Explore Colonial America

In Explore Colonial America!, kids ages 6-9 learn about America’s earliest days as European settlements, and how the colonists managed to survive, build thriving colonies, and eventually challenge England for independence. How did the colonists build homes, feed and clothe themselves, and get along with the Native Americans who were already here? This accessible introduction to the colonial period teaches young children about the daily lives of ordinary colonists and offers fascinating stories about those who helped shape the emerging nation. Activities range from creating a ship out of a bar of soap and building a log home out of graham crackers and pretzels to making a wampum necklace. Projects are easy-to-follow, require minimal adult supervision, and use primarily common household products and recycled supplies. By combining a hands-on element with riddles, jokes, fun facts, and comic cartoons, kids Explore Colonial America!, and have a great time discovering our nation’s founding years.

A fascinating time in American history, the colonial days sparked legends, traditions, and forged a new nation. From the first Thanksgiving to the Boston Tea Party, young readers will develop a deeper appreciation for the events that led to the founding of America.

A fascinating time in American history, the colonial days sparked legends, traditions, and forged a new nation. From the first Thanksgiving to the Boston Tea Party, young readers will develop a deeper appreciation for the events that led to the founding of America.

Describes what it was like to live as a settler in Colonial America.

This book provides the essential, primary documentation needed to clarify, readjust, and, in some cases, destroy the many commonly held myths of America's colonial past. America's past is in many respects misunderstood and distorted. Even our secondary-level and college classrooms are not always capable of correcting the common misconceptions about Columbus and his discovery; Jamestown, John Smith, and Pocahontas; the Salem Witch Trials; and even the American Revolution. What is often lacking in texts on these events and people is a narrative with a solid underpinning of primary sources that clearly explains how misconceptions began, how they were perpetuated, and finally how they made their way into contemporary American popular culture. Colonial America: Facts and Fictions separates myth from reality. The authors explore 10 popular myths about the period, each of which is examined in terms of its origin and how it became ensconced in American memory. It uses primary sources to explain the evolution of the myths and to inform readers about what actually happened. This book explains all of this, and most importantly exposes the modern reader to those essential primary source documents that clarify the distortions and disprove the popular misconceptions of the past.

An exploration of day-to-day urban life in colonial America. The American city was an integral part of the colonial experience. Although the five largest cities in colonial America--Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charles Town, and Newport--held less than ten percent of the American popularion on the eve of the American Revolution, they were particularly significant for a people who resided mostly in rural areas, and wilderness. These cities and other urban hubs contained and preserved the European traditions, habits, customs, and institutions from which their residents had emerged. They were also centers of commerce, transportation, and communication; held seats of colonial government; and were conduits for the transfer of Old World cultures. With a focus on the five largest cities but also including life in smaller urban centers, Krawczynski's nuanced treatment will fill a significant gap on the reference shelves and serve as an essential source for students of American history, sociology, and culture. In-depth, thematic chapters explore many aspects of urban life in colonial America, including working conditions for men, women, children, free blacks, and slaves as well as strikes and labor issues; the class hierarchy and its purpose in urban society; childbirth, courtship, family, and death; housing styles and urban diet; and the threat of disease and the growth of poverty.

This reader provides students with key documents from colonial American history, including new English translations of non-English documents. The documents in this collection take the reader beyond the traditional story of the English colonies. Readers explore the Spanish, French, Dutch, Russian, German, and even Icelandic colonial efforts throughout North America, including California, New Mexico, Texas, the Great Plains, Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New England. Throughout, the collection provides not only the perspectives of Europeans but also of Native Americans and Africans. By looking beyond traditional sources, students see the power and diversity of Native Americans and learn that European domination of the continent was not inevitable. They see different forms of slavery and ways that slaves dealt with their captivity. By considering multiple perspectives, students learn that colonial history was largely the attempts of various peoples to understand strangers and adapt them to their own will.

Taking young readers on a journey back in time, this dynamic new series showcases various aspects of colonial life, from people and clothing to homes and food. Each book contains creative illustrations, interesting facts, highlighted vocabulary words, end-of-book challenges, and sidebars that help children understand the differences between modern and colonial life and inspire them to imagine what it would have been like to grow up in colonial America. The volumes in this series focus on the colonists but also include relevant information about Native Americans, offering a variety of perspectives on life in the colonies. An introduction to colonial eating habits, this historical reference looks at the new foods the colonists discovered when they came to America, the help that they received from friendly Native Americans in growing crops, and how both the colonists and the Native Americans collected enough food to survive.