Major Problems In American Colonial History: Documents and Essays
1. The Meaning of the American Experiment ESSAYS 1. Colonization as a "Swarming," Alfred Crosby 2. In Search of a Better Home? Nicholas P. Canny 3. New Peoples and New Societies, Colin G. Calloway 2. The American Natives' Response to the European Presence DOCUMENTS 1. Maushop Leaves New England: An Indian Legend about Colonization, 1787 2. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca Acts as a Curer and Shaman Across the American Southwest, 1527-36 3. Manhattan's Natives Express Wonder at the First Arrival of Europeans, Printed in 1818 4. Canadian Natives Recount Their Traditions of the First Sight of Men Dressed in Iron, 1633 5. William Wood Describes Indian Responses to the English Presence in New England, and Predicts Future Relationships, 1634 6. Miantonomi Calls for Algonquian Unity Against the English, 1643 ESSAYS 1. Native North American Responses to Europeans: Romantic Versus Rationalistic Interpretations, Bruce G. Trigger 2. Lost Opportunities: Miantonomi and the English in Narragansett Country, Paul A. Robinson 3. Virginia and Maryland: The Beginnings of English America DOCUMENTS 1. Captain John Smith Analyzes the Human Scene, Both English and Indian, in Early Jamestown, 1624 2. Jamestown Estates, a Modern Parody, 1991 3. Richard Frethorne Begs His Parents for Support, 1623. 4. A Blank Servant Indenture Form, 1635. 5. George Alsop Argues That Servants in Maryland Have a Good Deal, 1666. 6. Robert Beverley Points Out the Benefits of Servitude, 1705 ESSAYS 1. The Experience of White Women in the Chesapeake, Lois Green Carr and Lorena S. Walsh 2. Tobacco and the Peopling of Virginia, James Horn 4. New England: The Settlement of Puritan Colonies DOCUMENTS 1. Pilgrim Leaders Create the Mayflower Compact and Describe the First Thanksgiving, 1620, 1621 2.The Reverend Thomas Hooker Warns of England's Impending Punishment by God, 1631 3. Governor John Winthrop Gives a Model of Christian Charity, 1630 4. Colonist John Pond Writes to His Mother and Father for Help, 1631 5. The Reverend Thomas Welde Describes the Success of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1632 6. John Winthrop Laments the Growth of Competitive Economic Practices in New England in the Case of Robert Keayne, 1639 ESSAYS 1. Religion, the Common Thread of Motivation, Virginia DeJohn Anderson 2. The Mythical Opposition Between Piety and Prosperity in Colonial New England, Mark A. Peterson 5. New England: Growth and Conflict DOCUMENTS 1. John Easton Tries to Avert the War by Hearing King Philip's Grievances, 1675 2. Cotton Mather Describes the Indians of Massachusetts and John Eliot's Mission to Them, 1702 3. Mary Rowlandson Interprets her Captivity During King Philip's War, 1676 4. Increase Mather Describes the Proofs of Witchcraft, 1684 5. The Court Examines Rebecca Nurse and Takes Testimony from Hher and Her Friends, Salem, 1692 ESSAYS 1. John Sassamon Between Two Cultures, Jill Lepore 2. Outspoken Women and Witchcraft Accusations, Jane Kamensky 6. Spanish Policy and Native Response in New Mexico DOCUMENTS 1. In the Beginning: Tewa Creation Story, Oral Tradition from Precontact Times 2. Coronado Explores the Southwest, 1540-1542 3. Fray Alonso de Benavides Reports New Mexico Indians Eager for Conversion, 1634 4. New Mexico's Indians Rebel Against Suppression of their Native Religion, 1680 5. Pedro Naranjo Describes Pope's Vision and Leadership, 1681 ESSAYS 1. Franciscan Conversion Techniques in New Mexico, Ramon A. Gutierrez 2. Conflict Within the Spanish Regime and the Pueblo Revolt, David J. Weber 7. The Ethnic Diversity of the Middle Colonies: Benefits and Consequences DOCUMENTS 1. Daniel Denton Describes the Recently Acquired Colony of New York, 1670 2. Traveler Jasper Dankaerts Calls on the Planter Maria van Rensselaer, 1680 3. Sarah Kemble Knight Eencounters Dutch and English in New York, 1704 4. Per Kalm Offers Impressions of Travels Through New Jersey and New York, 1750 5. William Penn Offers a Prospectus for Merchants, 1683 6. Francis Daniel Pastorius Recalls the Founding of Germantown, 1685 7. Colonist Gabriel Thomas Promises High Wages and Great Opportunities in Pennsylvania, 1698 8. Gottlieb Mittelberger Describes the System of Rrecruiting German Colonists, and the Suffering They Endured, 1754 ESSAYS 1. Dutch Colonists Cope with English Control, A. G. Roeber 2. The Dynamics of German-Speaking Immigration to British North America, Marianne Wokeck 8. The Caribbean Connection DOCUMENTS 1. Richard Hakluyt Lists the Great Riches to Be Had in the Caribbean and the Ease of Toppling the Spanish, 1584 2. Sir Hans Sloane Writes of England's Remembered Relationship to Providence Island and Central America, 1707 3. Richard Ligon Describes the Beginnings of Sugar Cultivation and Planters' Adaptation to the Climate in Barbados, 1654 4. Thomas Nairne Reassures Prospective Settlers About the Environment and Trade of South Carolina, 1710 5. Eliza Lucas Pinckney on the Perfection of Indigo, 1785 6. J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur Contrasts the Culture of Charlestown and the Situation of Slaves, 1782 ESSAYS 1. England's Dream of Caribbean Empire, Karen Ordahl Kupperman 2. The Continuing Connection Between Barbados and South Carolina, Jack P. Greene 9. Expansion in the South: Hopes and Realities DOCUMENTS 1. Indian Trader John Lawson's Journal of Carolina, 1709 2. English Official Edward Randolph Reports to the Board of Trade on Economic Prospects and the Spanish Threat in South Carolina, 1699 3. Governor William Tryon Assesses the Prospects for Life in the North Carolina Backcountry, 1765 4. An Anonymous Letter Evokes the Swiss Settlement Near New Bern, North Carolina, 1711 5. Bishop August Gottlieb Spangenberg Reports on Moravian Plans for the Settlement of Wachovia, 1752 6. James Oglethorpe, "Persons Reduc'd to Poverty May Be Happy in Georgia," 1732 7. William Byrd Praises the Plan for Georgia, 1736 ESSAYS 1. Moravian Ideals and North Carolina Backcountry Realities, Daniel B. Thorpe 2. Jonathan Bryan's Plantation Empire in Georgia, Alan Gallay 10. Slave Life and Culture DOCUMENTS 1. The Board of Trade Seeks Information on the Slave Trade, 1708 2. Olaudah Equiano Recalls His Enslavement, 1750s 3. The Reverend Hugh Jones Describes Virginia Slavery in 1724 4. Johann Martin Bolzius Describes the Slaves' Lives in Georgia, 1750s ESSAYS 1. Time, Space, and the Evolution of Afro-American Society..., Ira Berlin 2. Slave Life in Virginia's Piedmont, Philip D. Morgan 11. Religious Awakenings DOCUMENTS 1. Benjamin Franklin Listens to His Friend George Whitefield, 1739 2. Nathan Cole Describes the Crowds Going to Hear Whitefield at Middletown, 1740 3. Gilbert Tennent Presents the Danger of an Unconverted Ministry, 1740 4. Joseph Fish Reveals the Activities of Samuel Niles, Narragansett New Light Preacher, 1765 5. Newspaper Account of the Expulsion of James Davenport, 1742 6. The Reverend Charles Woodmason Views the Backcountry in the 1760s ESSAYS 1. Itinerancy and the Awakenings, Timothy D. Hall 2. George Whitefield, the Grand Itinerant, Frank Lambert 12. America Within the Empire in the Early Eighteenth Century DOCUMENTS 1. James Blair Tells the Bishop of London of the Ministers' Persecution in Virginia, 1704 2. Several Ministers in New Jersey Aattest to Their Suffering and Ask for a Bbishop to Protect Them, 1714 3. The Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts on Massachusetts Governor Dudley's Treatment of Anglicans, 1713 4. Governor Dudley Presents His Defense and Counter-Accusations, 1714 5. Governor Bellomont of New York Writes Home of His Money Pproblems and the Dishonest Ways of the Colonists He is Forced to Deal With, 1700 6. Virginia Governor Spotswood Addresses the Council and House of Burgesses on Grievances, 1713, 1714, 1720 ESSAYS 1. Transatlantic Interest Groups and the Colonial Governors, Alison M. Olson 2. British Imperial Policy and the Frontier, Warren R. Hofstra 13. New Realities in the Backcountry DOCUMENTS 1. Conrad Weiser Describes Madame Montour, 1737 2. Moravian Leader Count Zinzendorf Records His Impressions of Madame Montour and Andrew Montour, 1742 3. Mary Jemison Recounts Her Experience of Capture and Adoption as a Seneca, 1755 4. The Albany Plan of Union, 1754 5. Sir William Johnson Confers with Iroquois Leaders, 1762 6. Neolin's Journey to the Master of Life, Described in 1763 7. Missionary David Brainerd Describes His Encounter With a Delaware Prophet, 1745 ESSAYS 1. Reading Andrew Montour, James H. Merrell 2. The Indians' Great Awakening, Gregory E. Dowd 14. Colonial America at Mid-Century DOCUMENTS 1. Benjamin Franklin on How to Get on in Philadelphia (c. 1730-c. 1750) 2. Dr. Alexander Hamilton Surveys the Variety of Pennsylvania, 1744 3. Jean-Bernard Bossu Advises Newcomers on the Way to Health in Louisiana, 1762 4. Pelatiah Webster Describes the Uniqueness of Charleston, 1765 5. Janet Schaw Visits Wilmington, North Carolina, 1774 6. William Eddis Praises the Society of Annapolis, Maryland, and Speculates on the Fate of the American Indians, 1771 ESSAYS 1. Consumption, Anglicization, and the Formation of American Identity, T. H. Breen 2. The Dilemma of American National Identity, John M. Murrin