What challenges did explorers and settlers face in what became North America from 1580 until 1630? We consider geography, politics, economics, indigenous peoples, climate, diet, etc., everything that posed a challenge to survival and development during this period. When Europeans first arrived in the New World in the late 16th century, they were entering new territory and I had no idea what to expect. Hopefully their opinions on everything from geography, politics, climate, diet, etc. about where they are going to change, and their need for survival, overcome these challenges. Only small parts of this new world had been explored in the last century and the information the new settlers possessed was lacking. The new settlers had assumed that the climate would be similar to that of Europe in the New World and that the weather would be similar and that their crops would grow as at home. But this was not the case, for they found that the summers were hot and the winters harsh, and many of the crops did not grow. They also believed that the New World was largely uninhabited, as the Indians did not live as at home in permanent villages and cities, but rather traveled overland, as their needs required. The first settlement was built by the English and consisted of 117 men, women, and children on Roanoke Island; which is located off the coast of North Carolina. Within three years all the settlers had disappeared without a trace of what had happened to them. Analysis of tree rings showed that Roanoke Island had its worst three-year drought in 800 years, during the period when they established and disappeared. This is just one of the many challenges the colonists faced. The next English settlement, Jamestown, was... center of paper... colonists drink themselves to death (accessed April 1) , 2014)."Official visitor site for Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center." Official visitor site for Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center. http://historyisfun.org (accessed 1 April 2014). “History.org: Official history and citizenship website of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.” We're Hungry: Williamsburg's Official Colonial History and Citizenship Site. http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Winter07/starving.cfm (accessed April 1, 2014). “Timeline of Slavery in America.” 1501-1865. https://sharondraper.com/timeline.pdf (accessed April 1, 2014). "TheFood Timeline: History Notes - Colonial America and 17th and 18th Century France." and 17th- and 18th-century France http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcolonial.html (visited April 1, 2014).