National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s
In this very detailed lesson plan, learners will explore what life was like during colonial life in the late 1700s. Students will use what they have learned to write fictional letters to a cousin.
Other
Maryland Colonial Essay Contest: Native Americans of Maryland
This student essay discusses the Native Americans of Maryland that helped the colonists settle the land and survive, but were, in turn, run off of the land.
A&E Television
History.com: The Native American Chief Who Drove Out Spanish Colonists and Nearly Expelled the English
In the summer of 1561, Spanish explorers abducted Opechancanough, a Powhatan Indian youth from the Chesapeake Bay tidewater region and brought him to the royal court of Spain. The kidnapping set off a chain of events that would alter the...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: American Literature: Colonial Literature
This lesson is an introduction to a unit on Colonial Literature including Native American oral literature and New England Puritan narratives, journals, and sermons. It features an interactive list of terms for the period, a link to the...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Colonial Lit: William Bradford and of Plymouth Plantation
This lesson focuses on William Bradford and his Of Plymouth Plantation, a history of the Plymouth Colony. It features a short biography of William Bradford including his trip to America on the Mayflower and being elected long-term...
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Western Migration Towards the Interior
This resource provides an essay discussing the migration of American colonists into the Ohio River Valley and the impact on the Native Americans living in the area.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Early American and Colonial Period to 1776
Background information about the literary traditions of the pre-Colonial and Colonial period. Includes information about Native American oral traditions and Native American cultures. Follow the links to the Early American era and to...
Read Works
Read Works: Non Colonists in the American Revolution
[Free Registration/Login Required] This ReadWorks passage gives information about the roles of some French, Native Americans, Hessians, and Polish citizens during the American Revolution. A question sheet is available to help students...
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg: Redefining Family
This site from the Colonial Williamsburg Museum explores the different "families" of colonial Williamsburg. Content includes a focus on each cultural group: white, Native American, and black.
A&E Television
History.com: Colonists at the First Thanksgiving Were Mostly Men Because Women Had Perished
According to this account (elements of which continue to be debated by historians, especially regarding the presence and role of Native Americans), the historic event didn't happen on the fourth Thursday in November, as it does today,...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Raid of Deerfield
Discover facts about the raid at Deerfield, Massachusetts. This feature describes the attach of the colony, as well as the ally relationship between the French and Native Americans. Provides three pages of information, as well as an...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Colonial Societies 1500 1700: Spanish Exploration & Colonial Society
Examines the establishment of Spanish settlements in America, the differences between them, and the conflicts the Spanish had with other European interests and with the native peoples.
Digital History
Digital History: The Fate of Native Americans
A brief look at the inability of Native Americans to halt the settlement of their lands by American colonists after the French and Indian War. There is a short description of Chief Pontiac and his alliance of several tribes which fought...
Other
Cabrillo College: An Introduction to California's Native People: Missionization
This site discusses the mission movement in California and its effect on the Native Americans. Timeline of the missions' founding is also provided.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Colonial House
Colonial House video segment in which Colonists and the Passamaquoddy people encounter each other for the first time in a reenactment of a New England settlement in 1628. [4:38]
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Empire and Identity in the American Colonies
In this lesson plan, students will consider "Empire and Identity in the American Colonies." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory Timeline: Colonial Settlement,1600s 1763
Read about the colonization in the New World by many European countries. Hyperlinks to you to more specific topics.
Other
Illinois State Museum: Native American Food
Experiences during the colonial years certainly were not the same for different cultural groups. This site compares and contrasts the housing, clothing, food, religion and family life of Native Americans, French settlers, and African...
Other
Trail of Tears Assoc: The Story Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
Follow the early history of Native American and European contact in America. As more settlers moved west, a law was passed to relocate the Cherokee from Arkansas. The routes they followed and the cruelties they suffered came to be known...
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: King Philip's War
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which students analyze original documents to evaluate the conflict between colonists under King Philip and Native Americans.
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
History Is Fun: Jamestown Questions and Answers [Pdf]
This document presents important questions about the Jamestown settlement, along with detailed answers. Topics include the Native American Powhatan Indians and their interactions with the settlers, the purpose of creating the settlement...
National Geographic
National Geographic: Society: A History of Trade in New York City
A lesson based on the New York City seal that explores the trading relationship between the Dutch and Native Americans in New Amsterdam.
Texas Public Broadcasting
Texas Pbs: Texas Our Texas: Spanish Colonial 1689 1821
Learn about the struggle between the native tribes and the Spanish missionaries during the Spanish Colonial era in Texas from 1690 until 1821.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Colonial Indian Relations
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.