Showing titles in Colonial Period

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 The First Fleets, Benjamin C. Schaffer reveals how, contrary to widespread beliefs, the American colonies had a long tradition of independent naval defense decades before the Revolution. He demonstrates that Anglo-American governments established and maintained significant provincial naval forces and that the history of provincial navies illuminates broader aspects of colonial history and the colonies' ultimate break with the British Crown. Based on meticulous research, Schaffer recounts the sea-borne threats that American colonies faced from the French, Spanish, pirates, and others.

The political and military nature of the Revolutionary War was just as full of intrigue. While disorganized militias fought the Battles of Lexington & Concord, George Washington would lead the Continental Army in the field while men like Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia and Benjamin Franklin negotiated overseas in France.

Warm, humid, salty air hovered over the city like a blanket. The unsuspecting small coastal community was bustling with energy and possibility; the town was alive with the sound of creaking ship masts, and vendors, and on Market Street, new shops and businesses were settling in as the economy began to show signs of life. One reason for the growth and prosperity was trading routes from faraway lands. Ships came from Europe, the Caribbean, and even China, carrying cargos filled with lumber, tobacco, rice, and flour, as international trade expanded.

El 12 de octubre de 1492 el almirante Cristóbal Colón, al mando de tres navíos y un puñado de aventureros, soldados y clérigos, descubría la realidad de un nuevo continente que recibiría más tarde el nombre de América. Aquella tierra se convirtió de inmediato en el paraíso prometido...

Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, was an eyewitness to America's founding, and helped guide the new nation through her observations and advice to her famously prickly husband, who cherished her. In The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman "Not Apt to Be Intimidated," writer and researcher John L. Smith, Jr. draws on more than two thousand letters of Abigail's spanning from the 1760s to her death in 1818, interweaving Abigail's colorful correspondence with a contextual narrative.

Britain fought a war from 1754-1763 to protect its American colonies from France. During it Britain poured money into New England to build industries to supply it forces fighting France in North America, and New England’s industries grew. Britain’s conquest of New France led to revolution in the American colonies.

The Involuntary American demonstrates how even indi­viduals of humble circumstances were swept into the mael­strom of the First Global Age. It expands our understanding of immigration to the colonies, colonial servitude, the link­ages and tensions between Europe, Massachusetts Bay, and America's northeastern frontier, and of New England socie­ty in the early colonial period.

The Forgotten Pages of the American Revolutionary War: Interesting and Lesser Known Facts of the American Revolutionary War offers a captivating journey into the untold stories and hidden details that shaped one of the most pivotal conflicts in history. While the American Revolution is often remembered through famous battles and well-known figures, this book delves deeper into the lesser-known events, surprising strategies, and overlooked heroes who played critical roles in the fight for independence.