By 1640 the British had solid colonies established along the New England coast and the Chesapeake Bay. In between were the Dutch and the tiny Swedish community. To the west were the original Americans, then called Indians.

A detailed and insightful article which examines the colonial rule of the British in India. The author explores the origins, the Indian independence movement, how the British gave up India and more. Archived.

Paterson Joseph describes how his research into Black British history led him to write his first play, Sancho: An Act of Remembrance. In this one-man show, Paterson Joseph inhabits the life of Ignatius Sancho, the 18th-century composer,...

This article describes how four writers, taken from Africa as children and sold into slavery, grew up to write works that challenged British ideas about race, called for African brotherhood, and demanded the abolition of the slave trade.

As a young woman, Aphra Behn was a spy for Charles II's government in Antwerp and probably in South America. Two decades later, she used these experiences to write Oroonoko, the story of a prince kidnapped from West Africa, enslaved, and...

This tutorial looks at the British political traditions that influenced the American colonists as they gained their independence from Britain and created their own form of government. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.

An enlightening lesson plan which illustrates how and why the early colonists revolted.

Primary resource material on the ideas, scientific and religious, of the colonial period from 1690 to 1730.

Consider the English identity of American colonists by examining the sorts of imported goods and decorative arts Americans chose to purchase and display.

Learn about plantation life during the 18th and 19th centuries by viewing images, maps, and text material in this virtual exhibition from the British Library. Writer Mike Phillips gives his personal interpretation of this exhibit on...

Primary source documents on how the political relationship between the colonies and Great Britain changed from 1690 to 1763 and how the colonists responded.

A chart of statistics concerning European colonialism towards the end of the imperialist era.

The Asian population of Africa is a small but significant minority. Whereas there have been Asians, primarily merchants, who lived on the east coast of Africa for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, a great influx of Asians came to...

What are often thought of as "Indian" art and culture spread not only throughout the modern nation of India but also through Pakistan and Bangladesh. This huge area was never politically unified except under British colonial rule...

This article, provided for by AsiaTour, gives a very detailed discussion of the history of Burma.

"In Praise of Love and Children" by Beryl Gilroy is a novel that tells of the experiences of Caribbean migration and celebrates community. Read an overview and view additional resources such as articles, collection items, and teacher...

These activities encourage students to explore the 'brave new world' of The Tempest in light of thought-provoking texts on early modern colonization. A link to a slideshow featuring images of Native Americans and Europeans which...

From Robinson Crusoe to the anti-slavery activism of Olaudah Equiano and the letters of Ignatius Sancho: explore a range of writing produced during an age of travel, trade and colonial conquest, in which Britain vastly expanded its...

Overview of the development of a strengthening identity within the colonies and the number of Acts imposed by the British Parliament intended to exercise central control over the colonies.

Whatever early colonial prosperity there was resulted from trapping and trading in furs. In addition, the fishing industry was a primary source of wealth in Massachusetts. But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small...

An overview of the development of the eighteenth century Atlantic economy allowing American colonists access to British goods leading to a consumer revolution and made printed materials available (novels, magazines, pamphlets).

Essay on the plight of New Netherland Dutch colonists in the one hundred years after the British took control of Dutch colonies in America.

By 1640 the British had solid colonies established along the New England coast and the Chesapeake Bay. In between were the Dutch and the tiny Swedish community. To the west were the original Americans, the Indians.

In this interactive timeline see how other European nations, along with the British, colonized America and how events in Europe impacted colonization.