Interactive
Quia

Quia: American Colonial Government and Policies

For Students 9th - 10th
Review your knowledge of the early American government with these interactive games. Play concentration, matching, flashcards, or click on "list of terms" to see the vocabulary used in each activity.
Primary
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Early Trade With China: Early American Trade Routes to China [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Once the colonies gained their independence, American ships began to search the oceansfor markets to replace the British colonial markets from which they were now excluded (theWest Indies) or in which they were subjected to heavy tax...
Activity
University of Illinois

University of Illinois: Early American Trade in China: The Sea Man's Vade Mecum, 1707 [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The following is excerpted from a book called Vade Mecum published in France in 1707. Although the book was written to establish basic standards of behavior, punishment, protocol, and procedure on French naval ships, it served as...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

National Park Service: Saugus Iron Works: Life & Work at an Early American Site

For Students 9th - 10th
Use this site to learn about life and work at an early American industrial site. Understand the need for iron ore for the early Puritans through excellent history info, an inquiry question, maps, images, readings, activities and more....
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Then and Now Life in Early America

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Select from lesson plans that challenge learners to compare everyday objects from colonial times to present day objects. Links to sites with photos and other primary sources will assist students in their comparison.
Lesson Plan
George Mason University

Chnm: Differences Among Colonial Regions

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students will explore the differences among the three colonial regions of New England, Mid-Atlantic/Middle, and the Southern colonies. In small groups for each region, students will observe and note details of pictures, maps, and...
Primary
Other

History Buff: Colonial America Newspapers and Transcripts

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site contains a brief history of newspapers in colonial America. Also provides links to the texts of the papers themselves, looking back at the actual words used in American Colonial newspapers.
Article
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Metropolitan Museum of Art: American Portrait Miniatures of Eighteenth Century

For Students 9th - 10th
The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides this informative page on American portrait miniature paintings of the eighteenth century.
Website
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg: Colonial Religion

For Students 9th - 10th
The site provides a detailed overview of role religion played in the lives of the colonists. Content explores how religion played a part in the Revolution, and the statute for religious freedom, as well as providing a lesson plan, a link...
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Outline of American Literature 1991

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This website provides an outline of American literature beginning in 1776.
Website
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Colonial Williamsburg: Numismatics: Coins and Currency in Colonial America

For Students 9th - 10th
Valuable lessons in the history of Europeans' early exploration and settlement of America can be gained by following the money used in trade. Coins and Currency exhibition lets you examine evidence of Spanish, British, Dutch, French, and...
Lesson Plan
University of Maryland

Howard County Public School System: Foundations of American Government [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How was the foundation of today's representative democracy established in early colonial America? Students will be able to source three documents and corroborate evidence to draw conclusions about the development of democratic ideas and...
Website
Bibliomania

Bibliomania: Simonds History of American Literature

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site presents the full text of the "Simonds History of American Literature." This detailed reference book explores the literature in early colonial times, the eighteenth century, the beginning of the nineteenth century, the New...
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Colonial Indian Relations

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Handout
Curated OER

National Park Service: Ellis Island: Colonial and Early American New York 1609 1890

For Students 9th - 10th
Provides an overview of the history of New York and of how the United States government came to acquire Ellis Island. Fort Gibson was built there prior to the War of 1812 to serve as a strategic post in case of attack.
Handout
Bibliomania

Bibliomania: English in Virginia

For Students 9th - 10th
This Bibliomania site surveys the literary history of the English in colonial Virginia. Includes analysis of the work of Captain John Smith, William Strachey, and George Sandys. Links to other notes about early American literature.
Lesson Plan
Organization for Community Networks

Academy Curricular Exchange: A Practical Experiment in Colonization

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A detailed lesson plan depicting life in the early American colonies.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Early Settlements

For Students 9th - 10th
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
Article
Varsity Tutors

Varsity Tutors: Archiving Early America: Newspaper Coverage of French and Indian War

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This resource contains an article written by David A. Copeland on how five American newspapers covered the French and Indian War in the colonial period. See copies of three old newspaper issues.
Handout
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Early Settlements

For Students 9th - 10th
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
Article
Virginia Historical Society

Virginia Museum of History and Culture: Early Images of Virginia Indians

For Students 9th - 10th
A collection of images of early Virginia Indians that includes information on interpreting the images and shows fanciful images that were not historically accurate.
Activity
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: Many Cultures Blend

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief discussion of early immigration and its effect on the population of Colonial America between 1680 and 1775.
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Failed Colonies, American Beginnings: 1492 1690

For Students 9th - 10th
Three European accounts of the disappointments, challenges, and outright failures to establish early successful colonial outposts in North America.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum: Rembrandt Peale

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Luce Foundation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, this is a portrait photograph and biography of Rembrandt Peale, the early American portrait painter and most of famous of the Peale brothers family of artists.