Kategoria BISAC: History >> United States - Colonial Period (1600-1775)

From the settlement of the earliest peoples in the Americas to the close of the seventeenth century, enormous changes took place in what was to become the continental United States. To help students understand this sweep of history, this unique resource provides detailed description and expert analysis of the ten most important events through the seventeenth century: First Encounters, c. 40,000 BCE - 1492 AD; The Expedition of Coronado, 1540-1542; The Founding of St. Augustine, 1565; Early English Colonization Efforts, c. 1584-1630; Early European-Native American Encounters, 1607-1637; The...

This work provides the first in-depth study of the Twelfth Amendment of the United States Constitution from the larger perspective of the development of the electoral college. Too often viewed as a modest reform to prevent the recurrence of the 1800-1801 election crisis, the Twelfth Amendment, according to Kuroda, was actually the decisive step in the evolution of the modern electoral college. Significantly, the amendment implicitly recognized the existence of national political parties and allowed the party which won the most electoral votes to win the offices of President and Vice...

Using the New Social History method and examining nearly every document produced over the years covered, this study examines the growth of communities in the Upper Pee Dee region of the South Carolina backcountry in the 18th century. The study considers the emergence of a landed elite, slavery, and a mobile population, plus the disestablishment of the Anglican Church. Inhabitants of the Cheraws District had access to a river that flowed to the coast, allowing them to transport their agricultural produce to the market at Georgetown. This ease of transportation enabled the district to become...

For every major event or issue of the colonial period, newspapers printed the opinions of the day, in many cases attempting to influence public opinion. Issues such as medical discoveries, education, and censorship are covered in this collection along with important events such as the French and Indian War, the trial of John Peter Zenger, and the Boston Massacre. Each chapter introduces the event or issue and includes news articles, letters, essays, even poetry representing both sides of the argument as they affected Americans. Each document is preceded by an explanatory introduction. This...

The frontier region was the interface between the American wilderness and European-style civilization. To the Europeans, the frontier teemed with undomesticated and unfamiliar beasts. Even its indigenous peoples seemed perplexing, uninhibited, and violent. The frontier wasn't just a place, but a process, too. It was a hazy line between colliding cultures, and a volatile region in which those cultures interacted.

This volume explores the frontier, explorers, traders, missionaries, colonists, and native peoples that came into contact. Everyday life is presented with all of its...

The American Revolution gave birth to a new world republic and a philosophy based on freedom, liberty, and equality. The philosophical concepts articulated by the revolutionary leaders have become a model of positive change for people around the world. This concise reference guide includes an overview essay that traces the course of the Revolution and five essays on various aspects of the conflict. Also included are biographical sketches of 19 important historical figures and a selection of primary documents with introductions by the author. A timeline and annotated bibliography compliment...

Part of the enduring fascination of the Salem witch trials is the fact that, to date, no one theory has been able to fully explain the events that ravaged Salem in 1692. Countless causes, from ergot-infected rye to actual demonic posession, have been offered to explain why the accusations and erratic behavior of seven village girls left hundreds accused, over 20 dead, and the townspeople of eastern Massachusetts shaken. Through a multitude of resources, this authoritative reference guide explores the Salem Witchcraft episode, including the religious and political climate in Puritan New...

Cadwallader Colden was a Scottish emigre to the American colonies in the 18th century. Trained as a physician, he settled in Philadelphia in 1710 to establish a medical practice. In 1718, he was offered a minor administrative position in the Province of New York, and thereafter he rose through a number of appointed offices, culminating in that of lieutenant governor of the colony in the era leading up to the American Revolution. As a public figure, he cast his role as a loyal servant of the Crown and adamantly tried to maintain the royal prerogative in the face of increasing divisiveness...

The French and Indian War was but the American front of a much larger war taking place in Europe, the outcome of which had significant consequences for both North America and the world. As the frontier sideshow of the Seven Years' War, being fought between the powerful English and French empires in the 1760s, the French and Indian War brought northern America firmly under the control of Great Britain, and removed the vital French counter-weight used by native American Indian tribes to block the westward encroachment of land-hungry English settlers.

An excellent introduction to...

In the early years of the American Republic the political ideals of the Revolution took definite form, and pervaded the daily lives of Americans in multifarious ways, affirming and transforming the country and its people in the process. In this informative and eminently readable resource, award-winning authors David and Jeanne Heidler discuss the people who lived during this critical time, and uncover the essential and unexpected realities of ordinary life in the early American republic.

Rapid developments in agriculture, encouraged by a strong sense of dignity in work and a bold new...

The colonial days of America marked not only the beginnings of a country, but also of a new culture, part of which was the first American music publishers, entrepreneurs, and instrument makers forging musical communities from New England to New Spain. Elements of British, Spanish, German, Scots-Irish, and Native American music all contributed to the many cultures and subcultures of the early nation. While English settlers largely sought to impose their own culture in the new land, the adaptation of native music by Spanish settlers provided an important cultural intersection. The music of...

Brecher explores the controversial diplomacy by which the United States separately brought to a "de facto" close its War of Independence against the British, leaving its one ally, France, in the lurch. He focuses on the two dominant, ostensibly allied peace negotiators, John Jay and Vergennes.

Veteran diplomat and diplomatic history author Frank Brecher follows the chronology of the American War of Independence, alternating between accounts of the conflict as experienced diplomatically and, in less detail, militarily by the Americans and the French, respectively. In doing so, after...

As the oldest still operational written constitution in the world, the U.S. Constitution--and the concepts it proclaims-- have been under almost constant attack since its inception. At a convention in 1787, fifty-five delegates assembled in Philadelphia to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation, only to emerge sixteen weeks later with a new document: the U.S. Constitution. The convention was filled with constant debate over how much power should be given to government and how should this power be allocated, state rights v. nationalists, small states v. large states, political...

Science and technology are central to history of the United States, and this is true of the Colonial period as well. Although considered by Europeans as a backwater, the people living in the American colonies had advanced notions of agriculture, surveying, architecture, and other technologies. In areas of natural philosophy--what we call science--such figures as Benjamin Franklin were admired and respected in the scientific capitals of Europe. This book covers all aspects of how science and technology impacted the everyday life of Americans of all classes and cultures.

"Science and...

Colonial America comes alive in this depiction of the daily lives of families--mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents. The Volo's examine the role of the family in society and typical family life in 17th- and 18th-century America. Through narrative chapters, aspects of family life are discussed in depth such as maintaining the household, work, entertainment, death and dying, ceremonies and holidays, customs and rites of passage, parenting, education, and widowhood. Readers will gain an in-depth understanding of the world in which these families lived and how that world affected their...