Time Period 1492 - 1763 Early America to Colonies

Wim Coleman provides an introduction and selected primary source documents on the origins of Quakerism, the Quakers in Colonial America, matters of conscience, and writings by and about Quakers in American literature. Through letters, journals, artwork and essays, the reader will learn of the execution of Mary Dyer, the roles of George Fox, William Penn, Lucretia Mott, Levi Coffin, and others who were instrumental in establishing what we think of as "Quaker lifestyle." Excerpts from documents also include those relating to pacifism in World War II and Vietnam. Authors Hawthorne, Melville, Whittier, and West are excerpted and commented upon.

ISBN: 1-57960-029-8      Price: $7.95      Pages: 66     

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Much has been written about the Cherokees and the Trail of Tears, describing their relocation West. This anthology details the lives and traditions of the Cherokees in the 18th century, before they were forced to leave their homelands in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina. Included in this collection are legends including How the Worm Was Made and The First Fire, essays about Cherokee customs, poetry, Sequoyah's role in inventing the Cherokee alphabet, samples of America's first bilingual newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, and many illustrations and photographs.

ISBN: 1-878668-26-9      Price: $7.95      Pages: 60     

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By the 1780s, approximately 97,000 slaves a year were being sent to the Americas on more than 800 British slave ships. Most went from Africa to the West Indies, where they were traded for molasses. In New England, the colonists used the molasses to manufacture rum. British merchants completed the triangle of human misery by trading the rum for more slaves. This anthology provides a glimpse at primary and secondary source documents that describe this terrible episode in world history.

ISBN: 1-878668-48-X      Price: $7.95      Pages: 63     

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Puritan society in New England in the 1690s had a pervading fear of the supernatural. It was within this setting that the witch trials took place. Mofford introduces the reader to the key players, Rev. Samuel Parris, Tituba, Gov. Phips, Dorcas Good, Sarah Carrier, Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, Increase Mather, and others, through their own accounts and court documents. This volume provides good background for The Crucible and for many historical fiction accounts of the period.

ISBN: 1-878668-52-8      Price: $7.95      Pages: 68     

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Primary and secondary source material on the Pilgrims' voyage from Europe to Cape Cod includes journal entries, poetry, historical essays, portraits, art, and the Mayflower Compact. The excerpts describe their journey, why they came here, establishing the colony at Plymouth, and the Native American point of view. Bibliography and map.

ISBN: 1-57960-053-0      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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The diverse group of Indian nations collectively referred to as Indians of the Great Plains is the focus of this book. Selections of primary source materials from a variety of tribes are organized thematically in chapters on Childhood, Education, and Kinship; Everyday Activities; Religious Traditions; Storytelling; Times of Great Change; Further Interaction with Whites; and Relocation andLife Today. Both historic and contemporary excerpts are presented, along with the art of George Catlin and others.

ISBN: 1-57960-013-1      Price: $7.95      Pages: 68     

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When the Pilgrims arrived on the North American shores, the region which is now New England and Northeastern Canada was alive with natives. This book presents a look at their story -- how the members of the Six Nations reacted to the white man's arrival; their resistance to and assimilation with the culture of the Europeans; and the on-going struggle to preserve their own beliefs and lands, despite intervention from the government of the new nation.

ISBN: 1-878668-80-3      Price: $7.95      Pages: 60     

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The natives of the Northwestern region of this continent had shared the land with the animals and plants of the forests, plains, rivers, and oceans for thousands of years, before the arrival of the white man. Since then, they have faced an on-going struggle to maintain the right to use these lands and waterways, preserve their sacred ancestral grounds, and continue to live their lives within the framework and traditions of the cultural heritage of the many tribes, which together are called the Northwest Indians. This book documents some of their experiences and challenges in their own words, from retelling their early stories of creation to social and political topics in the present time.

ISBN: 1-57960-014-X      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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The history of the Indians who have called the Southwest their home for thousands of years is an on-going one. This anthology tells only a small part of the story of the diverse tribes who settled this region -- long before the arrival of the Europeans -- through their folklore, poetry, letters, journals, essays, photos, and government documents. The book includes recent historic documents, as well as those of long ago, and provides samples of the cultural, political, and social history as it continues to unfold for the Hopi, Navajo, Comanche, Apache, Zuni, Paiute, Pima, and other tribes.

ISBN: 1-878668-71-4      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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There was, of course, no single "American Experience" in the colonies. Details depended on whether the colonist lived in the north or the south, in a town or on a farm, in 1660 or in 1770, slave or free. Through songs, journal entries, pictures, and historical writings, this book examines the daily lives of colonial men, women, and children over the century and a half, from the first European settlements to the beginnings of the American Revolution -- how they worked and how they played.

ISBN: 1-878668-37-4      Price: $7.95      Pages: 60     

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Although students of history tend to look at the original thirteen colonies together, the Southern colonies had many unique characteristics that varied greatly from their sister colonies in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. Even amongst the Southern colonies themselves, there were vast differences in the reasons they were founded, their political and social structure, and their economies. This book provides sources relating to life in the earliest Southern towns and colonies through selected documents of those who founded the colonies, those who helped them grow, and the indentured servants and slaves who were the labor force of the South.

ISBN: 1-878668-74-9      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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Explore a variety of tribal creation myths, family life, relocation to reservations, great Native American leaders, through oral histories and written and graphic documents. These excerpts include information about several different tribes in various regions of the country, with research suggestions and activities.

ISBN: 1-57960-063-8      Price: $8.95      Pages: 56     

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Often referred to as the "Pennsylvania Dutch," the Amish and the Mennonites living in the United States today have had to struggle to live their lives in a simple, noncompetitive way, choosing to remain true to the values and teachings of their forefathers, and avoid "worldly" pressures of modern day society. This anthology of primary source documents presents some of the background on the Amish and Mennonites, and excerpts from their members relating to daily lifestyles and customs, refusal to take up arms, education of their children, their contributions in the arts and crafts, and more.

ISBN: 1-57960-025-5      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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In 1774, a tiny band of English religious dissenters came to America seeking redemption and earthly paradise through hard work and good deeds. They were called Shakers, and their leader was a mysterious and charismatic woman known as Mother Ann Lee. They founded their first community in Watervliet, New York, hoping to convert others to their beliefs and communal lifestyle. This anthology presents Shaker contributions to architecture, furniture design, medicine, farming, craftsmanship, music, and other aspects of American life. It also introduces the philosophy of the Shakers -- and the beliefs which sustained them through hardship and intolerance, while they strove for salvation here on earth.

ISBN: 1-57960-005-0      Price: $7.95      Pages: 68     

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Primary source materials and background history on Columbus, Ponce de leon, de Soto, de Vaca, Coronado, and other early Hispanic explorers of what is now the Southern and Southwestern United States.

ISBN: 1-57960-088-3      Price: $8.95      Pages: 56     

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This collection of documents introduces the reader to efforts of Americans over the past 350 years to practice and observe their religious beliefs -- along with the writings of those who would deny them those rights. Included are excerpts regarding Roger Williams, the Jews who found safe haven in Rhode Island, the Quakers, Native Americans, Jehovah's Witnesses, our first Catholic president, Black Muslims, and more. Key court cases are also documented. The excerpts cover the years from 1640 to 1992.

ISBN: 1-57960-026-3      Price: $7.95      Pages: 64     

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