Digital History
Digital History: Regional Contrasts
Read about the populations of the New England colonies as compared to the Southern colonies in the 1600s. See how the numbers of Native Americans decreased dramatically particularly in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Read Works
Read Works: Colonization & Revolutionary War: Background to the Colonies
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the thirteen original colonies. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
New Bedford Whaling Museum: Online Exhibitions
The New Bedford Whaling Museum provides a well-done, comprehensive site that includes all aspects of American whaling. This site is a pleasure to amble through if you love the lore and legend of late eighteenth-century sailing ships,...
Other
Hillcrest High School: The Colonies Come of Age: The Commercial North [Pdf]
A chapter from a history text that looks at the Northern colonial economy, colonial town life, the immigrant groups who settled there, slavery in the North, the role of women, the Salem witchcraft trials, and the influence of the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Puritan New England: Plymouth
An overview of the Puritans who facing religious persecution in England set sail for the New World establishing the colony at Plymouth.
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Connecticut Blacks in 18th and 19th Centuries
A curriculum unit that examines the history of slavery in Connecticut, the laws permitting it, segregation, and the struggles faced by freed blacks to achieve equality.
Massachusetts Historical Society
Long Road to Justice: Slavery in the Massachusetts Courts
Slaves in Massachusetts had access to the court system, and in some cases, it helped them gain their freedom. Read the stories of several of them, and find out how the Fugitive Slave Law either helped or hindered them.
Curated OER
Etc: New England Colonies, 1620 1638
A map of the New England colonies showing the early permanent Pilgrim settlements and their dates of establishment, including Plymouth (1620), Little Harbor, New Hampshire (1623), Pemaquid, Maine (1625), Salem, Massachusetts (1628),...
Curated OER
Etc: New England Colonies, 1620 1641
A map of the New England Colonies showing the westward expansion of the Pilgrims from Plymouth (1620) to Stamford, Connecticut (1641). The map shows settlements in the area with dates of establishment given, colony boundaries, New...
Digital History
Digital History: British Mercantilism and the Cost of Empire [Pdf]
Learn about the theory of mercantilism and how it affected the economies of the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Practice making a bar graph showing the value of exports to and imports from England between 1700 and 1774 with...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: The Mayflower and Plymouth Colony
Read a brief description of the Pilgrims' journey to North America. Find out how many travelers on the Mayflower were actually Pilgrims, and find out why a mistake in navigation led to the first written constitution in the New World.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Britain in the New World: The House of Burgesses
The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first elected legislature in the New World. Find out why the governmental conditions in England led to this representative government and how it was so different from the governing of colonies in...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Joseph Bellamy House: The Great Awakening in New England
This site describes the influence of the Reverend Joseph Bellamy and religion in 18th century colonial life. This lesson plan has excellent information, an inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, images, and activities.
History Teacher
Historyteacher.net: Early Settlements: Quiz (2)
This 10-question multiple choice quiz is immediately scored and includes a variety of questions covering early settlement of the New England colonies.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Second Generation of British Colonies
The religious and civil conflict in England in the mid-17th century limited immigration, as well as the attention the mother country paid the fledgling American colonies. In part to provide for the defense measures England was...
University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma College of Law: Connecticut Colony Charter of 1662
Complete text of the Connecticut Colony Charter of 1662 which provided the basis for Connecticut government until 1818.
Other
San Francisco Unified School District: Colonial Faire Project
A large collection of high-quality resources for learning and teaching about the Thirteen English Colonies. The main page outlines examples of student project possibilities. There are individual pages for primary resources, people from...
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 learners to explore why the Colonists settled in specific regions. In groups, students examine primary documents, analyzing Colonists'...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Colonial Period
The early settlers to the New World began to map strategy for their own system of government. This site details that strategy and what kinds of events spawned the idea of representative government.
Digital History
Digital History: Founding New England
A brief look at Squanto, the Native American who aided the Pilgrims as they settled Plymouth Colony.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: African Americans in the British New World: The Growth of Slavery
Africans first arrived in Jamestown as indentured servants, but soon the appeal of having laborers that were not free after seven years caught on. See how the use of slaves grew in the Southern colonies, the economies of which were based...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Dissent in Massachusetts Bay
The Puritan clergy in Massachusetts Bay colony did not allow religious dissent. Read about the fate of colonists Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams who believed in religious freedom.
Digital History
Digital History: Slavery in the Colonial North
Read a very brief description of slavery in the New England and Middle colonies.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New England Colonies: Massachusetts Bay the City on the Hill
Learn a little about Puritan beliefs and see the importance of religion and the clergy in Massachusetts Bay Colony.