This insightful set of essays reveals the day-to-day lives of the British colonists who laid the foundation for what became the United States.
The period between the settling of Jamestown and the Revolutionary War saw the establishment of the American colonies, conflicts with Native Americans, and the wrenching break from Britain. History books often focus only on the leaders and famous personalities, but what was life like for the ordinary citizens or the loyalists, who opposed breaking with Britain?
British Colonial America: People and Perspectives shifts the spotlight away from the famous political and religious leaders of the time to focus on colonial residents across the full spectrum of American society from the early-17th to the late-18th century.
In narrative chapters filled with biographical sketches, British Colonial America explores the day-to-day world of the religious groups, entrepreneurs, women and children, laborers, farmers, and others who made up the vast majority of the colonial population. Coverage also includes those not afforded citizenship, such as African slaves and Native Americans. It is a revealing examination of life at ground level in colonial America, one that finds the people of that time confronting issues that appear throughout the American experience.
Features
• Each chapter is authored by a published expert on the social aspects of life in colonial British America
• A primary sources section includes travel diaries, newspaper articles, legislative documents, sermons, and other material that provides insight into the colonial experience
Highlights
• Combines general essays and specific biographies in each chapter to place a personal face on the broader story of colonial history
• Challenges some commonly held historical notions by focusing on the "average" people of the colonial era
• Compares and contrasts the colonial experience across the 13 colonies, revealing some surprising commonalities and distinctions
Reviews
"Numerous illustrations from contemporary sources enliven the text. The editor provides sidebars throughout the chapters, many of them bibliographies of individuals which exemplify the life and the changes described. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography. A general index, a glossary, and a general bibliography make up the other additional material. A list of primary sources, with substantial excerpts from each, presents contemporary support for the themes examined. High school libraries, and colleges that support survey courses in American History, will find this a useful supplement."—ARBA
"Serious effort was made to match the coverage of these volumes to high school curriculum standards. This set is perfect historical analysis beyond the textbook. Each volume is carefully researched and documented. The thoughtful essays, presenting content unavailable in other sources, are ripe for analysis by upper level students. Our AP US History teacher was thrilled to see them! Books contain black and white illustrations. Brief biographies are scattered through the text. Highly recommended.'
Reviewed Together
Cheathem, Mark R., ed. Jacksonian and Antebellum Age: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO, 2008. 978-1-59884-017-9. 234p. $85.00. Gr. 10+.
Goloboy, Jennifer L., ed. Industrial Revolution: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2008. 978-1-59884-065-0. 315p. $85.00. Gr. 10+.
Frank, Andrew K., ed. Early Republic: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2009. 978-1-59884-019-3. 300p. $85.00. Gr. 10+.
Grigg, John A., ed. British Colonial America: People and Perspectives. Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2008. 978-1-59884-025-4. 276p. $85.00. Gr. 10+."—Pennsylvania School Librarians Association
