July 1585
English expedition burns Aquascogoc
Coastal present-day North Carolina; Carolina Algonquian community of Aquascogoc
Members of Richard Grenville’s expedition burned Aquascogoc and its corn after demanding the return of a silver cup they alleged had been stolen. The expedition narrative says the inhabitants had fled. The attack destroyed homes and food during an early English colonizing venture.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The expedition account records the episode under 16 July; later institutional histories give 16 or 18 July. The month is used here to avoid false precision. Aquascogoc has variant spellings, and its exact site is uncertain. The theft is an English allegation; the account does not establish a casualty total.
Sources
- Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, chapter 1, p. 12; supplied print pages, edition/year unidentified
- Anonymous expedition narrative, “The voiage made by Sir Richard Greenvile ... 1585,” July 13–18 entries, especially July 16; Hakluyt text via Virtual Jamestown ↗
- North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Aquascogoc (B-72): location, spelling and July 18 chronology ↗
- National Park Service, Richard Grenville: July 16 chronology ↗