The Importance of Roanoke in American History

In terms of what it tells us about English colonial history at the time, I think it really brings attention to the fact that an English empire was never inevitable. There were these false starts. There are a series of failures. And so I'm kind of skeptical, I guess, about focusing too much on the myths of Roanoke. But I do think it's interesting to ask questions about why it continues to interest archaeologists and historians so much.