Read about the first English settlements in America, the differences between the Chesapeake Bay colonies and the New England colonies, the wars between native inhabitants and English colonists, and the role of Bacon's Rebellion in the...

A collection of scholarly essays consisting of instructional guides accompanied by commentary. Designed to help teachers of American history bring students to a greater understanding of the role religion has played in the development of...

A description of religious strife and factions in the 17th Century. Provides a detailed and comprehensive account of the Puritans, their life and culture, as they migrate to America and establish themselves in New England.

Thoughtful history from the National Humanities Center of important figures in the early conservation movement in America: Bradford, Morton, Edwards, Thoreau, Emerson, Muir, and Leopold. Follow-up study suggestions include students...

This sample task contains a set of primary and authentic sources about Puritans and the role religion played in the Puritan society of colonial America.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Pilgrims who eventually made their new home in America. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

Mary Dyer was on a spiritual quest to Boston, to Portsmouth, to Newport, and to the northwest coast of England, where she became an ardent member of a new religion - a Quaker, or a member of the Society of Friends. Determined to spread...

This unit explores the documented perceptions of Native Americans, religious faiths, physical challenges of new lands and how the combination of immigrants and Native Americans shaped the New World. Click on "Activities" for related...

The Puritans came to the New World in search of religious freedom. This National Humanities Center article tells what they did with that freedom. Site also offers topics for discussion with students.

The Library of Congress profiles Massachusetts in this fact-filled article about the "Old Colony State."

English immigrant in the New World, Anne Bradstreet became an acclaimed poet of Puritan New England. Click on "Anne Bradstreet Activities" for related artifacts and activities.

Basic biographical information about Anne Bradstreet, one of the first poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Content includes two of her poems: "The Prologue" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband."

Religious tolerance was an important but often misunderstood contribution of the colonial era. Tolerance developed only after time. Groups such as the Pilgrims and Puritans who left Europe to escape religious persecution often were...

Resource in which the author helps us understand Evangelicalism as a religious movement as well as a social movement that ultimately helped transfom American society. Links to online resources.

A lengthy lesson plan that examines French and English approaches to exploration and colonization in reference to religious factors. Using primary sources from French missionary Gabriel Sagard and Wiliam Bradford, first governor of...

Describes what happened in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 when a group of young girls began to have visions and were accused and tried for witchcraft.

America was not always the "Land of Liberty." In the 1630s, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, questioning Puritan dogma could bring you a world of trouble. It could get you shunned, it could get you ex-communicated, it could even get you...

This National Humanities Center site from the University of Delaware discusses family life, childrearing, and the importance of religion in colonial America as written about in various books.

This lesson plan will be an interdisciplinary lesson plan that involves both English Language Arts and Social Studies (History). The lesson plan will be primarily technology-based and also project-based that will have the students...

A detailed review by James T. Kloppenberg, constructively criticizing the author's (Jon Butler) thesis that ties between colonial religion and politics are exaggerated.

Background information about the literature of the Colonial period in American history. Discussions of capitalism, Puritan theology, and stewardship as found in the thought and literature of the period.

One of the most enduring myths in American history is the belief that the Puritans fled to America in search of religious liberty. Unfortunately, this belief is at best only a half-truth, The Puritans were strict religious people who...

This guide focuses on twenty-four paintings from the impressive collection of American art housed at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The earliest work, a portrait of the children of a Puritan family, dates from 1670. The last piece...

A map of the Dominion of New England (1686), showing the early settlements and the general tribal lands of the Pawtuckets, Massachusetts, Wampanoags, Narragansets, Nipmucks, Pequods, and Mohegans. "New England, a collective name given to...