How St. John’s Almost Became England’s First North American Colony

Commentary England was a late participant in the European scramble for territory in the New World. Though explorers such as John and Sebastian Cabot and plunderers like Sir Francis Drake had sailed ships to North and South America, England, unlike Spain, Portugal, and France, had made no attempt to colonize the Western Hemisphere. English colonial efforts had had enough trouble on their hands in planting settlements in Ireland, and what had remained unclaimed by other nations seemed cold and unappealing with no prospect of the treasures that were flowing out of Mexico, Bolivia, and Peru. In France, they still spoke sneeringly of the fool’s gold and quartz that the Cartier expedition of 1541 had brought back, thinking them precious ores. “Faux comme les diamants du Canada” (“As false as Canadian diamonds”), was a common catchphrase....