An academic essay describing the ways in which "religion is an active if not a determinative" cause for the American Revolution. The essay describes three influential areas: (1) religion and liberty, (2) religion and community, and (3)...

With the increasing variety in clothes, food, and household items, shopping became an important cultural activity in the 18th century. This article describes buying and selling during this period and explains the connection between many...

The Mestizo belongs to a larger series of works that seek to document the inter-ethnic mixing occurring in New Spain among Europeans, indigenous peoples, Africans, and the existing mixed-race population. This genre of painting is known...

Some of the most remarkable images of the Virgin of Guadalupe are created not entirely in paint, but also include mother-of-pearl, or enconchado. View pictures of this type of artwork by Miguel Gonzalez and read descriptions in this essay.

Guns, angels and fashion are three unexpected elements that co-exist in the Master of Calamarca's painting Archangel with Gun, Asiel Timor Dei. View pictures and read the history of this painting in this essay.

The Codex Mendoza, commissioned by Viceroy Mendoza, contained information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, and an account of life "from year to year." Read descriptions and view pictures of the codex in...

The Web Museum profiles the work of the American painter John Singleton Copley (1738-1815).

Presented here is a brief biography on Captain John Smith, one of the original settlers of Jamestown and explorer of New England.

Learn about the theory of mercantilism and how it affected the economies of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Practice making a bar graph showing the value of exports to and imports from England between 1700 and 1774 with...

Students will write an essay on the history of Bacon's Rebellion based on the analysis of sixteen primary source documents.

Information about each of the thirteen colonies with links to additional good quality resources.

This site gives a brief background of the ethnic makeup of New Netherland.

Lesson plan focuses on comparing and contrasting the unique characteristics of the original thirteen American colonies.

Test your knowledge of the thirteen colonies with these interactive games. You'll find matching, concentration, flashcards, and a word search, along with a list of terms to refresh your memory.

This brief, multiple choice quiz, is a great way to wrap up a unit on the thirteen colonies. Click "check answers" at the bottom to view questions you answered correctly.

This site from the Virtual Jamestown of Crandall Shifflett provides the letter of Richard Frethorne to his parents in 1623 begging for their support in a desperate situation.

Match the portraits of eight famous Americans who played major roles in the American Revolution with their famous deeds. A short exercise that can be used by individual learners to test their understanding of basic U.S. history content...

Play this interactive game to test your knowledge of the original thirteen colonies. Can you find them on a map?

In this activity, students discuss the reliability of a painting of the First Thanksgiving to introduce the idea that is crucial to consider a source's date.

This resource is an overview of the relationship of the Dutch West India Company and the settling of New Netherlands under the "patroon" system, which brought many Dutch colonists to the New World.

Essay on the fight between Dutch and British colonial powers over New Amsterdam which eventually resulted in British dominance and the renaming of New Netherland to New York.

Essay on the Dutch alliance with pro-Revolution American colonists. Outlines reasons for the sentiment to support American independence as well as strategy involved.

The religious and civil conflict in England in the mid-17th century limited immigration, as well as the attention the mother country paid the fledgling American colonies. In part to provide for the defense measures England was...

Most settlers who came to America in the 17th century were English, but there were also Dutch, Swedes and Germans in the middle region, a few French Huguenots in South Carolina and elsewhere, slaves from Africa, primarily in the South,...