dorado, Raleigh truly led an extraordinary life.

Let's explore his story

🧵(Thread) Walter Raleigh was born in Devon around 1553.

He was of lower gentry stock and brought up as a stout Protestant with a firm hatred of Catholicism following his families persecution during the reign of Queen Mary.

In the early 18th century pirates were the scourge of the high seas, one pirate however stands above the rest, Captain Bartholomew Roberts.

Roberts was the most successful pirate of the Golden Age capturing over 400 vessels!

This is his story

🧵 (Thread) Bart Roberts was born on the 17th of May 1682, in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

He was originally named John but later changed his name, as pirates were prone to do.

Young John went to sea at an early age, and by 1719 he was second mate on the slaving ship Princess.

In July 1520 Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés, against all odds, won an almighty victory.

This victory altered not only the course of the conquest but the very course of history itself.

This was the Battle of Otumba!

Let's explore 🧵 (Thread) Cortés and his party had entered Tenochtitlán the past November, relations were rather amicable at first but they quickly soured, eventually leading the Aztec populace to revolt.

Emperor Moctezuma was killed in the chaos and then the Spanish attempted to flee the city.

In 1589 Queen Elizabeth, in response to the Spanish Armada of 1588, launched an invasion force of her own.

The fleet was even LARGER than the infamous Spanish Armada and their goals more ambitious.

This was the English Counter Armada!

Let's explore 🧵 (Thread) In 1588 the Spanish Armada had been roundly defeated and with about a 1/3 of the ships falling to make it home.

England had delivered a body blow, but Elizabeth wanted more, therefore she began to organise an enormous fleet to be headed by Francis Drake.

In July 1588 King Phillip II of Spain unleashed a mighty fleet, and it was headed straight for little old England.

The fleet was said to be so large that the very waves "groaned under its weight".

This was the "Invincible" Spanish Armada!

Let's explore 🧵 (Thread) In the 16th century the Spanish Empire was the dominant power, particularly as they also now had control of the Portuguese crown.

However, Elizabeth and England were becoming a bit of a thorn in the side of King Phillip.

In July 1715 a Spanish Treasure Fleet was wrecked on the coastline of Florida.

Their cargo including some 15 million Pieces of Eight was scattered sparking a race between Spanish salvagers and would be pirates.

Let's explore 🧵 [Thread] Spain had built a system of extracting resources in the New World before shipping them back home via Treasure Fleets.

Spanish King Phillip V was keen to get his hands on some gold and silver, particularly as his treasury was drained with The War of the Spanish Succession.

In June of 1767 HMS Dolphin under the command of Samuel Wallis landed on Tahiti.

This visit gives us our first recorded insight into the island's inhabitants at the time of European contact.

Let's explore this meeting of civilisations

🧵 (Thread) Tahiti was inhabited by a people who migrated there from Polynesia sometime around 900-1100 AD.

The first European encounter may have been with Spaniard Juan Fernández's 1577 expedition, but it is not clear if he actually landed on the Island itself.

On the 30th of June 1520, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés suffered what would be his worst defeat at the hands of the Aztecs.

His retreating force was brutally cut down as they fled Tenochtitlan.

The night has since been named La Noche Triste (The Night of Sorrows)

🧵 The situation Cortés found himself in was rather dire.

His "ally" Moctezuma was dead. The Aztec populace had risen in revolt as a response to Alvarado's massacre and the party was now under siege at the palace complex.

The mere sight of them enough to bring on a flurry of arrows.

The Aztecs (Mexica) were not native to the Valley of Mexico.

Instead they migrated there from their fabled homeland of Aztlán centuries before the arrival of the Spanish.

Let's explore the Aztec's founding story🧵 (Thread) The Aztecs were a Nahua people.

Legend has it there was 7 Nahua groups who all called Aztlán home.

The Tlaxcallans, the Aztecs great rivals, who famously forged an alliance with conquestidor Hernán Cortés, were also of Nahua stock.

On the 22nd of May 1520, Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado orchestrated a massacre at an Aztec festival.

This event marked the beginning of the brutal war between the Spanish and Aztecs.

This is the Massacre at the Great Temple 🧵(Thread) The Conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés had entered Tenochtitlan the previous November, initially as guests, before they audaciously took emperor Moctezuma hostage.

Tensions were already high when Cortés was forced to march out to meet a Spanish force calling for his arrest led by Pánfilo de Narváez.

In his absence, Cortés left Captain Pedro De Alvarado in charge.

Percy Fawcett was a British war hero, cartographer and explorer.

Whilst exploring and charting the Amazon he believed he had stumbled upon an ancient and lost civilisation which he dubbed "Z".

And then in 1925, he disappeared.

Let's explore his legendary tale 🧵 (thread) Percy Harrison Fawcett was born on the 18th of August 1857, in Devon.

His family stock was of old landed gentry who had made their fortune in the East Indies.

The family had connections, for example Fawcett's father was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

In the late 16th century England was taking it's first steps to colonise the New World.

These initial attemps tended to end in disaster, most famously with the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

Let's explore one of history's great mysteries 🧵

(You may want to bookmark this one.) For some context Spain was the dominate power in the Americas with an empire running from Mexico City to Cusco.

England wanted in, but Spain had a long headstart.

Therefore, Queen Elizabeth tasked Walter Raleigh with the founding of a permanent settlement/Privateers base.

In 1871, an expedition led by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden set out to explore and survey the Yellowstone Region.

Hayden brought along painter Thomas Moran.

Moran's paintings of the region helped to secure the status of Yellowstone as a protected national park.

Let's explore 🧵 The most famous and influential of his works during the expedition was 'The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.'

It's not hard to see why, this is an incredible piece.

Long before the glory days of Classical Greece, there was the Minoans.

This impressive civilisation based on Crete, spread it's influence throughout the Aegean, most notably at the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri.

Let's explore the ancient lost city of Akrotiri 🧵 The Minoans were a seafaring people who preferred trading to military prowess in order to spread their influence.

They were the dominant force in the Mediterranean setting up outposts and trading goods with Asia Minor, Syria and even as far away as Pharaonic Egypt.

Founding father Benjamin Franklin wrote a poem of the dramatic downfall of Blackbeard when he was young lad, aged just 13.

Let's read it in full shall we... 🧵

https://twitter.com/HistoriaJack/status/1933519992017883172

Will you hear of a bloody Battle,
Lately fought upon the Seas?
It will make your Ears to rattle,
And your admiration cease;
Have you heard of Teach the Rover,
And his Knavery on the Main;
How of Gold he was a Lover,
How he lov’d all ill got Gain.

The Golden Age Pirates are legendary, infamous for their daring raids and freebooting lifestyle.

None however come close to the level of notoriety achieved by Captain Edward Thatch, aka Blackbeard.

Let's explore the life of the Golden Age's most notorious pirate 🧵 Edward Thatch (Teach) was born in Bristol, England in about 1680.

We know very little about his early life, but we can safely assume he operated in the New World as a Privateer during the War of Spanish Succession.

In June 1579, Francis Drake landed in what is now California.

After claiming the new land for England (naming it Nova Albion) he had an encounter with the Native Miwok peoples, who welcomed and honoured their strange visitors from the sea.

Let's explore this encounter 🧵 For some context Drake has been at sea since 1577, after travelling through the straits of Magallan, he had raided a Spanish treasure galleon.

He was making his way home, first attempting to sail North with little success before turning back and docking off the California coast.