60 Websites on Colonial America: 1607-1776

I always enjoyed learning about early American history. It was one of those classes where I felt transported to another time where life was so different (yet simple) compared to today. This time in particular, 1607-1776, our nation was coming into its own, with the forming of the thirteen colonies and the eventual Declaration of Independence. If you teach this subject, I hope you'll find these resources helpful.

10 Interactive 13 Colonies Maps- from Mr. Nussbaum's site

13 Originals: Founding the American Colonies

A to Z Teacher Stuff- lesson plans and printables on colonial America

America During the Age of the Revolution- timeline covers 1764-1775

American Memory- photographs, manuscripts. rare books, maps, recorded sound and movies

The American Revolution- interactive lessons for K-8

American Revolution Resources- from the Library of Congress

The American Revolution and its Era- maps and charts of North America and the West Indies

The American Revolution Center- "a living memorial to the American Revolution and its enduring legacy."

American Revolution Crossword Puzzle- from New York Times Learning Network

American Revolution Timeline

America's Story- children's site from the Library of Congress

Archiving Early America- primary source materials include portraits from original newspapers, maps, writings, and music.

The Battle of Bunker Hill- Massachusetts Historical Society's web exhibition

Ben Franklin and His Inventions

Betsy Ross: Her Life-biography of the woman who sewed the American flag

Biographies of the Founding Fathers

The Boston Tea Party, 1773

Chart of the Thirteen Original Colonies- from About.com

Civil Rights News and Information- i.e. affirmative action, hate crimes, voting rights etc.

Colonial America Rare Maps Collection

Colonial America Resources- lessons and printables cover grades K-12

Colonial Currency

Colonial House- Behind the scenes of this PBS movie, with lesson plans, audio and video and a section of resources.

Colonial Life in Early America- from Kid info; covers clothing, currency, economy, education and much more

Colonial Newspapers

Colonial Williamsburg- official site

Colonization and Settlement- resources form the Library of Congress

Daily Life in the Colonies- from the PBS website, Liberty! The American Revolution.

The Declaration of Independence

Digital History- extensive site has multimedia, primary sources, historic newspapers, interactive time line and so much more!

Early America's Digital Archive- covers 1492-1820

Eyewitness to History -history through eyes of the ones who lived it


Fifty States- this site allows you to access the home page for each state, including the state bird, tree, flower, flag, car license plate and state song.

Historical Documents- University of Oklahoma College of Law's site contains documents from pre-colonial times to the present. Also has a guide to American flags.

History of Jamestown

Mapping Colonial New England: Looking at the Landscape- from NEH

The Mayflower Compact

Mayflower History- includes Pilgrim history, the Mayflower passenger list, Mayflower genealogy


NeoK12- quizzes and videos on the American Revolution

An Outline of American History- first chapter is on colonial America

Paul Revere Virtual Museum

Pilgrim Hall Museum- explains the Pilgrim story, including Thanksgiving

The Real Pocahontas- compares the real Pocahontas with the movie character

Revolutionary War Animated

Revolutionary War Biographies

The Road to Independence Simulation- webquest written by students

Salem Witch Hunt- interactive from National Geographic

Salem Witch Museum

Salem Witch Trials- biographical information

Salem Witch Trials-documents and participants

Teacher Guide to the American Colonies- TeAchnology's

TeacherVision- printables and lessons on colonial America; covers grades K-12

United States History Timeline- covers all years, including a timeline of the American Revolution

United States Newspapers- covers 1700s; from the Library of Congress collection

Virtual Jamestown-  ongoing teaching and learning project

Virtual Marching Tour of the American Revolution

What Do You Think Ben Meant?- words of wisdom from Ben Franklin

Witches and Witchcraft in New England and Salem- list of resources from About.com

Words and Deeds in American History- chronological listing

Read More

HUGE Listing: 83 Places to Locate Primary Sources!

I am currently in the process of updating all the resource links from my web page and have been adding pages to this blog. Here's my list of primary sources which has been added to the new page "Reference Tools." All pages will constantly be updated (I will let you know when that happens)

100 Milestone Documents- from 1776-1995

America in the 1930s

The American Folklife Center

American Memory from the Library of Congress- browse collections by time period, place, topic; search through map collections, manuscripts, motion pictures, sheet music, photos, prints, sound recordings and books or other printed texts. EXCELLENT SITE!

American Memory Map Collections-search for cities/towns, conservation/environment, discovery/exploration and general maps

American Presidency Project

American Rhetoric- online speech bank

Archives in the Attic- documents from the Great Depression

Archiving Early America- newspapers, maps & writings from 18th century America

The Authentic History Center- artifacts and sounds from American popular culture

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School-documents in law, history and diplomacy

Awesome Stories

Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley- 0ver 60 million manuscript items and 600,000 volumes; huge collection

Battle Lines: Letters From America's Wars- thousands of wartime letters, from the Gilder Lehrman

Collection

Biblioteche Saint Genevive- blind-tool bookbindings from 12th-18th centuries

The Charters of Freedom- Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution

Child Labor in America- covers 1908-1912

CivilWar.com- official records of the union and confederate armies; covers 1881-1900.


Civil War Primary Source Documents- HUGE listing from Tracey Oz, history teacher

The Coming of the American Revolution- from the Massachusetts Historical Society; 14 lessons include primary source documents

Digital Library on American Slavery-from the University of North Carolina at Greenboro

Documents for the Study of American History- from 1000-2000, this is a very extensive listing of pdf and audio files

Documenting the American South- from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Eurodocs- selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations


Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives

Eyewitness to History- audio clips from people entitled "Voices of the 20th Century"


F.B.I.: The Vault


Franklin Institute American History and Government Hotlists

Headlines and Audio from 1900-1999


Historical Text Archive- over 9,000 articles, books and links

History of Ireland- primary documents

History Matters- includes 1,00 primary documents, images and audio interviews


History Net.com

Holocaust Photos- [very graphic]

Internet Archive of Texts and Documents


The James Buchanan Resource Center


The John Adams Library


The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library


L.B.J.'s Phone Conversations- Lyndon Baines Johnson

Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War- written by Newton Robert Scott

Library of Congress Exhibitions- search from A to Z

Library of Congress Teachers' Page- classroom materials, themed resources, lesson plans, collection connections, professional development and so much more. EXCELLENT SITE!


The Lincoln Archives Digital Project

Medieval Sourcebook- full text sources

Milestone Documents- site created by historians and veteran teachers; includes activity guides, study questions, lesson plans and much more.


The National Archives YouTube Channel

The National Archives.gov- includes electronic records, maps and aerial images, microfilm, motion picture and sound, photos, posters, pictures and texual/paper records

National Archives DocsTeach- create activities with the online documents

National Humanities Center- "historical documents, literary texts, and works of art—thematically organized with notes and discussion questions."


National Jukebox: Historical Recording from the Library of Congress

The National Security Archive

The New Deal Network- educational guide to the Great Depression

New York Public Library- documents, video, audio

Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room- from the Library of Congress, this extensive listing includes: historical collections from 19th and 20th century

The 1900's- headlines and audio from 1900-1999


Office of the Federal Register- public papers of the Presidents of the United States, federal laws

The Oriental Institute- photographic archives includes maps from Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Sudan

The Papers of George Washington- contains documents, articles, maps and images

Photos of the Great Depression- includes dust storms, farms for sale, migrant workers

Popular Songs in American History- from 17th century; this is a huge collection of audio files!


Presidential Libraries Listing


The Presidential Timeline of the Twentieth Century- documents, photographs, audio recordings, more


Primarily History- primary sources blog written by a college librarian

Primary Source Materials and Document Based Questions- a hotlist divided into the following categories: primary source materials, document based questions, assessments, general resources and constructed response questions.

Primary Sources: Oral History and Audio-Visual Materials- photos, newsreels, pamphlets, advertisements, TV clips


Primary Sources: The Korean War- from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

Prints and Photographs Reading Room- from the Library of Congress, these are selected images of Ellis Island and Immigration.


Regional History- exhibits from the National Archives includes the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Influenza Epidemic in 1918, the Atlanta Regional Archive

Repositories of Primary Sources- over 5,000 websites are listed here, covering manuscripts, archives, historical photographs and other primary sources. WOW!!

Science Service Historical Image Collection- 20th century scientific research; site claims "the captions were written by Science Service journalists and have been transcribed exactly".


The Smithsonian Collections- covers art, history, science, libraries

Talking History

Teaching with Documents- from the National Archive; lesson plans

The Thomas Jefferson Digital Archive- over 1700 items, (electronic texts, some color manuscript
images; 9,000 quotations arranged by theme, date, topic recipient and place of publication

Time and Life Pictures- search by date or use the advanced search

Timeline of Art History- from the Metropolitan Museum of Art


The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database- over 35,000 slaving voyages

Turning the Pages- document include: first atlas of Europe, the oldest printed book, the original Alice's Adventures Underground (Alice in Wonderland) and Mozart's musical diary.

United Nations Treaty Collection

Why Use Primary Sources?- from the Library of Congress; ten reasons listed

Women's Speeches from Around the World

World War II in Color-site has photos for download

World War II Military Situation Maps- browse the collection by title, subject or date; from the Library of Congress

Read More