Final answer:
The colony aimed for by Raleigh's expedition was Roanoke Island, chosen for its strategic location as an English base of operations and as an ideological counterweight to Spanish influence in the Americas. However, the colony faced multiple challenges and is known today as the Lost Colony.
Step-by-step explanation:
The colony that Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition sought to reach with Governor John White was Roanoke Island. In 1584, Queen Elizabeth I gave Raleigh a charter to establish a colony in North America. The lost colony of Roanoke was part of England's early attempt at colonization in the Americas. Positioned in the mid-Atlantic coastal region, Roanoke was chosen for strategic reasons. It was ideally located: south enough to avoid harsh winters but north enough to evade Spanish warships. The colony aimed to serve as a base for privateering against Spanish ships and as a symbol of Protestant competition to Spanish Catholicism in the New World.
Raleigh's second expedition, led by Sir Richard Grenville, left a small garrison led by Ralph Lane on Roanoke. Subsequent attempts at settlement faced numerous troubles, such as storms, lack of resources, and resistance from the local Native American tribes. Despite well-laid plans and recruitment of families skilled in various trades, the successful establishment of the Roanoke colony eluded Raleigh and his associates. The colony is famously known as the Lost Colony due to the mysterious disappearance of its inhabitants.