Early United States History to 1776 (by grade level)
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Discovery and Exploration :: Colonial Life :: Documents :: Individuals
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Early Encounters in North America
contains approximately 40,000 pages of material. NOTE:
You'll need to register and have a password to enter.
http://www.alexanderstreet2.com/EENA/
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The First Thanksgiving
PRIMARY SOURCES FOR THE "FIRST THANKSGIVING". ... Bradford's History
"Of Plimoth Plantation."
Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Co., State Printers... 1898. p. 127.
...
http://www.plimoth.org/Library/Thanksgiving/thnksref.htm
Letters from an American Farmer, by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur
"What then is the American, this new man?..."
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/CREV/contents.html
Mourt's Relation (1622)
written primarily by Edward Winslow, although William Bradford
appears to have written most of the first section. Written between November
1620 and November 1621, it describes in detail what happened from the landing
of the Pilgrims at Cape Cod, though their exploring and eventual settling
at Plymouth, to their relations with the surrounding Indians, up to the First
Thanksgiving and the arrival of the ship Fortune.
http://members.aol.com/calebj/mourt.html
Rare Colonial Maps
The authentic maps are in Spanish.
http://scarlett.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/colamer.html
The Virginia Company
Examine the Virginia Company's settlement in Jamestown as
a case study in colonial economics and social dynamics, and debate why it
failed and whether failure was avoidable.
http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/virginia/before.html
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AMDOCS: Documents for the Study of American history
An extensive list of primary sources, from Discovery to Present.
http://www.ku.edu/carrie/docs/amdocs_index.html
Archiving Early America
Historic documents from 18th century America
http://www.earlyamerica.com/
The American Colonist's Library
A treasury of primary documents pertaining to Early American
History
http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/
Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
James Madison. These are the proceedings of the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia, an essential guide to interpreting the intent of the Framers.
http://www.constitution.org/dfc/dfc_0000.htm
Declaring Independence: Drafting the Documents
Early known drafts of Jefferson's famous script.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/declara/declara4.html
Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
Originally enacted by Congress to ensure the right of slave owners to re-claim
lost "property", the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 were antithetical to almost every idea set forth by the Constitution: free will, the right to happiness, and most importantly, the right to due process. The Congress of 1793 set a precedent which would only be overturned a century (and many lives) later, by the Civil War.
http://www.ukans.edu/carrie/docs/texts/fugslave.htm
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About Face: Copley's Portrait of a Colonial Silversmith
Explores the lives and work of
two artists within colonial Boston prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution.
http://mag.rochester.edu/learn/teacherServices/onlineResources/copley/AboutFaceImages.html
Common Sense and the American Revolution
http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/revolution/before.html
First Hand Account of Paul Revere's Ride
Read Paul Revere's account of his famous ride to warn the
colonists that the British troops were coming. "I, Paul Revere, of Boston,
in the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay in New England...."
http://www.americanrevolution.org/revere.html
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Global Access to Educational Sources - American Revolution
Links to various primary sources; personal
accounts, documents, Avalon project, intelligence, George Washington, Paul
Revere.
http://www.learning.caliberinc.com/amrev6.html
Rare map collections - Revolutionary America
From the Hargrett Library Special Collection
- theatre of war, attack plans, mostly southern colonies (North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Spanish Florida)
http://scarlett.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/revamer.html
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