Early America (1400-1763)

What was life like for Native Americans, settlers, and even pirates in the early American colonies?

   Glossary   

Topic 1: The Horse

This document collection of primary and secondary sources tells how the horse changed the lives of Native Americans in ways that were good and bad.

hand-drawn pictograph depicting horses and people


Topic 2: Spanish Exploration of North America

This inquiry kit features sources from the Library of Congress about Spanish exploration in the New World.

color hand-drawn map


Topic 3: Religion in the New World

These primary and secondary sources tell about the power of religion for people in the Early Americas.

color painting of Pocahontas kneeling before a robed priest


Topic 4: Problems with Pirates

This inquiry kit features Library of Congress sources and focuses on the battles between Europeans and pirates in the New World.

black and white engraving of a group of ships battling at sea


Topic 5: Everybody Loves New York

This inquiry kit features Library of Congress sources about people who wanted to control the island of Manhattan.

colorful hand-drawn map from 1661 of a part of New York City


Topic 6: Maryland, My Maryland

This inquiry kit features Library of Congress sources showing Maryland's important religious and social impact on the New World in the middle 1600s.

black typeface on a white background