History Curriculum/Book 3
Book three of the curriculum
The History of America's Colonial Life
The third book in the curriculum. Nineteen chapters across four weeks — the English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Russian and French colonies, and the people who were already living where they were built.
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4 Weeks, 19 Chapters, Choose 8+ to Read
Pick the chapters you want to read each week. The living books and the sources are one click away.
Week 1
The English colonies
Virginia and Jamestown, the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay, Catholic Maryland and Quaker Pennsylvania
Pick two or more of these chapters to read. Finish two of the ones you choose to open Week 2.
K–5th Grade
6th–8th Grade
Virginia: The American Dream
- The Virginia Company Charters, 1606, 1609 and 1612 King James IThe three charters that created, enlarged and reorganised the Virginia Company. The first is linked; all three are in the Library of Congress and the Avalon Project.
- A True Relation, 1608Captain John SmithSmith's first account of Jamestown, sent home within a year of landing.
- The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, 1624John SmithHis longer history of Virginia, which includes his account of Pocahontas saving his life.
- The Starving TimeGeorge PercyPercy's account of the winter of 1609–10, when the colony nearly died out.
- The Laws Divine, Moral and Martial, 1610–1612Governors Gates and DaleThe colony's code of laws under Governors Gates and Dale, with the death penalty for many offences.
- The Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, 1619The first elected assembly in English America, meeting in the Jamestown church.
Massachusetts Bay Colony: The Puritans
- A Modell of Christian Charity, 1630 John WinthropThe sermon that promised the colony would be 'as a city upon a hill'.
- The Mayflower Compact, 1620 The Plymouth settlersSigned before landing: the settlers bound themselves to laws they would make together.
- The Body of Liberties, 1641Massachusetts General CourtThe colony's first written code of laws.
- Magnalia Christi Americana, 1702Cotton MatherA church history of New England, written by its best-known minister a lifetime after the founders.
- The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, 1650Anne BradstreetThe first book of poems by a woman living in the English colonies.
- The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, 1644Roger WilliamsWritten after his banishment: the case that government has no business forcing religion on anyone.
Maryland: Refuge for Catholics
- The Charter of Maryland, 1632 King Charles IThe grant of Maryland to the Calvert family.
- The Maryland Toleration Act, 1649 Maryland AssemblyProtected Christians of every denomination — and still set death for denying the Trinity.
- Letters of George and Cecil Calvert, 1620s–1630sThe Lords Baltimore
- A Briefe Relation of the Voyage unto Maryland, 1634Father Andrew WhiteThe Jesuit priest's account of the Ark and the Dove and the first landing.
- Proceedings of the Maryland Assembly, 1635–1650Published in the Archives of Maryland, searchable at the Maryland State Archives.
Pennsylvania: A Quaker Utopia
- Frame of Government of Pennsylvania, 1682 William PennPenn's first constitution for the colony, with his preface on what government is for.
- Some Fruits of Solitude, 1693William PennPenn's short book of maxims on living well.
- Charter of Privileges, 1701 William PennPennsylvania's constitution until the Revolution: liberty of conscience and an elected assembly.
- Quaker Meeting Minutes, 17th–18th centuries
- Letters and Papers of William Penn Held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Also Free to Read Online
- The Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629 King Charles IThe charter the Puritans carried with them, which let them govern the colony from inside it.
- Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681 King Charles IIThe grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn in payment of a royal debt.
- Of Plimoth Plantation William BradfordPlymouth's governor on the voyage, the first winter and the alliance with Massasoit.
Further Reading
- Love and Hate in Jamestown David A. PriceVirginia
- Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma Camilla TownsendVirginia
- A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America James HornVirginia
- The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop Edmund S. MorganMassachusetts Bay
- Saints and Strangers George F. WillisonMassachusetts Bay
- Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were Leland RykenMassachusetts Bay
- Maryland: A Middle Temperament, 1634–1980 Robert J. BruggerMaryland
- William Penn: A Life Andrew R. MurphyPennsylvania
- The Quakers in America Thomas D. HammPennsylvania
- Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth ed. Randall M. Miller and William PencakPennsylvania
Archives to Search Yourself
- Library of Congress Digital Collections
- The Avalon Project Yale Law SchoolCharters, compacts and colonial laws in full text.
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- Maryland State Archives
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Jamestown Rediscovery Preservation VirginiaThe archaeology of James Fort.
- Digital History University of Houston
Week 2
Spain and Portugal
Spanish Florida, the Southwest, Alta California and Mexico City; Portuguese Brazil and the founding of Rio de Janeiro
Pick two or more of these chapters to read. Finish two of the ones you choose to open Week 3.
K–5th Grade
6th–8th Grade
Spanish Florida
- Letter of Hernando de Soto from Florida, 1539Hernando de SotoWritten weeks after his army landed at Tampa Bay.
- Instructions and Letters, 1565–1574Pedro Menéndez de AvilésThe founder of St. Augustine reporting to Philip II, including his destruction of French Fort Caroline.
- Memoria of the Founding of St. Augustine, 1565Father Francisco López de Mendoza GrajalesThe expedition chaplain's eyewitness account of the landing.
- Jesuit and Franciscan Mission Reports, 16th–17th centuries
- The Guale Revolt Letters, 1597Reports of the uprising on the Georgia coast in which five Franciscan friars were killed.
The Spanish Southwest
- Report of Fray Marcos de Niza, 1539Fray Marcos de NizaThe friar's report of the Seven Cities of Cíbola, which sent Coronado north the next year.
- Relación del Suceso and the Coronado letters, 1541–1543The Coronado expeditionTranslated, with Castañeda's narrative, in Winship's The Coronado Expedition below.
- Historia de la Nueva México, 1610Gaspar Pérez de VillagráAn epic poem by a soldier of Oñate's expedition, including the siege of Acoma.
- Letters to the Viceroy of New Spain, 1599–1606Juan de OñateThe colonizer of New Mexico reporting on the new colony.
- Accounts of the Pueblo Revolt, 1680–1692Spanish records of the 1680 revolt led by Popé, with testimony from Pueblo prisoners, and of the return under Diego de Vargas.
Spanish California
- Diaries, 1769–1784Father Junípero SerraThe founder of the California missions on the march north and the first missions.
- Journals of the Portolá Expedition, 1769Gaspar de Portolá, Juan Crespí and Miguel CostansóThe land expedition that reached San Francisco Bay.
- Letters, 1777–1784Governor Felipe de NeveThe governor under whom San José and Los Angeles were founded.
- Franciscan Mission Records, 1770–1820Baptism, marriage and burial registers — the main written record of the Indigenous Californians who lived at the missions.
- Accounts of the Anza Expedition, 1775–1776Juan Bautista de Anza and Pedro FontDiaries of the overland party of settlers that founded San Francisco.
Mexico City and New Spain
- Cartas de Relación, 1519–1526Hernán CortésFive letters to Charles V narrating the conquest of Tenochtitlán.
- The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, c. 1568Bernal Díaz del CastilloA foot soldier's memoir, written in old age to answer the official histories.
- Codex Mendoza, c. 1541Painted by Indigenous artists for the Spanish crown: Aztec history, tribute and daily life.
- The Florentine Codex, c. 1545–1590Bernardino de Sahagún, with Nahua scholarsTwelve books in Nahuatl and Spanish, including an Aztec account of the conquest.
- The Laws of the Indies — the Ordinances of 1573Philip IIThe crown's rules for founding towns: the plaza, the grid of streets, the church.
- Poems and Letters, 17th centurySor Juana Inés de la CruzThe Mexican nun and poet, including her Reply to Sor Filotea defending a woman's right to learn.
Brazil
- Letter to King Manuel I, 1500Pero Vaz de CaminhaThe first description of Brazil, written days after Cabral's landing.
- The History of the Province of Santa Cruz, 1576Pêro de Magalhães de GândavoOne of the first printed histories of Brazil.
- Jesuit Letters from Brazil, 1549–1600Manuel da Nóbrega, José de Anchieta and othersCollected as the Cartas Jesuíticas do Brasil.
- The Royal Charter of 1549 Establishing the Government of Brazil
- The Book of the Governor Tomé de Sousa, 1553
- Regimento das Minas — the Mining Ordinances of 1570 and 1702
- Os Lusíadas, 1572Luís de CamõesPortugal's national epic, on Vasco da Gama's voyage to India.
- Documents on the Quilombo dos Palmares, 1600sRecords of the largest community of people who escaped slavery in Brazil.
The Portuguese Atlantic
- Royal Charter of Madeira, 1430s–1440s
- Letters of Prince Henry the Navigator, 1430–1460
- São Tomé and Príncipe Ordinances, 1493
- Jesuit Mission Reports, 1500s–1600s
Rio de Janeiro
- Foundation Records of Rio de Janeiro, 1565Estácio de SáThe city was founded during the war to drive the French out of Guanabara Bay.
- Jesuit Mission Records, 1570–1640
- Royal Decrees Moving the Portuguese Court to Rio de Janeiro, 1807–1808Later than this chapter: the royal family fled Napoleon and ruled the empire from Rio.
- Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro, 1808–1822The first newspaper printed in Brazil.
Also Free to Read Online
- Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528–1543 ed. F. W. Hodge and T. H. LewisContains Cabeza de Vaca's own narrative and Castañeda's account of Coronado's expedition.
- The Coronado Expedition, 1540–1542 George Parker WinshipThe documents of Coronado's search for Cíbola and Quivira, with Castañeda's narrative.
- Castillo de San Marcos National Monument National Park ServiceThe coquina-stone fortress at St. Augustine, begun in 1672.
- Cabrillo National Monument National Park ServiceWhere Cabrillo reached San Diego Bay in 1542.
Further Reading
- A Land Remembered Patrick D. SmithFlorida — a novel of later Florida pioneers
- The Enterprise of Florida: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Spanish Conquest of 1565–1568 Eugene LyonSpanish Florida
- No Settlement, No Conquest: A History of the Coronado Entrada Richard FlintThe Southwest
- The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest David RobertsThe Southwest
- New Mexico's Royal Road: Trade and Travel on the Chihuahua Trail Max L. MoorheadThe Southwest
- Junípero Serra: California's Founding Father Steven W. HackelCalifornia
- Contest for California: From Spanish Colonization to the American Conquest California
- A Cross of Thorns: The Enslavement of California's Indians by the Spanish Missions Elias CastilloCalifornia
- The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico ed. Miguel León-PortillaMexico City and New Spain
- The Conquest of New Spain Bernal Díaz del Castillo (Penguin Classics)Mexico City and New Spain
- Colonial Latin America Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. JohnsonMexico City and New Spain
- A Concise History of Brazil Boris FaustoPortuguese colonization
- The Portuguese Seaborne Empire, 1415–1825 Charles R. BoxerPortuguese colonization
- Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492–1830 J. H. ElliottPortuguese colonization
- Brazil: Five Centuries of Change Thomas E. SkidmoreBrazil
- The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census Philip D. CurtinBrazil
- House and Street: The Domestic World of Servants and Masters in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro Sandra Lauderdale GrahamRio de Janeiro
- A History of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro
Archives to Search Yourself
- Exploring the Early Americas Library of Congress
- The Avalon Project Yale Law School
- World Digital Library Library of Congress and UNESCONow part of the Library of Congress's collections.
- Smithsonian Latino Center
- The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley
- Florida Memory State Library and Archives of Florida
- New Mexico Digital Collections University of New Mexico
- Biblioteca Digital Hispánica National Library of Spain
- Biblioteca Nacional Digital National Library of Portugal
- Biblioteca Nacional do Brasil
- USP Digital Journals University of São Paulo
- Arquivo Nacional Brazil's National Archive
- Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino Portuguese Overseas Historical Archive
Week 3
The Dutch, the Swedes and the Russians
New Amsterdam, New Sweden and Fort Christina, the other Dutch settlements, Russian Alaska and Fort Ross in California
Pick two or more of these chapters to read. Finish two of the ones you choose to open Week 4.
K–5th Grade
6th–8th Grade
New Amsterdam
- Charter of the Dutch West India Company, 1621 States General of the NetherlandsThe company that founded and ran New Netherland.
- A Description of New Netherland, 1655Adriaen van der DonckA lawyer's portrait of the colony, its land and its Lenape neighbours.
- Correspondence, 1647–1664Peter StuyvesantThe last director-general of New Netherland.
- The Remonstrance of New Netherland, 1649Adriaen van der Donck and the colonistsThe settlers' complaint to the States General against company rule. In Jameson's Narratives, below.
- The Flushing Remonstrance, 1657The residents of FlushingThey refused to enforce Stuyvesant's ban on Quaker worship — an early American statement of religious liberty.
- The Articles of Transfer, 1664The terms on which New Amsterdam was surrendered to the English.
New Sweden and Fort Christina
- Charter of the New Sweden Company, 1637Held in the Swedish National Archives; English translations in the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania.
- Reports, 1638–1639Peter MinuitMinuit, who had bought Manhattan for the Dutch, led the first Swedish expedition to the Delaware.
- Instructions for Governor Johan Printz, 1643
- Journal, 1654–1655Governor Johan RisinghThe last governor of New Sweden.
- The Dutch Capture of New Sweden, 1655Peter StuyvesantHis letters and reports.
The Other Dutch Settlements
- Letters and Contracts, 1630s–1640sKiliaen van RensselaerThe Amsterdam merchant behind the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck, around Fort Orange.
- Records of Fort Orange (Albany), 1630s–1660s
- The Treaty of Hartford, 1650Set a boundary between New Netherland and New England.
- Minutes of the Dutch West India Company, 1620s–1660s
Russian Alaska
- Expedition Reports of Vitus Bering, 1733–1741Held in the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
- Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741Georg Wilhelm StellerThe naturalist's account of the voyage to Alaska and the shipwreck on the way home. English edition: Stanford University Press, 1988.
- Journal, 1783–1786Grigory ShelikhovFounder of the first permanent Russian settlement in Alaska, on Kodiak Island.
- Charter of the Russian-American Company, 1799
- Letters and Reports, 1790s–1818Alexander BaranovChief manager of the Russian-American Company.
- Orthodox Missionary Letters, 1794–1830sSt. Herman of Alaska and Father Ioann Veniaminov (later St. Innocent)
- The Treaty of Cession, 1867Later than this chapter: the sale of Alaska to the United States. Held in the U.S. National Archives.
Fort Ross, California
- Reports, 1812–1821Ivan KuskovThe Russian-American Company agent who founded Fort Ross in 1812.
- Russian-American Company Correspondence, 1810–1840Published in translation in James R. Gibson's Russian California, 1806–1860.
- LettersFather Ioann VeniaminovHe visited Fort Ross in 1836.
- Agreements between Russia and Spain, 1817–1821
- California Land Transfer Documents, 1841The sale of Fort Ross to John Sutter.
Also Free to Read Online
- Narratives of New Netherland, 1609–1664 ed. J. Franklin JamesonJuet's journal of Hudson's voyage, de Vries, van der Donck's Remonstrance and the other founding accounts.
- The Duke of York's Release to Berkeley and Carteret, 1664 James, Duke of YorkSigned the year the English took New Netherland — the colony divided before the ink on the surrender was dry.
Further Reading
- The Island at the Center of the World Russell ShortoNew Netherland
- The Colony of New Netherland: A Dutch Settlement in Seventeenth-Century America Jaap JacobsNew Netherland
- New Netherland and the Dutch Origins of American Religious Liberty Evan HaefeliNew Netherland
- New Sweden on the Delaware, 1638–1655 New Sweden
- Before the Melting Pot: Society and Culture in Colonial New York City, 1664–1730 Joyce D. GoodfriendNew York after the Dutch
- Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York collected by John Romeyn BrodheadNew Netherland
- Russians in Alaska, 1732–1867 Lydia T. BlackRussian America
- Russian California, 1806–1860: A History in Documents James R. GibsonFort Ross
- A History of Fort Ross, California, 1812–1841 E. O. Essig and Adele OgdenFort Ross
- The Russian Fur Trade, 1550–1700 Raymond H. FisherRussian America
- Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America Eric Jay DolinThe fur trade
- Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants: The Legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers Kent G. LightfootFort Ross and Spanish California
Archives to Search Yourself
- New Netherland Institute Albany, New York
- New York State Archives Digital Collections
- Library of Congress Digital Collections
- Delaware Public Archives New Sweden records.
- Swedish Colonial Society Philadelphia
- Nationaal Archief Dutch National Archives
- Library Company of Philadelphia Digital Collections
- Fort Ross Conservancy Fort Ross State Historic ParkThe reconstructed Russian settlement and the Kashaya Pomo history of Metini.
- Alaska State Library Including Russian-American Company records.
- U.S. National Archives
- Alaska Historical Society
- Archives of Russia Federal Archival Agency
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Week 4
New France
Quebec City and Montreal, New Orleans, St. Louis, and the French in the Caribbean and South America
Pick two or more of these chapters to read.
K–5th Grade
6th–8th Grade
Quebec City and Montreal
- The Voyages of Samuel de Champlain, 1604–1632 Samuel de ChamplainChamplain's own account of Sainte-Croix, Port-Royal and the founding of Quebec.
- The Jesuit Relations, 1632–1673 Jesuit missionaries, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (73 vols., 1896–1901)Annual reports from missionaries living among the Indigenous nations of New France.
- Charter of the Company of New France, 1627Cardinal RichelieuCreated the Company of One Hundred Associates to settle and govern New France.
- New Voyages to North America, 1703Baron de LahontanA French officer's widely read account of New France and its Indigenous nations.
- A True and Genuine Description of New France, 1664Pierre BoucherWritten by the governor of Trois-Rivières to persuade settlers to come.
New Orleans
- Charter of the Company of the West, 1717John Law's company, which founded New Orleans the next year. The original is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- Letters, 1718–1740sJean-Baptiste Le Moyne de BienvilleThe founder and several times governor of Louisiana.
- A Company Man: The Remarkable French-Atlantic Voyage of a Clerk for the Company of the Indies, 1729–1731Marc-Antoine Caillot, trans. Erin M. GreenwaldA young clerk's memoir of the voyage and of life in early New Orleans.
- The Code Noir, 1685, extended to Louisiana in 1724The French law governing slavery.
St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley
- Letters, 1763–1770sPierre Laclède and Auguste ChouteauThe founders of St. Louis in 1764. Held by the Missouri Historical Society.
- French Colonial Records of the Illinois Country, 1699–1763Held by the Illinois State Archives.
- Letters and Sketches, 1841Father Pierre-Jean De SmetLater than this chapter: a Jesuit missionary who worked out of St. Louis.
The French Caribbean and South America
- Charter of the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique, 1635The company that settled Martinique and Guadeloupe.
- Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les François, 1667–1671Jean-Baptiste Du TertreA Dominican missionary's history of the French islands.
- Memoirs of the French Colonies in the West Indies, 1689Pierre Moreau
- Letters and Proclamations, 1793–1802Toussaint LouvertureLater than this chapter: the leader of the Haitian Revolution.
Also Free to Read Online
- Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve National Park ServiceThe French Quarter and the culture of colonial New Orleans.
- Gateway Arch National Park National Park ServiceThe site of colonial St. Louis.
Further Reading
- Champlain's Dream David Hackett FischerQuebec and Montreal
- The Jesuit Relations: Natives and Missionaries in Seventeenth-Century North America ed. Allan GreerQuebec and Montreal
- Canada: A People's History Don Gillmor and Pierre TurgeonQuebec and Montreal
- French Pathfinders in North America William Henry JohnsonQuebec and Montreal
- Bienville's Dilemma: A Historical Geography of New Orleans Richard CampanellaNew Orleans
- The World That Made New OrleansNed SubletteNew Orleans
- A Company Man Marc-Antoine Caillot, trans. Erin M. GreenwaldNew Orleans
- Colonial Ste. Genevieve: An Adventure on the Mississippi Frontier Carl J. EkbergSt. Louis and the Illinois Country
- French Roots in the Illinois Country: The Mississippi Frontier in Colonial Times Carl J. EkbergSt. Louis and the Illinois Country
- Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution Laurent DuboisThe French Caribbean
- Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West IndiesRichard S. DunnThe Caribbean
- The French Atlantic Triangle: Literature and Culture of the Slave Trade Christopher L. MillerThe French Caribbean
- Haiti: The Aftershocks of History Laurent DuboisThe French Caribbean
Archives to Search Yourself
- Library and Archives Canada New France records.
- Gallica Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Archives nationales d'outre-mer French colonial archives, Aix-en-Provence
- The Avalon Project Yale Law School
- France in America Library of Congress
- Missouri Historical Society The French colonial collection.
- Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC)
What comes with the book
The Ultimate Guide
The textbook itself — the nineteen chapters these lessons are built from.
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Living History
Living History: Colonial America — Told By Those Who Were There. The Heroes & Villains series, in the first person.
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The Adventure Box
Cards, lesson plans, activities, coloring pages and the craft kit for this era.
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