Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Family Unit in Colonial New England, The
Within the marriage relationship, community-prescribed roles and responsibilities are molded to meet the needs of the family, with the male head of household responsible for maintaining social and moral order within the family . There is no such thi...
Coming to America: Portrait of Colonial Life: Family and Community Life in New England
The portrait of life in New England plays out in stark contrast to life in the Southern colonies primarily because New England is settled by family groups. Although birth rates and life expectancy are generally high, women settlers find themselves i...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: England Revises Approach to Colonization and Establishes Royal Colony of Virginia
England and its Virginia Company surrogate take steps to revise their approach to colonization yet again. They increase incentives for families willing to migrate, attempt to attract merchants rather than aristocrats, and develop agricultural produc...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Indentured Servitude
The majority of colonists who immigrate to the Chesapeake in the 17th century pay for their passage by working as indentured servants for a specified number of years. Initially men outnumber women six to one, so willing are they to take the gamble t...
Turbulent Virginia: Pirate Base...Royal Colony: Virginia Company Investments Spawn New Colony
London investors are now becoming interested in financing overseas ventures. Initially they were looking to make money by establishing trading posts like the French or privateering They turn to colonization only as a last resort. The London Company,...
Not Much of a War: How the Continental Army Outlasted Britain's Military Might
How can the small, rag-tag Continental army outlast the 18th century's most formidable military power? One important factor is that the British misunderstand what they are facing in this conflict, one of five battlefronts in which the British are en...
Not Much of a War: Mobilizing for War
The first order of business for the new government is recruiting and organizing an army. Many volunteers are disadvantaged men hoping to earn enough money to buy land or a business. Their term of service begins in the spring and ends in the fall at ...
Not Much of a War: Battles in New England and the Mid-Atlantic
During the first year of fighting, British forces attempt to crush each outbreak of rebellion as it occurs. They suffer major losses when they take on revolutionary forces at Breed's Hill in Boston, yet crush Washington's troops in New York. Each ti...
Divergent Paths: Witchcraft Hysteria, The
In the latter half of the 17th century, the well-ordered life New Englanders sought to establish begins to crumble with the advent of a series of calamitous events--a smallpox epidemic, war with Indians, accusations of witchcraft in Salem. Although ...
Saints and Strangers: Hivings Challenge Community Solidarity and Indian Culture
New England colonists, in contrast with Chesapeake settlers, are more interested in staying put than spreading out. But as rapid population growth overtakes them, people inevitably begin to move beyond town boundaries. Such "hivings," as they are ca...