23. Raleigh attempted to persuade the king through convincing the public
Raleigh contributed significantly to the myth of the lost city of gold known as El Dorado, and through his writings and in particular his poetry he kept the idea alive of vast wealth available for the taking. After several years of living in the Tower, the adventurer contacted the king directly and through his ministers, with proposals for an expedition to South America and the recovery of gold not already in the hands of the Spanish or Portuguese. War with Spain was a consideration for the British King, especially after the establishment of the permanent settlement at Jamestown in Virginia, and at Bermuda. English settlements were vulnerable to Spanish ships, and peace with Spain was by then essential to the expanding English colonial empire.
