American Colonies

Gordon Wood's wondrous accomplishment here is to bring these men and their times down to earth and within our reach, showing us just who they were and what drove them. In so doing, he shows us that although a lot has changed in two hundred years, to an amazing degree the virtues these founders defined for themselves are the virtues we aspire to still.

Founded by James Oglethorpe on February 12, 1733, the Georgia colony was envisioned as a unique social welfare experiment. Administered by twenty-one original trustees, the Georgia Plan offered England's "worthy poor" and persecuted Christians an opportunity to achieve financial security in the New World by exporting goods produced on small farms. Most significantly, Oglethorpe and his fellow Trustees were convinced that economic vitality could not be achieved through the exploitation of enslaved Black laborers.

In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina to establish the first English settlement in the New World. But when the new colony's leader returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers had vanished, leaving behind only a single clue - a "secret token" etched into a tree. What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke? That question has consumed historians, archeologists, and amateur sleuths for 400 years. In The Secret Token, Andrew Lawler sets out on a quest to determine the fate of the settlers.

In March 1621, when Plymouth’s survival was hanging in the balance, the Wampanoag sachem (or chief), Ousamequin (Massasoit), and Plymouth’s governor, John Carver, declared their people’s friendship for each other and a commitment to mutual defense. Later that autumn, the English gathered their first successful harvest and lifted the specter of starvation. Ousamequin and 90 of his men then visited Plymouth for the 'First Thanksgiving'. The treaty remained operative until King Philip’s War in 1675, when 50 years of uneasy peace between the two parties would come to an end.

The discovery of the vast lands to the west by Christopher Columbus opened the flood gates of European adventurers and explorers that sought to subdue the North American continent. Those hungry for adventure and a new life came primarily from England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. In the western and southern bounds of North America the Spanish established their presence, while the middle of the continent was controlled by the French, and the eastern seaboard was colonized mainly by the Dutch and English. One by one, from the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607, to ...

In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to found the very first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The initial settlement—called the Lane colony—failed due to extremely low supplies and a hostile relationship with the Native American people who were already living on the land. Despite this miserable first attempt, Raleigh decided to establish another settlement. Over one hundred people agreed to join this new colony on Roanoke Island, just off the coast of what is now North Carolina.

“Complete with a romantic subplot, DECEPTIONS: A Colonial Jamestown Novel is a strong historical tale that brings the Jamestown Virginia Colony to life through the eyes of the determined heroine Catherine, who manages to travel to the New World in search of her betrothed. Breathtaking suspenseful action follows as Catherine tries to unravel the various mysterious happenings between her husband and the Powhatan Indians. Readers will relish this in-depth look at how the first English colonists struggled to survive in Jamestown, circa 1617-1619.” —Harriet Klausner Desperate to escape a ...

Rebellious Frannie Tasker knows little about the war between England and its 13 colonies in 1776, until a shipwreck off her home in Grand Bahama Island presents an unthinkable opportunity. The body of a young woman floating in the sea gives Frannie the chance to escape her brutal stepfather - and she takes it. Assuming the identity of the drowned Emmeline Coates, Frannie is rescued by a British merchant ship and sails with the crew to New York.

With rigorous original scholarship and creative narration, Lisa Brooks recovers a complex picture of war, captivity, and Native resistance during the "First Indian War" (later named King Philip's War) by relaying the stories of Weetamoo, a female Wampanoag leader, and James Printer, a Nipmuc scholar, whose stories converge in the captivity of Mary Rowlandson. Brooks leads us to a new understanding of the history of colonial New England and of American origins.

Former Federal Air Marshal Stephen Mason has again done the impossible. He has passed back through an unexplainable time portal and reunited with the three people he cares about most. It's 1720, Charles Town, Carolina Colony, a time and place fraught with hardships and hazards. Carving out a life here will be challenging, especially for these modern-day transplants. There are few people they can trust, none in whom they can confide. But they have each other. And they have a rice plantation.

One mistake cost him everything. Building a new life might give him a second chance at love. Thomas Bray came to Gloucester to escape his disgrace in Plymouth Colony, not to find his future. The skilled carpenter seeks redemption through hard work until he meets Mary Wilson—a founding family's daughter who sees beyond his painful past. As Thomas builds a canal vital to the settlement's future, Mary challenges the barriers around his heart. But when a wealthy merchant pursues her and whispers from Plymouth resurface, Thomas must decide: retreat again or finally fight for the love he ...

Did you know that the first English settlement in the New World was a disaster? Perhaps you have heard the story of Roanoke before. Or maybe even the creation of Jamestown. But have you heard about the Spanish colonies in North America? Or the French and Dutch settlements? Colonial America was diverse, with European settlers from various nations coming to the New World and meeting the Native Americans who already inhabited the land. What were their interactions like? Was there any semblance of peace between all of the groups who called this land their home?

What was the bloodiest war in American history? Most people with at least a little knowledge of history would quickly say that it was the Civil War (1861-65), and they would certainly be correct overall. In recently-updated numbers, it is thought that over 750,000 Americans died in the Civil War from battle wounds, diseases and other causes. In a single day at the battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, almost 27,000 soldiers were killed, wounded and missing.

In 1559 Spain finds herself in possession of an immense uncharted land they call the East Indies. Spanish conquistadors, eager to find their fortune and a place in history, explore the new wilderness, unaware they are spreading European disease among the natives they call Indios. Spain soon realizes she must colonize this new land to stave off the treats of other countries and so begins the historic journey of Don Tristan de Luna. Son of an old noble Spanish family, he is to lead the largest and most ambitious expedition Spain has ever launched and establish a settlement on Ochuse Bay, now ...

The Lost Colony of the Confederacy is the story of a grim, quixotic journey of 20,000 Confederates to Brazil at the end of the American Civil War. Although it is not known how many Confederates migrated to South America - estimates range from 8,000 to 40,000 - their departure was fueled by bitterness over a lost cause and a distaste for an oppressive victor. Encouraged by Emperor Dom Pedro, most of these exiles settled in Brazil.

That the early United States was (or were) referred to as the New Empire would seem nonsensical or flatly erroneous today on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, Europeans and Americans alike viewed the United Colonies as a potential empire existing uneasily within an empire, the British Empire. This perspective impacted the crafting of the Continental Congress and the US government, whereas the governments of the member states were viewed as commensurate with the contemporary kingdoms in Europe.

In March to Independence: The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies, 1775-1776, historian Michael Cecere, consulting primary source documents, examines how Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia ended up supporting the colonies to the north, while East Florida remained within the British sphere.

Nearly 20 years before Jamestown was settled, the English established one of the earliest colonies in North America around the Chesapeake Bay region, until the colony had over 100 inhabitants. Like other early settlements, Roanoke struggled to survive in its infancy, to the extent that the colony's leader, John White, sailed back to England in 1587 in an effort to bring more supplies and help. However, the attempts to bring back supplies were thwarted by the Spanish in the midst of the Anglo-Spanish War going on at the time.

The year: 1638. The setting: Providence, near Plymouth Colony. A young Nipmuc tribesman returning home from trading beaver pelts is fatally stabbed in a robbery in the woods near Plymouth Colony by a vicious white runaway indentured servant. The tribesman, fighting for his life, is able with his final breaths to reveal the details of the attack to Providence’s governor, Roger Williams. A frantic manhunt by the fledgling government ensues to capture the killer and his gang, now the most hunted men in the New World.

In We Could Perceive No Sign of Them: Failed Colonies in North America, 1526-1689, historians David MacDonald and Raine Waters tell the fascinating stories of the many attempts to establish a European foothold in the New World, from the first Spanish colony in 1526 on the coast of Georgia to the final disastrous French endeavors near the arctic.