National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Cities & Towns, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Four accounts of the visits to and growth of colonial cities in Spanish, British, and French New World settlements that demonstrate why certain communities developed successfully.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Early Settlements
The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America. Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers....
CommonLit
Common Lit: Text Sets: The American Colonies
Collection of 14 Grade-Leveled texts (4-11) on the topic "The American Colonies." What was life like for European settlers in the New World? How did American colonies function before the Revolutionary War? Explore life in the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1491 1607: Quiz 2
A quick, five question quiz over the Columbian Exchange, Spanish conquest, and the Spanish Colonial system.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Hardships, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
Three English, a French, and a Spanish primary account of the staggering losses, misery, and deprivation that characterized early European settlement as well as the resilience needed to overcome those challenges.
Other
Jeff Miller: A West Virginia Chronology
This personal site provides a timeline of the European-American settlement of West Virginia and later events up to the present.
Other
New Netherland Institute: Early Descriptions of New Netherland
Excerpts from Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664, published in 1909, and available for free from Google Books. The first excerpt is from a 1644 account of Henry Hudson's descriptions of the new land he saw on his 1609 voyage. The...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Go Ahead, American Beginnings: 1492 1690
A Spanish, an English, and a French account of the enormous challenges in maintaining a colonial presence in North America and of the potential national loss-of pride, wealth, and possibility for expansion-if nations abandoned these...
Mayflower History
Mayflower history.com: Tisquantum ("Squanto")
A detailed biography of the life of Tisquantum, known as Squanto. Covers some history of the Plymouth Colony and of relations between the colonists and the native peoples.
iCivics
I Civics: Columbus to the Colonies
From the time Columbus first set foot in the New World, Europeans were fascinated with this new land. In this lesson, students learn about the Three Gs that drove them here- gold, God, and glory- and find out how these settlers gave...
The History Place
The History Place: Early Colonial Era
This site from The History Place provides a timeline of significant events between (1000-1700) win the discovery and colonization of the New World.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: New Frontier, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912
A speech and an essay that alternately praise the acquisition of foreign territory by the U.S. and that raise questions about the costs and value of these imperialistic adventures.
The History Cat
The History Cat: Geography: People: Amerindians of the Amazon
Discusses the plight of the Amerindians who made the Amazon rainforest their home. Many died from diseases brought by European colonists and many others continue to lose their lands to greedy companies or farmers.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Native American Cultures: Pre History of America
Brief article about Native American culture and history prior to European settlement and with arrival of Europeans.
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Native American Cultures: The Pre History of America
Article on pre-Columbian Native American history and culture, including discussion on the impact of the Europeans.
Curated OER
Map: Imperialism and the Balance of Power
World maps of the Colonial Empires of 1914 as well as their revenues during that time period. There are also maps depicting urban growth, type of government, wars and atrocities, and living conditions of the world in 1900.
Curated OER
Map: Imperialism and the Balance of Power
World maps of the Colonial Empires of 1914 as well as their revenues during that time period. There are also maps depicting urban growth, type of government, wars and atrocities, and living conditions of the world in 1900.
University of Iowa
University of Iowa: Arts and Life in Africa: Sierra Leone
A record of statistics concerning modern day Sierra Leone, up to 1998. Scroll down to history section to see a brief, but informative description of pre-colonial and post-colonial history for Sierra Leone.
Other
The Descendants of Henry Doude: Perspectives: The Pequot War
A brief description of the Pequot War, a conflict between the Pequots and the English colonists from the Massachusetts Bay colony. There are two maps showing the location of Indian tribes in 1636 and again in 1639.
ibiblio
Ibiblio: 1492: An Ongoing Vogage: Inventing America
Archived exhibition reveals how European writers and mapmakers thought about America during the Age of Discovery. Describes the allegorical images Europeans sometimes used to portray America and features the Gutierrez map, drawn in 1562,...
Mocomi & Anibrain Digital Technologies
Mocomi: History of Pirates
Piracy has been around since ancient times but was especially prevalent during the days of European exploration, and still occurs in some parts of the world. Learn some of the devious methods pirates used to overpower victim ships and...
Other
Fales Library and Special Collections: Jacob Leisler Papers Project
Resource chronicles the life and times of Jacob Leisler, "a political figure [who] played a major role in the North American world of European settlements in the seventeenth century," and leader of the Leisler's Rebellion.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Spaniard and Indian Produce a Mestizo Attributed to Juan Rodriguez
The Mestizo belongs to a larger series of works that seek to document the inter-ethnic mixing occurring in New Spain among Europeans, indigenous peoples, Africans, and the existing mixed-race population. This genre of painting is known...
Other
The British Empire
Although this is a personal site, the History Channel calls it "Very comprehensive." That is definitely true! Author provides extensive timelines, biographies, information on science and technology, discussions, and more! Be sure to...