University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Colonization
For a variety of reasons, those who came to settle the early colonies sought a new homeland. Puritans, for example, established several settlements in Massachusetts. These English colonists were a pious, self-disciplined people who...
iCivics
I Civics: Columbus to the Colonies
From the time Columbus first set foot in the New World, Europeans were fascinated with this new land. In this lesson, students learn about the Three Gs that drove them here- gold, God, and glory- and find out how these settlers gave...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Franco American Alliance
In France, enthusiasm for the American cause was high: the French intellectual world was itself in revolt against feudalism and privilege. However, the Crown lent its support to the colonies for geopolitical rather than ideological...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Loyalists During the American Revolution
Americans today think of the War for Independence as a revolution, but in important respects it was also a civil war. American Loyalists, or "Tories" as their opponents called them, opposed the Revolution, and many took up arms against...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: 300 Women Who Changed History: Anne Bradstreet
Basic biographical information about Anne Bradstreet, one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Content includes two of her poems: "The Prologue" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband."
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: Ap Us History Study Guide, Period Three: 1754 1800
[Free Registration/Login Required] Comprehensive learning module for AP U.S. History on the imperial struggle over control of the American colonies, the emergence of a new republic, and the developing social, political and economic...
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Geography and Its Impact on Colonial Life
Beginning with a discussion on how people adapt to or relocate to environments, this lesson encourages students to explore why the Colonists settled in specific regions. In groups, students examine primary documents, analyzing Colonists'...
Indiana University
Indiana University: Stamp Act
From the American History Documents series, view the original document and read about the 1765 tax that ignited the American Revolution.
Other
Hillcrest: England and Its Colonies [Pdf]
A textbook chapter about England and its relationship to its American colonies. Included are maps and map questions, study help, and assessments.
Siteseen
Siteseen: Land of the Brave: Plymouth Colony
Article provides detailed facts and an overview of the establishment and famous people of the Plymouth Colony.
Ducksters
Ducksters: American Revolution for Kids: The Stamp Act
Kids learn about the The Stamp Act. A tax the Britain placed on the American colonies eventually leading the Revolutionary War.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: North American Colonies, 1783
A map of eastern North America in 1783 at the end of the American Revolutionary War, showing the territory of the newly formed United States as proposed by the Treaty of Paris, the Canadian border extending to the Ohio River proposed by...
History Teacher
Historyteacher.net: Late 17 C and 18 C American Society: Quiz (1)
This 11-question multiple choice quiz is immediately scored and includes a variety of questions covering life in the early colonies.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Religious Pluralism in the Middle Colonies
Essay looks at the phenomenon of religious pluralism in the middle colonies. Author discusses religious sects in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, as well as African Americans and Native Americans.
Texas A&M University
Sons of De Witt Colony Texas: Austin's Colony
A look into Austin's Colony, the first and largest Anglo-American settlement in Mexican Texas which was established by Stephen F. Austin in 1821.
Other
American Journeys: Popham's Expedition to Maine, 1607 1608
An account of the first English colony in New England, Sagahadoc. To access the document itself, click on"Read This Document." Although unsuccessful, it provided valuable information for later colonization.
Digital History
Digital History: The Middle Colonies: William Penn's Holy Commonwealth
The Quakers were persecuted in England and in many English colonies. Read about William Penn's establishment of the colony of Pennsylvania where Quakers and others could live with religious liberty.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Johnson Museum of Art: Byrdcliffe, Arts and Crafts Colony
Byrdcliffe was an artist colony founded in 1902-03 in New York. This exhibition from the Johnson Museum of Art is the first traveling exhibition of Byrdcliffe and it features art objects, historical materials, architecture, music, and...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: English Ii, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Three seventeenth-century homes in Pennsylvania and New York and three accounts from those English colonies of the factors leading to prosperity and permanence.
University of Groningen
American History: Biographies: Daniel Dulany Jr. (1722 1797)
Daniel Dulany of Annapolis, Maryland, had studied law in England at the Middle Temple, and was considered, at least by one fellow Marylander, Charles Carrol, to be "indisputably the best lawyer on this continent." He wrote this pamphlet,...
Texas A&M University
Sons of De Witt Colony Texas: Gutierrez De Lara: In Nuevo Santander
Jose Gutierrez de Lara, the first governor of Mexican Texas, was determined to free Mexico from Spain. Read about the early Texas settlement of Nuevo Santander, and how it was settled by Spanish American colonists.
San Jose State University
Sjsu: Agriculture in the Middle Colonies
An excerpt of a primary source, American Husbandry, a book from 1775, describing the crops of the Middle Colonies.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Middle Colonies: Quakers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
A good look at the philosophy of the Quakers who colonized William Penn's religious refuge in the colony of Pennsylvania. Read about Penn's liberal views about government, religious freedom, and relations with Native Americans.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Agriculture Rules the South
The essay describes the devlopment of the Southern colonies as agricultural centers and the cultural aspects associated with rural, agricultural life.