British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery in Britain
Towards the end of the 18th century, a movement emerged calling for an end to the slave trade and, later, slavery itself. This article traces the road to abolition from the 1780s to the 1830s, highlighting the impacts of grass-root...
Lumen Learning
Lumen: American and Puritan Literature: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is a sermon written by British Colonial Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts to an unknown effect, and again on July 8, 1741, in...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Robinson Crusoe: A World Classic
This article explains how Daniel Defoe came to write Robinson Crusoe, and why the novel and its protagonist have fascinated readers for centuries.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rape of the Lock: A Darker Mirror
This article shows how Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock progresses from satirizing the foolishness of wealthy young women to exposing the violence that results from unequal power relations, whether between men and women, rich and...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Oroonoko: Historical and Political Contexts
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...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to Robinson Crusoe
Playwright Stephen Sharkey describes his own first encounter with Robinson Crusoe and examines how the novel was shaped by Daniel Defoe's religious dissent, imperialist beliefs, and fascination with money.
Bibliomania
Bibliomania: English in Virginia
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.
Bibliomania
Bibliomania: The Eighteenth Century (First Half)
This Bibliomania site provides a great description of the literary history of the Colonial period from 1700 to 1750. Includes analyses of the works of Samuel Sewall, Sarah Kemble Knight, Ebenezer Cook, William Byrd, and Jonathan Edwards.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Invitation to World Literature: Achebe: Things Fall Apart
This video introduces the world of the Igbo, whose civilization is threatened by the colonial advances of the British into their lands in Nigeria. You'll see this native world in all its logic, beauty, and problems, and then watch it...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Democratic Origins Introduction
The hard-fought American Revolution against Britain (1775-1783) was the first modern war of liberation against a colonial power. The triumph of American independence seemed to many at the time a divine sign that America and her people...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Ap Literature & Composition: The Journey Motif
This unit focuses on the "Journey Motif" using the following works: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, "Shooting An Elephant" by George Orwell, "Journey" by Edna St. Vincent Millay,"Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats, "The...
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Cambridge History of Eng and Am Lit: Beginnings of Verse:1610 1808
Provides a brief background about the lack of poetry writing in the early literature of the Middle and Southern colonies.
Black Past
Black Past: Phillis Wheatley
This on-line encyclopedia article gives information about Phillis Wheatley, the Boston slave who surprised colonial America with her poetry. She was the first African-American woman to have her work published.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Literature of Exploration
Had history taken a different turn, the United States easily could have been a part of the great Spanish or French overseas empires. Its present inhabitants might speak Spanish and form one nation with Mexico, or speak French and be...
PBS
Africans in America: Phillis Wheatley
This website briefly describes the life of Phillis Wheatley, poetess and freed slave.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Phillis Wheatley, Poet
A brief look at the fascinating life of African American poet, Phillis Wheatley. Provides two portraits, and a sample page from Wheatley's collection of poems.
University of Pennsylvania
Penn Library: Captivity Narratives
Provides a brief explanation of the role of captivity narratives in the pre-Colonial and Colonial periods in American history. Contains reproductions of primary source documents. RI.11-12.9 17,18.19th Cen Historic
Cengage Learning
Literature of Discovery and Exploration
Teaching approach that examines the writings of European New World explorers from the late 1400s through the 1600s. Includes Christopher Columbus, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Fray...
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Colonists/pamphlets of Land Companies
Describes an early descriptive writing form, the land pamphlet. Explains that these pamphlets were a form of travel narrative, written by those familiar with the land. The pamphlets were issued by the Virginia Company, the Masachusetts...
BBC
Bbc: Viking Colonists: Joining the Community
An article that describes the life of the Vikings in England during the 10th century C.E. One of the more interesting aspects is when Vikings settled down and became farmers.
Washington State University
Washington State University: Timeline of American Literature & Events, Pre 1650 1929
Timeline of the social, political, and literary history of America from pre-1650 through 1929. Contains information on writers of the periods, along with links to related websites. Click on the time period to see the information for that...
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Cambridge History of Eng and Am Lit: Beginnings of American Verse
Describes the beginnings of American poetry, beginning with a publication in 1610. Click through the 18 sections to get the full picture. Extracted from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Cambridge Hist of Eng & Am Lit: Travellers and Explorers,1583 1763
Description of American colonist narratives written for relatives and friends left behind in England. Click on the link at the end of each page to access the entire chapter.
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Cambridge History of Eng and Am Lit: Narratives of the Indian Wars
Describes the shortage of accurate historical accounts of the Indian Wars in Colonial America. Click through the names at the bottom of each page to take you to a short description of individual historians.