A West African map and three accounts of the development of slave acquisition display the process and the brutality of the Atlantic slave trade.

Numerous visual images of artifacts from English settlements at Jamestown and at Plymouth, and from Spanish settlement in Hispaniola, and three original accounts of each of those early settlements that describe the possibilities and the...

McHenry was born at Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1753. He enjoyed a classical education at Dublin, and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1771. The following year, the rest of his family came to the colonies, and his brother and...

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...

Three maps of European settlement in Virginia, the Pacific Northwest, and the Spanish New World, and the accompanying official instructions from lenders and monarchs about the obligations, opportunities, and hopes that those...

During the religious upheavals of the 16th century, a body of men and women called Puritans sought to reform the Established Church of England from within. Essentially, they demanded that the rituals and structures associated with Roman...

An online exhibit featuring a collection of historical articles and pictorial images from the founding of Pennsylvania.

Details Russian expansion across Asia, over the Bering Strait to Alaska, and then down the coast to California. Their settlement, relations with the Spanish, life in Ft. Ross, and departure are chronicled here.

Read about how Powhatan and his tribe initially helped the English settlers in Jamestown, but ultimately went to war. Find out about why the different views about land ownership exacerbated the tension between the two cultures.

View this authentic letter written by Peter Schaghen documenting the acquisition of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Lenape Indians in 1626.

Discusses the transition of the United States in the late 19th century from an isolationist country into an imperial power with colonies of its own and the reasons for this abrupt change in foreign policy. Includes questions for students...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Learners use primary source documents to investigate central historical questions. For this investigation, students critically examine the passenger lists of ships headed to New England and Virginia to...

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...

The site explores the colonial history of the city of Savannah, Georgia. This interactive lesson has excellent information, an inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, images, and activities.

Read the text of the Albany Plan of Union which advocated a union of the colonies under a royal governor. Although not adopted, it was the first step in colonial unification.

The Library of Congress chronicles the Virginia Company and their settlement of Jamestown, in this fascinating site. Provides photos of the charter, a map drawn by John Smith, and a church tower from the colony.

One of the primary reasons for colonization of the New World was to escape European religious persecution. This site provides stories of religious nonconformists, militants, zealots, reformers, and the faithful.

Learn all about the Albany Plan of Union from this article from the U.S. Department of State. Find out why it was proposed, what the plan would provide for, and the results.

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...

Experience colonial life through a variety of narratives. Topics include the African-American experience, animals, Christmas, clothing, family, food, gardening, manners, politics, religion, tools, and trades.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson in which learners analyze original documents to evaluate the conflict between colonists under King Philip and Native Americans.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart reviews the composition of the thirteen original colonies and asks students to identify the colonies on a map.

A map of the American colonies and territories west to the Mississippi River between the end of the French and Indian War of 1763 and the beginnings of westward expansion of the trans-Appalachian colony proposed in the Vandalia Project...

Site challenges students to examine how goods were advertised, and sold in Colonial Times versus Today. Excellent hands-on activity.