16th Century American History Trivia:
FACTS ON AMERICAN HISTORY* as recorded in Outlines of Universal History from the Creation of the World to the Present Time, 1855 (some important, some trivial, some obscure)
1. The colonization of America encompasses the years 1606-1732, as defined in Outlines of Universal History, a period closely paralleling the Baroque era in European arts and culture.
2. Due to the efforts of explorer John Cabot (circa 1497), the English considered themselves to have a valid claim to the eastern coast from Labrador to Florida.
3. Glory-seeking, buccaneering Englishmen such as Drake, Frobisher and Hawkins preferred attacking and robbing wealthy Spanish settlements in the South to attacking native inhabitants of North America, while the Spanish sought glory and riches by attacking and plundering the native tribes.
4. A party of French Huguenots attempted to colonize Florida; but the Spaniards, who claimed the country, surprised the infant settlement and massacred nearly all of its inhabitants, not even sparing the women and children (1564).
5. The slaughter (referred to in #4) was shortly avenged by a Frenchman, Dominique de Gourges, who captured Fort Carolina, where the victors had established themselves, and hanged all of his prisoners.
6. Dominique de Gourges did not attempt to form another French colony after avenging the slain Huguenots.
7.(1583-87) The English, under the direction of Sir Walter Raleigh and his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, attempted to create a settlement on the the coast of what was subsequently called North Carolina. Three parties of colonists were sent hither, but they were few in number and poorly equipped. One returned, and the the other two perished, either from starvation or from fighting the native inhabitants.
8. The little Spanish city of St. Augustine (Florida) was the only permanent European settlement north of the Gulf of Mexico during the sixteenth century.
Source of the above list:
*Outlines of Universal History from the Creation of the World to the Present Time, Dr. George M. Weber, translated by Dr. M. Behr, Revised and corrected by Francis Bowen, A.M. with the addition of the History of United States of America by Francis Bowen, A.M., Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, In Harvard College; Sixth Edition, Published by Hickling, Swan and Brown (Boston), 1855