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Toolbox: American Beginnings: 1492-1690


All Recommended Texts
in chronological order by date of event or creation of map/image/object


For ease of use, modern capitalization style is used and English translations of non-English texts
are given for most publication titles, and ellipses are omitted from the end of shortened titles.
No.
Date
Title
Online Source
1 ca. 1005 Norse account of meeting the Beothuk of "Vinland": Greenlander's Saga of the Flat-Island Book, publ. ca. 1387, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
2 ca. 1450 On the European slave trade in west Africa: Gomes Eannes de Azurara, The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
3 1492-
1493 
Christopher Columbus, Letter to the Treasurer of Aragon on his first voyage to the western hemisphere
https://www.bartleby.com/43/2.html
Harvard Classics/
Bartleby.com
4 1493 On Columbus's first settlement on Hispaniola (Isabella): Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, General History of the Deeds of the Castilians on the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, publ. 1601-1615, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
5 ca. 1493-
1497 
European and Taino artifacts excavated at the site of the Spanish settlement of Isabella on the island of Hispaniola
https://www.indiana.edu/~r317doc/dr/old/html/artifact.html
Underwater Science Program, Indiana University
6 1494-
1864 
Cultural Readings: Colonization & Print in The Americas, online exhibition of title pages, frontispieces, and illustrations from published narratives
https://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/kislak/index/cultural.html
University of Pennsylvania Library
7 1497 On the voyage of John Cabot to the North American coast: Letter of Lorenzo Pasqualigo and letters (2) of Raimondo di Soncinoto
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1497cabot-3docs.html
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
8 1498 On the impending Spanish-English rivalry in the Caribbean: Don Pedro de Ayala, Memorandum to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
9 1499 On hunger and rebellion in Hispaniola: Francisco Roldán, Letter to Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
10 1500-
1678 
On Indian mortality in northwestern New Spain, 1500-1678: Daniel T. Reff, Disease, Depopulation, and Culture Change in Northwestern New Spain, 1518-1764, 1991, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
11 1501 On the voyage of Gaspar Corte Real to the North American coast: Pietro Pasqualigo, Lisbon, Letter to his brothers in Venice
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
12 1501 On the governance of Hispaniola and the Spanish West Indies: King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Instructions to Nicolás de Ovando, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
13 1507 Map of the world: Martin Waldseemüller, Universalis cosmographia
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3200.ct000725C
Library of Congress
14 1509 Alexander Barclay, The Ship of Fools, poem five on exploration of the New World, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
15 1510 Council of Castille (Spain), Requerimiento (to be read to Native Americans)
https://www.utexas.edu/courses/wilson/contact_2007/requerimiento.html
University of Texas-Austin
16 1511 Map of Spanish America: Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (Peter Martyr), The Spanish Main
https://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/exhibit2/sec1.htm
Osher Map Library, University of Southern Maine
17 1511-
1560 
On Spanish control of emigration to the New World: José Veitia de Linage, The Rule of Trade to the [West] Indies, publ. 1672, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
18 1516 Thomas More, Utopia, fictional narrative, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
19 1518-
1561 
On the treatment of enslaved Indians in the Spanish Caribbean: Accounts of Bernardino de Manzanedo, 1518; Bishop of Santiago, 1544; Bartolomé de las Casas, 1561; brief excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
20 1519 John Rastell, Four Elements, play, excerpts on the necessity of exploring the New World
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
21 1520s-
1540s 
Maya account of the Spanish arrival in and conquest of the Yucatan
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
22 1520s-
1580s 
Mexica and Tlaxcala accounts of the Spanish arrival in and conquest of Mexico
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
23 1520 On the Spanish conquest of the Mexica (Aztec) and Tlaxclala: Hernan Cortés, Letter to King Charles I of Spain, excerpts
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1520cortes.html
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
24 1520 Albrecht Dürer, journal entry on viewing Aztec gold in Antwerp
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
25 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano, Report to King Francis I of France on his expedition along the North American coast, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
26 1528 On the arrival of an English ship in Hispaniola: King Charles I of Spain, Memorandum to the Judges of the Audiencia of Hispaniola, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
27 1528 Map of newly found lands depicting a northwest passage: Benedetto Bordon, Libro di Benedetto Bordone: nel qual si ragiona de tutte l'isole del mondo
https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/
northwest-passage/bordon.htm
Princeton University Library
28 1529 Illustration of an Aztec juggler performing in Europe, in Christoph Weiditz, Trachtenbuch
https://www.smith.edu/vistas/vistas_web/gallery/detail/aztec-juggler_det.htm#
Vistas, Smith College and Fordham University
29 1535-
1536 
On Jacques Cartier's second expedition to the St. Lawrence River: Account by unidentified author, perhaps Jehan Poullet, a sailor on the expedition, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
30 1537 On a thwarted revolt by enslaved Africans in New Spain (Mexico): Antonio de Mendoza, Report to King Charles I of Spain, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
31 1539-
1543 
On the expedition of Hernando de Soto in Florida and southeast North America: "Fidalgo [gentleman] of Elvas [town in Portugal]," True Relation of the Vicissitudes That Attended the Governor Don Hernando de Soto, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
32 1540 Map of the western hemisphere: Sebastian Münster, Die neuwe islelen (The new islands)
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/westhem/index.html (map #1)
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
33 1541 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, Letter to King Charles I of Spain on his expedition in southwest North America
https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/corona9.htm
The West, PBS/WETA
34 1542 On the Spanish treatment of Native Americans: Bartolomé de Las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
35 1544 Map of the world: Petros Apianus, Charte cosmographique
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/world/before1800.html
(map #2)
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
36 1550 Map of Mexico City attributed to Alonso de Santa Cruz
https://systems-of-representation.uiah.fi/map_of_mexico/
Dr. Lily Díaz, SysRep, Media Lab, University of Art & Design, Helsinki, Finland
37 1554 Tour of Mexico City: Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, Life in the Imperial and Loyal City of Mexico in New Spain, Ch. 2, "Interior of the City of Mexico," excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
38 1556 Map of New France: Giacomo Gastaldi, La Nuova Francia
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/pugsley/maplist.htm
McGill University Library
39 1558-
1589 
Letters from Spanish settlers in Mexico City and Puebla to relatives in Spain, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
40 ca. 1560 Pierre de Ronsard, "The Fortunate Isles," poem, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
41 1564-
1565 
On the Timucua of southeast North America: selection of annotated engravings by Theodore de Bry based on the drawings of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, published in Brief Narration of Those Things which Befell the French in the Province of Florida in America, publ. 1591
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
42 1565 Map of the southeast region of North America: Theodore de Bry, Floridae Americae Provinciae, publ. 1591, based on the original by Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues
hhttps://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/us_states/virginia/index_Before1900.html/a>
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
43 1565 French account of the Spanish attack on Fort Caroline: Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, Brief Narration of Those Things which Befell the French, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
44 1565 Spanish account of the Spanish attack on Fort Caroline: Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, Memoir of the Happy Result and Prosperous Voyage of the Fleet Commanded by the Illustrious Captain-General Pedro Menendez de Aviles, publ. 1875
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
45 1568 On English pirates in the Spanish Caribbean: Lazaro de Vallejo Aldrate & Hernando Costilla, Memorandum to King Philip II of Spain, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
46 1570 On the newly settled Spanish colony of Ajacan (Virginia): Luis de Quirós and Juan Baptista de Segura, Letter to the Royal Treasurer of Cuba
https://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/jamestown-browsemod?id=J1037
Virtual Jamestown, University of Virginia et al.
47 1570 Map of the western hemisphere: Abraham Ortelius, Americæ sive novi orbis
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/westhem/index.html
(map #3)
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
48 ca. 1570s Spanish drawings of Indian feather-working in New Spain (Mexico), in Bernard de Sahagún, Florentine Codex
https://www.smith.edu/vistas/vistas_web/gallery/detail/florentine_det.htm
Vistas, Smith College & Fordham University
49 1574 Regulation of slaves and free blacks in Havana, Cuba: Municipal Ordinances for the City of Havana and Other Villages of This Island, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text9/text9read.htm
National Humanities Center
50 1577 Michael Lok, Memorandum on Frobisher's expeditions in search of a northwest passage
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
51 1577 On Frobisher's second expedition in search of a northwest passage: Dionyse Settle, A True Report of the Last Voyage into the West and Northwest Regions, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
52 1577 Edward Dodding, Autopsy report on the body of an Inuit man
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
53 1579 On Francis Drake's landing in California and encounters with the coastal Miwok: Account compiled by Drake's nephew from the expedition journal of the ship's chaplain (and others, perhaps), publ. 1628, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
54 1580 On sinking rival ships in the Caribbean: Bernardino de Mendoza, Memorandum to King Philip II of Spain, brief excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
55 1580 On the right of European nations to establish colonies in the western hemisphere: Wiliam Camden, Annals of Affairs in England and Ireland in the Reign of Elizabeth, publ. 1615, brief excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
56 ca. 1581-
1584 
Illustration of Spanish priests burning Indian "idols" in New Spain (Mexico): Diego Muñoz Camargo, Description of the City and Province of Tlaxcala
https://www.smith.edu/vistas/vistas_web/gallery/detail/book-burning_det.htm#
Vistas, Smith College & Fordham University
57 1583 On the Chamuscado expedition to the southwest of North America: Phelipe de Escalante & Hernando Barrado, Brief and True Account of the Exploration of New Mexico
https://www.americanjourneys.org/pdf/aj-006.pdf
American Journeys, Wisconsin Historical Society
58 1583 Dedicatory poems by Francis Drake, Martin Frobisher, et al., in Sir George Packham, A True Report of the Late Discoveries and Possessions . . . of the Newfound Lands . . . Sir Humphrey Gilbert Knight
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
59 1584 Richard Hakluyt, A Particular Discourse Concerning the Great Necessity and Manifold Commodities that Are Like to Grow to this Realm of England by the Western Discoveries Lately Attempted, known as Discourse of Western Planting, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
60 1585 John White, watercolor paintings of the Algonquian Indians (North Carolina), selection, with the later de Bry engravings based on White's watercolors
https://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/white_debry_html/jamestown.html
Virtual Jamestown, University of Virginia et al.
61 1585 Thomas Harriot, A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, publ. 1590, excerpts including a selection of de Bry engravings based on White's paintings (#60, above)
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
62 1585 Map of the Roanoke Island region (North Carolina): Theodore de Bry, America pars, Nunc Virginia dicta, publ. 1590, based on the watercolor map by John White
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/southeast/before1750.html
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
63 1586 On the English capture (by Francis Drake) of Santo Domingo on the Spanish island of Hispaniola: Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, Memorandum to King Philip II of Spain, brief excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
64 ca. 1586 Drawings of flora, fauna, and Indians of the Caribbean, with annotations, perhaps by a French Huguenot sailor with Francis Drake, published as Histoire Naturelle des Indes (The Natural History of the [West] Indies), selection of annotated drawings
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
65 1587 On the injustice of the slave trade: Tomás de Mercado, Practices and Contracts of Merchants, excerpts
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=198
Digital History, Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History
66 1587-
1580 
Map of Francis Drake's voyage around the world: Jodocus Hondius, Vera totius expeditionis nauticæ, publ. 1595
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3201s.ct000130
Library of Congress
67 1588 On the English defeat of the Spanish Armada in the North Sea: Emanuel van Meteran, Belgische ofte Nederlandsche Historie van onzen Tijden, 1599; in Richard Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation, 1599; brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
68 1590 On the attempted rescue of the 1587 Roanoke colonists: John White, Fifth Voyage of John White, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
69 1591 On slave trafficking by the English: Job Hortop, The Travailes of an English Man, excerpt
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6625
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
70 1595 Engraving by Theodore de Bry of enslaved Africans working on a sugar plantation in Hispaniola; in Girolamo Benzoni, Americae pars quinta nobilis & admiratione
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text9/text9read.htm
National Humanities Center
71 1595 Polar map depicting a northwest passage: Gerhard Mercator, Septentrionalium Terrarum descriptio
https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/
northwest-passage/mercator.htm
Princeton University Library
72 1595 Map of the western hemisphere: Michael Mercator, America sive India nova
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/westhem/index.html
(maps #10, 11)
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
73 1597 Map of the polar region depicting a northwest passage: Corneille Wytfliet, Estotilandia et Laboratoris Terra
https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/
northwest-passage/wytfliet.htm
Princeton University Library
74 1598-
1599 
On the Oñate expedition to southwest North America: Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá, History of New Mexico, publ. 1610, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/exploration/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
75 1600 Map of North America depicting a northwest passage: Matthias Quad, Novi Orbis Pars Borealis, America Scilicet, Complectens Floridam, Baccalaon, Canadam
https://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/
northwest-passage/quad.htm
Princeton University Library
76 1602-
1611 
On the decision to abandon or maintain the Spanish settlements of St. Augustine and New Mexico: Selections from the correspondence of the Governor of Florida, the Viceroy of Mexico, and the Council of the Indies to King Philip III of Spain and other officials
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
77 ca. 1606 Virginia Company, Instructions by Way of Advice, for the Intended Voyage to Virginia, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
78 1606 Map of Virginia: John Smith, Virginia / discovered and described by Captayn John Smith, 1606, publ. 1624
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3880.ct000377
Library of Congress
79 1607 On the first months of the Jamestown colony: George Percy, Observations Gathered out of A Discourse of the Plantation of the Southern Colony in Virginia by the English, 1606; publ. 1608
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
80 1609 Samuel de Champlain, Journal account of a battle with the Iroquois in New France (Canada)
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6594
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
81 ca. 1607 European and Indian artifacts excavated at Jamestown, Virginia
https://www.virtualjamestown.org/images/artifacts/jamestown.html
Virtual Jamestown, University of Virginia et al.
82 1609-
1610 
On the "starving time" in Jamestown: George Percy, A True Relation of the Proceedings and Occurances of Moment which Have Happened in Virginia, publ. 1624, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
83 1615 On the right of nations to establish colonies in the western hemisphere: William Camden, Annals of Affairs in England and Ireland in the Reign of Elizabeth, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
84 1616 On hardships in New France (Canada): Index of Relation of New France [Jesuit Relation of 1616], excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
85 1616 On the need to cultivate New France (Canada): Pierre Biard, S.J., Relation of New France, [Jesuit Relation of 1616], excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
86 1620-
1621 
On the first year of the Plymouth colony: William Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, written between 1630 and 1647, excerpts
https://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1650bradford.html
Internet Modern History Sourcebook
87 1620s Artifacts excavated from Plymouth colony (Howland site)
https://etext.virginia.edu/users/deetz/Plymouth/material.html
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, University of Virginia
88 1621-
1704 
Wills & testaments (24) of Plymouth colonists
https://etext.virginia.edu/users/deetz/Plymouth/wills.html
The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, University of Virginia
89 1623 On indentured servitude in Jamestown: Richard Frethorne, Letter to his father and mother
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6475
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
90 1623 On England's supplanting Spain in the West Indies: Sir Benjamin Rudyerd, Speech in Parliament (House of Commons), brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
91 1624 On the status of the Jamestown colony: John Smith, Answers to Seven Questions Presented by King James's Commission for the Reformation of Virginia, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
92 1624 On the hardships of emigrating to New England: Edward Winslow, Good News from New England, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
93 1628 On reasons to found a new colony in New England: John Winthrop, General Observations for the Plantation in New England
https://www.winthropsociety.com/doc_reasons.php
The Winthrop Society
94 1630 On the Massachusetts Bay colony: Capt. Roger Clapp, Memoir, written ca. 1680, excerpts
https://www.winthropsociety.com/doc_clapp.php
The Winthrop Society
95 1630 On the Spanish missions and settlements of New Mexico: Alonso de Benavides, Memorial to King Philip IV of Spain, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
96 1630s On the maroons (escaped slaves) in Guatemala: Thomas Gage, The English-American His Travail by Sea and Land: Or, A New Survey of the West India's, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
97 1633 Cecil Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore, Instructions for the founding of the colony of Maryland
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
98 1634 Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) account of the French arrival near Lake Michigan
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
99 1636 On progress in settling New France and advice for emigrants: Paul LeJeune, S.J., Relation of New France (Jesuit Relation of 1636), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
100 1637-
1638 
Fairbanks House, a "growing house," Dedham, Massachusetts
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec25.htm
National Park Service
101 1637-
1653 
On the Jesuit missions in New France: Jesuit Relations (annual reports), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
102 1640 General Court of Virginia, Decision regarding a servant uprising
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
103 1648 On the necessity of English colonies in the Caribbean: Thomas Gage, The English-American His Travail by Sea and Land: Or, A New Survey of the West India's, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
104 1651 The Barbados "Declaration of Independence" from England
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
105 1654 On Indian attacks and rebellion in northwestern New Spain (Mexico): Diego de Medrano, in Nueva Vizcaya, Report to the Mayor of Durango, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
106 1654 Oliver Cromwell, Instructions to Gen. Robert Venables on his expedition to the West Indies (Cromwell's "Western Design"), brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
107 1655 Oliver Cromwell, Proclamation promoting migration to Jamaica, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
108 1655 Adriaen van der Donck, "A Dialogue between a Patriot and a New-Netherlander upon the Advantages which the Country Presents to Settlers, &c.," in Description of the New Netherland, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
109 ca. 1655 House of Arthur Allen, known as "Bacon's Castle," a cross-plan house, Surry County, Virginia
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec56.htm
National Park Service
110 1657 On sugar production in Barbados: Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
111 1657 On slavery in Barbados: Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text8/text8read.htm
National Humanities Center
112 1657 Map of Barbados: Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes
https://www.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibits/maps/ligon.shtml
Bryn Mawr College Library
113 1658 Engraving depicting enslaved Africans working at a sugar mill in the French West Indies, in Charles de Rochefort, Histoire Naturelle et Morale des Îles Antilles de l'Amérique
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text9/text9read.htm
National Humanities Center
114 1660 Stanley-Whitman House, "added lean-to house," Farmington, Connecticut
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec11.htm
National Park Service
115 1662 On the need for towns in Virginia: "R.G.," Virginia's Cure: An Advisive Narrative Concerning Virginia, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
116 1662 On the maroons (escaped slaves) of Hispaniola: Francisco, Archbishop-Elect of Santo Domingo, Letter to King Philip IV of Spain
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text9/text9read.htm
National Humanities Center
117 1663 On tobacco production and commerce in Virginia: Sir William Berkeley, A Discourse and Review of Virginia, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
118 1663 On emigration policies for New France: Chrestien Le Clercq, First Establishment of the Faith in New France, publ. 1691, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
119 1664 Map of Canada: Pierre Duval, Le Canada faict par le Sr. de Champlain
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/pugsley/maplist.htm
McGill University Library
120 1666 On tobacco production in Maryland: George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
121 1666 On indentured servitude in Maryland: George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, excerpts
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5815
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
122 1666 Map of Maryland: George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land
https://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/sc2200/
sc2221/000017/000009/pdf/d005016a.pdf
Maryland State Archives
123 1666 On enticements for settlers in Carolina: Robert Horne, A Brief Description of the Province of Carolina, excerpts
https://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/27-hor.html
Bruce Dorsey, Dept. of History, Swarthmore College
124 1668-
1669 
Thomas Minor, journal of a Connecticut farmer for one year
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6228
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
125 1670 On the advantages of emigrating to New York: Daniel Denton, A Brief Relation of New-York, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
126 1670 Treaty of Madrid (Godolphin Treaty) between Spain and England, excerpts relating to Caribbean possessions
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
127 1670s Drawings of flora, fauna and Indians of New France (Canada), with annotations, by Louis Nicolas, S.J., published as Les Raretés des Indes (Unique Aspects of the [West] Indies), selection of annotated drawings
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
128 1671 Map of Charles-Town, 1671 copy by Joseph Samson "from an old plat of Charles Town dated 1671"
https://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/charleston_1671.jpg
Perry-Castañeda Map Library, University of Texas
129 1671-
1673 
Portraits of John Freake and Sarah Freake, New England
https://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/
unidentified_17th/freakbiography/index.html
Worcester Art Museum
130 1672 On restricting emigration to the Spanish colonies in the western hemisphere: Jose Veitia de Linage, The Rule of Trade to the [West] Indies, brief excerpt
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
131 1673 On negotiating a French-Iroquois peace treaty in New France (Canada): Baron de Lahontan, New Voyages to North-America, publ. 1703, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
132 1673 Jacques Marquette, Account of the Mississippi River expedition with Louis Joliet, Introduction, Pts. 4 & 8
https://titan.iwu.edu/~matthews/intro.html
James Matthews, Illinois Wesleyan University
133 1673 Map of the Mississippi River expedition of Marquette & Joliet (Carte de la découverte faite l'an 1673)
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4042m.rb000005
Library of Congress
134 1675 On the Wampanoag grievances against New England colonists before Metacom's (King Philip's) War: John Easton, A Relation of the Indian War, publ. 1676, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
135 1675 On the colonists' perspective of Metacom's (King Philip's) War: Increase Mather, A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New-England, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text7/text7read.htm
National Humanities Center
136 1675 On captivity by the Wampanoag during Metacom's War: Mary Rowlandson, A True History of the Captivity & Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, publ. 1682, excerpts
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5793
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
137 1676 On Bacon's Rebellion, the leader's perspective: Nathaniel Bacon, Declaration
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5800
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
138 1676 On Bacon's Rebellion, a planter's perspective: Robert Beverley, A History and Present View of Virginia, publ. 1705, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
139 1676 On the city of Quebec in New France: Jean Enjalran, S.J., Letter in Relation of New France (Jesuit Relation of 1676/1677), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
140 1676 Town council of Cartago, Costa Rica, Decision concerning the petition of the residents of La Puebla (free blacks, mestizos, et al.), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text9/text9read.htm
National Humanities Center
141 1679 English-Oneida negotiations in Albany, New York (30-31 October)
- Proposition of Col. William Kendall, representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=235

- Reply of the Oneida leaders
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=236
Digital History, Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History
142 1679 On the French notifying the Iroquois of plans to build Fort Niagara: Louis Hennepin, A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America, publ. 1697, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
143 1680 On the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico: Pedro Naranjo, Queres Indian, responses to interrogation by the Spanish, 1681, excerpts
https://www.historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6527/
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
144 ca. 1680 Statement of a Micmac leader to a French missionary in New France (Canada): Chrestien Le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia, with the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, publ. 1691, excerpts
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5828/
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
145 ca. 1680 On indentured servitude in Virginia: James Revel, The Poor Unhappy Transported Felon's Sorrowful Account of His Fourteen Years Transportation at Virginia in America, poem, publ. 1767
https://www.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/lit.html
The Geography of Slavery, University of Virginia
146 ca. 1680-
1694 
Portraits of Thomas Smith & Maria Catherina Smith, New England
https://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/
smith/biography/index.html
Worcester Art Museum
147 ca. 1680s St. Luke's Church, Isle of Wight County, Virginia
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec57.htm
National Park Service
148 ca. 1680s-
1710 
Adam Thoroughgood House, a central-hall house, Princess Anne County, Virginia
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec55.htm
National Park Service
149 1681 Old Ship Church (Meetinghouse), Hingham, Massachusetts
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec26.htm
National Park Service
150 1682 Indenture contract, Maryland
https://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/sc2200/sc2221/
000019/000013/images/d011675a.gif
Maryland State Archives
151 1682 Thomas Newe, Charles Town, Letters (3) to his father in England
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6384
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
152 1682-
1684 
Pennsbury Manor, homestead of William Penn, Pennsylvania
https://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/delaware/pen.htm
National Park Service
153 1683 On the Leni-Lenape in Pennsylvania: William Penn A Letter from William Penn . . . to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
154 1683 Parson Capen House, manor house, Topsfield, Massachusetts
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec27.htm
National Park Service
155 1683 Homestead of Daniel Frances Pastorius, Germantown, Pennsylvania
https://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/gtn/6013g.htm
Places in Time, Bryn Mawr College
156 1684 On German emigrants to Pennsylvania: Francis Daniel Pastorius, Positive Information from America, Concerning the Country of Pennsylvania, By a German Who has Migrated Thither, excerpts
https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/7439
History Matters, George Mason Univ. & the City Univ. of New York (CUNY)
157 1684 Indenture contract of John Gotcholl/Gatcholl to John Bright for six years, Virginia
https://www.virtualjamestown.org/indentures/sample_indenture.html
Virtual Jamestown, University of Virginia et al.
158 1684 Iroquois leaders, statement to governors of Virginia and New York: Cadwallader Colden, The History of the Five Nations of Canada, publ. 1727, excerpts
https://www.ushistoryplace.com/documents/Add_15.html
Longman History Place
159 1684 On the city of Quebec in New France: Baron de Lahontan, New Voyages to North-America, publ. 1703, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
160 1685-
1687 
On the La Salle expedition in Tejas (Texas): Henri Joutel, A Journal of the Last Voyage Perform'd by Monsr. de la Sale, to the Gulph of Mexico, to Find Out the Mouth of the Missisipi River, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
161 1685-
1687 
On the La Salle expedition in Tejas (Texas): Report of Two Canadian Soldiers [Pierre and Jean-Baptiste Talon] Who Made La Salle's Voyage to the Mississippi, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
162 1685 Code Noir (Black code), Slave code for the French Caribbean islands
https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/335/
Center for Media and New History, George Mason University
163 1685 Map of North America: Jean Baptiste Louis Franquelin, Amerique Septentrionelle
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3300.ct000667

and copy, 1909 or 1910
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3300.ct000668
Library of Congress
164 1685 On the growth of Philadelphia: Robert Turner, Letter to William Penn, in William Penn, A Further Account of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1685
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
165 ca. 1685 On the fur trade in New France: Baron de Lahontan, New Voyages to North-America, publ. 1703, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text1/text1read.htm
National Humanities Center
166 1687 Gov. Thomas Dongan, Report to the Committee of Trade (London) on the Province of New York, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
167 1687 Memorandum (Memoir) for the Marquis de Seignelay, French Minister of the Navy, regarding the dangers that threaten Canada and the means to remedy them (author unidentified in archives)
https://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/seignelay.html
AmDocs: Documents for the Study of American History (Kansas Heritage Group & www.Virtual Library)
168 1687 On French-Karankawa relations on the gulf coast of Tejas (Texas): Report of Two Canadian Soldiers [Talon brothers] Who Made La Salle's Voyage to the Mississippi, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text6/text6read.htm
National Humanities Center
169 1688 Anti-slavery petition of Germantown, Pennsylvania (Mennonites and Quakers)
https://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/amerdoc/men01.htm
Avalon Project, Yale University Law School
170 1689 Cotton Mather et al., The Boston Declaration of Grievances
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
171 1690 On the Spanish search for the French in Tejas (Texas): Alonso de León, Diary, Itinerary, and Description of the Expedition of 1690 to Tejas, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
172 1690 On the Spanish search for the French in Tejas (Texas:) Miguel Font Cuberta, Letter to his custodio in New Spain [Mexico], excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text2/text2read.htm
National Humanities Center
173 1690 French account of the French-English rivalry in the northeast and the Schenectady massacre of 1690: P. F. X. de Charlevoix, S.J., History and General Desription of New France, publ. 1744, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
174 1690 English account of the French-English rivalry in the northeast and the Schenectady massacre of 1690: William Smith, Jr., The History of the Province of New York, publ. 1757, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
175 1690 Publick Occurrences (Boston), first and only edition of the newspaper, and subsequent ban by the governor
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
176 1690 Robert Morden, A New Map of the English Plantations in America both Continent and Islands
https://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/middle_america/
caribbean/caribbean.html
Dept. of Geography, University of Alabama
177 1692 "A Brief, but most True relation of the late Barbarous and Bloody Plot of the Negro's in the Island of Barbados," broadside
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text8/text8read.htm
National Humanities Center
178 1692 Richard Frame, "A Short Description of Pennsilvania," poem, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
179 1693 Philipse Manor Hall, Yonkers, New York
https://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/explorers/sitec48.htm
National Park Service
180 1697 Portrait of William Fitzhugh, Virginia
https://www.vahistorical.org/dynasties/williamfitzhugh.htm
Virginia Historical Society
181 ca. 1700 Portrait of Rebecca Bonum Eskridge
https://www.vahistorical.org/sva2003/eskridge.htm
Virginia Historical Society
182 1701 Map of the Gulf of Mexico indicating the discoveries by La Salle and d'Iberville: Nicolas de Fer, Les costes aux environs de la rivière de Misisipi
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4042m.ct001034
Library of Congress
183 1702 On the history and status of New England: Cotton Mather, "Venisti Tandem? or, Discoveries of America, tending to, and ending in, Discoveries of New-England," in Magnalia Christi Americana; or, The Ecclesiastical History of New-England, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/permanence/text3/text3read.htm
National Humanities Center
184 1703 Map of New France: Carte d'un très grand pais (Map of a very large country), in Louis Hennepin, A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America
https://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1704h4.jpg
Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Georgia
185 1705 Robert Beverley, "Of the Servants and Slaves in Virginia," The History and Present State of Virginia, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text8/text8read.htm
National Humanities Center
186 1705 Virginia House of Burgesses, An Act concerning Servants and Slaves, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/power/text8/text8read.htm
National Humanities Center
187 1720 Herman Moll, A new map of the north parts of America
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3300.ct000677
Library of Congress
188 1741 On the encounter of Russian explorers and the Alutiiq Indians, Kodiak Island (Alaska): Georg Wilhelm Steller, Second Kamchatka Expedition undertaken upon His Imperial Majesty's Command, publ. 1743, excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/contact/text5/text5read.htm
National Humanities Center
189 1743 Map of West Africa: Homan Hereditors, Guinea propia, nec non Nigritiae vel Terrae Nigrorum maxima pars
https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl?data=/tst/ammem/htdocs/
aaohtml/wafrica.sid&style=aao&title=Map+of+West+Africa
Library of Congress
190 1765 Map of the Caribbean and bordering lands: Pedro Espinosa, Descripcion de las . . . Indias Occidentales
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4391p.ar169400
Library of Congress
191 1769 Map of northern Mexico and present-day southwest United States: José de Urrutia, Mapa, que comprende la Frontera, de los Dominios del Rey, en la America Septentrional
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4410.ct000539
Library of Congress
192 1775 Map of the Far East and Russian America: The Russian Discoveries from the Map Published by the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg
https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g7321s.mf000006
Library of Congress
193 1786 Instructions from Grigorii Shelikhov to Konstantin Samoilov for governing the Russian settlement at Kodiak Island (Alaska), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center
194 1794 Instructions from Ivan Pil, governor of Siberia, to Grigorii Shelikhov, on the Russian settlement on Kodiak Island (Alaska), excerpts
https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/amerbegin/settlement/text4/text4read.htm
National Humanities Center

Toolbox: American Beginnings: 1492-1690
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