Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History captures it all: the people, institutions, ideas, events, and the creation of the first three hundred years of American history.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Studying the Colonial Era
• Maps
• Abenaki
• Acadia, Nova Scotia
• Acadians
• Acapulco
• Adams, Abigail (1744–1818)
• Adams, John (1735–1826)
• Adams, Samuel (1722–1803)
• African Americans
• Agriculture
• Albany Congress (1754)
• Alcohol
• Alexander, Mary Spratt Provoost (1693–1760)
• American Philosophical Society
• Anabaptists
• Andros, Sir Edmund (1637–1714)
• Anglican Church
• Anne, Queen (1665–1714)
• Antigua
• Appalachia
• Arawak
• Armada, Spanish
• Army, British
• Art, Cartoons, and Broadsides
• Art, Fine
• Art, Folk
• Artisans
• Arts, Culture, and Intellectual Life
• Assemblies, Colonial
• Atlantic Ocean
• Azores and Madeira
• Aztec
• Bacon, Nathaniel (1647–1676)
• Bacon's Rebellion
• Baltimore
• Banks and Banking
• Baptists
• Barbados
• Bartram Family
• Bathing and Hygiene
• Beaver Wars
• Berkeley, Sir William (c. 1605–1677)
• Bermuda
• Bible
• Board of Trade
• Boone, Daniel (1734–1820)
• Borderlands, Spanish
• Bostonnnnnnn
• Boston Massacre
• Boston Port Bill
• Boston Tea Party
• Braddock, Edward (1695–1755)
• Bradford, William (1590–1657)
• Bradstreet, Anne (1612–1672)
• Brant, Joseph (1743–1807)
• Brant, Mary Molly (c. 1736–1796)
• Brent, Margaret (c. 1601–c. 1671)
• Bunker Hill, Battle of
• Cabot, John (c. 1450–c. 1498)
• Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez (c. 1498–c. 1543)
• California
• Calvert, Cecilius (1605–1675)
• Calvert, George (First Lord Baltimore; c. 1580–1632)
• Calvinism
• Canada
• Canary Islands
• Cape Cod
• Captivity (by Native Americans)
• Carib
• Caribbean Sea
• Carteret, Sir George (d. 1680)
• Cartier, Jacques (1491–1557)
• Catholic Church
• Cayuga
• Champlain, Samuel de (c. 1570–1635)
• Charles I (1600–1649)
• Charles II (1630–1685)
• Charles V (1500–1558)
• Charleston
• Cherokee
• Chesapeake
• Chickasaw
• Child Rearing
• Children
• Choctaw
• Christ and Christianity
• Cities
• Class
• Clocks and Timekeeping
• Clothing
• Coercive Acts (1774)
• Coffee
• Columbian Exchange
• Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506)
• Committees of Correspondence
• Common Sense (1776)
• Connecticut
• Connecticut River
• Constantinople, Fall of
• Continental Congress, First
• Continental Congress, Second
• Coode's Rebellion
• Copley, John Singleton (1738–1815)
• Corn
• Coronado, Francisco Vázquez de (1510–1554)
• Cortéz, Hernando (1485–1547)
• Cotton
• Cotton, John (1584–1652)
• Covenants
• Creek
• Crime
• Cromwell, Oliver (1599–1658)
• Cuba
• Cumberland Gap
• Currency
• Currency Act (1764)
• Dartmouth, Lord (1731–1801)
• Daughters of Liberty
• Death and Dying
• Debt and Debtor's Prison
• Deism
• Delaware
• Delaware River
• De Soto, Hernando (c. 1500–1542)
• Detroit
• Dickinson, John (1732–1808)
• Diplomacy (Foreign Affairs)
• Disease
• Dominicans
• Drake, Sir Francis (1540–1596)
• Dulany, Daniel, Jr. (1722–1797)
• Dulany, Daniel, Sr. (1685–1753)
• Dunmore, Lord (1732–1809)
• Dutch
• Dutch West India Company
• East India Company
• Economy, Business, and Labor
• Edict of Nantes, Revocation of
• Education
• Education, Higher
• Edwards, Jonathan (1703–1758)
• Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
• English
• English Civil War
• Enlightenment
• Environment and Nature
• Equiano, Olaudah (1745–1797)
• Erie
• Exploration
• Family
• Ferdinand (1452–1516) and Isabella (1451–1504)
• Fish and Fisheries
• Florida
• Food and Diet
• Fort Duquesne
• Fort Orange
• Fortifications
• Franciscans
• Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790)
• Franklin, William (c. 1730–1814)
• Free Blacks
• French
• French and Indian War
• Furnishings
• Furs
• Gage, Thomas (c. 1719–1787)
• Gambling
• Gender Issues
• George I (1660–1727)
• George II (1683–1760)
• George III (1738–1820)
• Georgia
• Germans
• Glorious Revolution
• God
• Gorges, Ferdinando (1566–1647)
• Government, Spanish Colonial
• Grain
• Great Awakening
• Great Lakes
• Green Mountain Boys
• Grenville, George (1712–1770)
• Hakluyt, Richard (c. 1551–1616)
• Halifax
• Hamilton, Alexander (c. 1755–1804)
• Hancock, John (1737–1793)
• Harriot, Thomas (1560–1621)
• Harvard College
• Henry, Patrick (1736–1799)
• Hispaniola
• Hooker, Thomas (1586–1647)
• Hopi
• Horses
• House of Burgesses
• Housing
• Hudson, Henry (c. 1560–c. 1611)
• Hudson River
• Huguenots
• Humboldt, Alexander von (1769–1859)
• Huron
• Hutchinson, Anne (1591–1643)
• Hutchinson, Thomas (1711–1780)
• Immigration
• Indentured Servitude
• Indigo
• Inheritance
• Inns and Taverns (Public Houses)
• Iron
• Iroquois Confederacy
• Jamaica
• James I (1566–1625)
• James II (1633–1701)
• Jamestown
• Jay, John (1745–1829)
• Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826)
• Jesuits
• Jews
• Johnson, Sir William (1715–1774)
• Joint-Stock Companies
• Jolliet, Louis (1645–1700)
• Kentucky
• Kieft's War
• King George's War
• King Philip's War
• King's College
• Kitchens, Colonial
• Laborers, Rural
• Laborers, Urban
• Land and Real Estate
• Landlords
• Language
• La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643–1687)
• Las Casas, Bartolomé de (1474–1566)
• Law and Courts
• Lee, Richard Henry (1732–1794)
• Leisler, Jacob (1640–1691)
• Lenni Lenape (Delaware)
• Lexington and Concord, Battles of
• Libraries
• Literature
• Livestock
• Locke, John (1632–1704)
• Long Island
• Louis XIV (1638–1715)
• Louisiana
• Loyalists
• Maine
• Malaria
• Manufacturing
• Maps and Surveys
• Marquette, Jacques (1637–1675)
• Marriage and Divorce
• Mary I (1516–1558)
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Massachusetts Bay
• Massachusetts Bay Charter
• Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Massasoit (d. 1661)
• Mather, Cotton (1663–1728)
• Mather, Increase (1639–1723)
• Maya
• Mayflower Compact
• Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro (1519–1574)
• Mercantilism
• Merchants
• Methodist Church
• Mexico City
• Military and Diplomatic Affairs
• Militias
• Ministers and the Ministry
• Missions
• Mississippi River
• Mohawk
• Mohegan
• Montcalm, Louis-Joseph (1712–1759)
• Montezuma II (1466–1520)
• Montreal
• Murray, Judith Sargent (1751–1820)
• Music
• Natchez
• Native American-African American Relations
• Native American-European Conflict
• Native American-European Relations
• Native Americans
• Native Americans and Slavery
• Navajo
• Navigation Acts (1651–1733)
• Navy, British
• Negro Election Day
• New Amsterdam
• New Bern
• New England, Dominion of
• New Hampshire
• New Haven
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New Netherland
• New Orleans
• New Spain
• New York
• New York City
• Newfoundland
• Newport
• Newspapers and Journals
• North, Lord (1732–1792)
• North Carolina
• Northwest Passage
• Of Plymouth Plantation
• Oglethorpe, James (1696–1785)
• Ohio Country
• Oliver, Andrew (1706–1774)
• Oñate, Juan de (c. 1552–1626)
• Oneida
• Onondaga
• Opechancanough (c. 1545–c. 1646)
• Orphans
• Otis, James (1725–1783)
• Ottawa
• Paine, Thomas (1737–1809)
• Patriots
• Patroons
• Paxton Boys
• Peddlers
• Penn, William (1644–1718)
• Pennsylvania
• Pequot
• Philadelphia
• Philip, King (Metacom; c. 1638–1676)
• Philip II (1527–1598)
• Piedmont
• Pietism
• Pilgrims
• Piracy
• Pitt, William (1708–1778)
• Plantations
• Planters
• Plymouth
• Pocahontas (c. 1594–1616)
• Politics and Government
• Ponce de Léon, Juan (1460–1521)
• Pontiac (c. 1720–1769)
• Poor Richard's Almanack
• Population and Demographics
• Portsmouth, New Hampshire
• Potomac River
• Powhatan (c. 1540–1618)
• Powhatan Confederacy
• Praying Towns
• Precious Metals
• Presbyterianism
• Prisons and Punishment
• Proclamation of 1763
• Property and Property Rights
• Prostitution
• Providence
• Pueblo
• Puerto Rico
• Puritanism
• Quakers
• Quebec Act (1774)
• Quebec City
• Queen Anne's War
• Quincy, Josiah, Jr. (1744–1775)
• Race and Ethnicity
• Raleigh, Sir Walter (1554–1618)
• Reading and Literacy
• Reformation
• Regulators
• Religion
• Religions, African
• Religions, Native American
• Revere, Paul (1735–1818)
• Revolutionary War
• Rhode Island
• Rice
• Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, The (1764)
• Riots
• Roanoke Colony
• Rolfe, John (1585–1623)
• Rowlandson, Mary (1637–1711)
• Royal African Company
• Rush, Benjamin (1745–1813)
• Saint-Domingue
• Salem
• Santa Fe
• Savannah
• Science
• Scots-Irish
• Seminole
• Seneca
• Sermons
• Serra, Fray Junípero (1713–1784)
• Servants, Domestic
• Sex
• Shakers
• Ship's Stores
• Sint Eustatius
• Slave Communities and Culture
• Slave Rebellions
• Slave Trade
• Slavery, African American
• Slavery, Caribbean
• Smallpox
• Smith, John (1580–1631)
• Sons of Liberty
• South Carolina
• Sports and Recreation
• Squanto (c. 1590–1622)
• St. Augustine
• St. Kitts
• St. Lawrence River
• St. Louis
• Stamp Act (1765)
• Stuyvesant, Peter (c. 1610–1672)
• Sugar
• Sugar Act (1764)
• Susquehanna
• Swedes
• Syphilis
• Taino
• Taylor, Edward (c. 1644–1729)
• Tea
• Tea Act (1773)
• Technology
• Tenant Farming
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Theater
• Tidewater
• Tobacco
• Tools
• Tordesillas, Treaty of (1494)
• Townshend, Charles (1725–1767)
• Townshend Acts (1767)
• Trade
• Transportation, Land
• Transportation, Water
• Triangle Trade
• Tuscarora
• Tuscarora War
• Vermont
• Verrazano, Giovanni da (c. 1480–c. 1528)
• Vespucci, Amerigo (1454–1512)
• Vikings
• Virginia
• Virginia Company
• War
• War of Jenkins' Ear
• Warren, Mercy Otis (1728–1814)
• Washington, George (1732–1799)
• Weaponry
• West, Benjamin (1738–1820)
• Wheatley, Phillis (c. 1754–1784)
• Whitefield, George (1714–1770)
• Widows and Widowers
• Wilkes, John (1725–1797)
• William and Mary, College of
• William III of Orange (1650–1702) and Mary II (1662–1694)
• Williams, Roger (c. 1602–1683)
• Williamsburg
• Winslow, Josiah (1629–1680)
• Winthrop, John (1588–1649)
• Witchcraft and Witch Trials
• Wolfe, James (1727–1759)
• Women
• Wright, Susanna (1697–1784)
• Yale College
• Yamasee
• Yamasee War
• Yeomanry
• Zenger, John Peter (1697–1746)
• Zuni
• Chronologies
• Thematic
• Arts, Culture, and Intellectual Life
• Economy, Business, and Labor
• Gender Issues
• Military and Diplomatic Affairs
• Politics and Government
• Race and Ethnicity
• Religion
• Science and Technology
• Geographic
• Caribbean
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• French Colonies on Mainland North America
• Georgia
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York and New Netherland
• North Carolina
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Spanish Colonies on Mainland North America
• Virginia
• Primary Documents
• Columbus's Letter Announcing His Discoveries in the New World (1493)
• John Cabot's Discovery of North America (1497)
• The Founding of St. Augustine (1565)
• The Constitution of the Iroquois Nations (c. 1570)
• A Call for English Colonization of America (1584)
• The Jamestown Settlement (1607–1609)
• The Mayflower Compact (1620)
• Rights and Privileges of Patroons (1629)
• A Modell of Christian Charity (1630)
• The Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1637)
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)
• Psalm 23 from The Bay Psalm Book (1640)
• Maryland Toleration Act (1649)
• Connecticut Blue Laws (1650)
• Virginia Slave Laws (1660s)
• Upon the Burning of Our House (1666)
• John Eliot and His Work with Native Americans (1670)
• Probate Inventory of a Plymouth Colony Estate (1672)
• Marquette's Travels on the Mississippi (1673)
• Governor William Berkeley on Bacon's Rebellion (1676)
• Protest of German Quakers Against Slavery (1688)
• John Clayton's Report on Virginia (1688)
• Commission of Sir Edmund Andros for the Dominion of New England (1688)
• The Salem Witch Trial of Susanna Martin (1692)
• Thomas Brattle on the Salem Trials (1692)
• A Poem Recalling the Hanging of a Relative due to the Salem Witch Trials (in 1692; pub. 1857)
• Raising Colonial Children (1699)
• Founding of New Sweden (1700s)
• Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges (1701)
• The Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight (1704)
• The French and the Fur Trade (1724)
• A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency (1729)
• Oglethorpe's Vision for the Founding of Georgia (1733)
• The Trial of Peter Zenger (1735)
• Maxims from Poor Richard's Almanack (1739)
• The Demand for Slavery in Georgia (1743)
• Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation (c. 1744)
• Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748)
• Gottlieb Mittelberger on Immigration to the Colonies (c. 1750)
• Captivity Narrative of Mary Jemison in the 1750s (pub. 1824)
• A Report on the Kite Experiment (1752)
• Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin (1752, 1753, 1769)
• Founding Colleges in America (1754)
• Colonial Recipe for Apple Tansey (1754)
• Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie (in 1755; pub. 1847)
• Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (1764)
• Townshend Revenue Act (1767)
• Newspaper Account of the Boston Massacre (1770)
• On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield (1770)
• On Being Brought from Africa to America (early 1770s)
• A Tutor and his Pupils (1773–1774)
• The Boston Port Act (1774)
• Slave Petition to the Governor, Council, and House of Representatives of the Province of Massachusetts (1774)
• A Case for Non-Interference by Parliament (1775)
• Petition of London Merchants for Reconciliation with the Colonies (1775)
• Tobacco Growing (1775)
• Common Sense (1776)
• Letters between Abigail Adams and John Adams (1776)
• The Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Glossary
• Master Bibliography
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources