American Colonies

In the first volume in the Penguin History of the United States series, edited by Eric Foner, Alan Taylor challenges the traditional story of colonial history by examining the many cultures that helped make America, from the native inhabitants from millennia past through the decades of Western colonization and conquest and across the entire continent, all the way to the Pacific coast.

Why did the Pilgrims and other settlers come to North America? How did American Indians react to white settlers on their land? How was North America changed by the colonists? The colonization of the New World led to major changes for both European colonists and the native peoples who already lived there. Using an inquiry-based approach, listeners will learn all about the historic changes that took place in the land and various people's lives at the beginning of Colonial America.

The American Revolution is replete with seminal moments that every American learns in school, from the “shot heard ‘round the world” to the Declaration of Independence, but the events that led up to the fighting at Lexington & Concord were borne out of 10 years of division between the British and their American colonies over everything from colonial representation in governments to taxation, the nature of searches, and the quartering of British regulars in private houses.

From moldy food and dirt covered clothes to poisonous pests and extreme weather, American colonists had a dreadful time in the New World. Get ready to explore the nasty side of life in the 13 American Colonies.

Tensions simmer in 1765 Boston, home to twelve-year-old Lizzie Murray. Residents of the city are dividing over loyalty to England—and the divisions strike within Lizzie's own family, as her brother and father often find themselves at odds. When a mob wounds a young British soldier, Lizzie chooses to help the frightened Redcoat—a move that brings even more trouble to her life. Where is God in the emotional upheaval afflicting the colonies? Can Lizzie overcome the fear that weighs on her soul?

No one expected that the American colonies might seriously consider fighting their British masters until the infamous Boston massacre of March 1770. On 26 October 1775, George III, King of Great Britain, spoke to Parliament, declaring the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion. Here, for the first time, the use of force was authorized against the rebels.

That the early United States was (or were) referred to as the New Empire would seem nonsensical or flatly erroneous today on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, Europeans and Americans alike viewed the United Colonies as a potential empire existing uneasily within an empire, the British Empire. This perspective impacted the crafting of the Continental Congress and the US government, whereas the governments of the member states were viewed as commensurate with the contemporary kingdoms in Europe.

Uno de los sucesos más importantes no sólo en los Estados Unidos, sino a nivel mundial. Hacia el siglo XVIII, las colonias americanas, bajo el poder inglés, iniciaron un proceso emancipador que inesperadamente, venció a un enemigo muchas veces superior. Sin embargo, lo más importante es el empuje y ejemplo que dieron a otras colonias para anhelar la libertad.