American Colonies Books - History 1600s, 1700s

Vintage Books on the History of the American Colonies

Vintage BOOKS – American Colonies History

Manuscript Records of the French and Indian War in the Library of the Society

American Antiquarian Society, comp.

Worcester, Mass: American Antiquarian Society 1909

“The first portion of this volume centers about the personality of Sir William Johnson, one of the most notable of American Colonial leaders… In the second division are manuscripts throwing further light upon the war with France and the work of John Bradstreet throughout that war… [The collection] illustrates the difficulties attendant upon the duties of a Colonial quartermaster and the experiences of a leader of frontier expeditions during the war… Following these … is a group of miscellaneous manuscripts throwing additional light upon various phases of the war. In these the conflict in Pennsylvania is touched upon as well as the war in New England and the Northwest… Finally there is the Orderly Book of William Henshaw …, a picture of [military] camp life from May to Nov 1759.” -Preface.

Colonial Self-Government 1652-1689 (American Nation, Vol. 5)

Author: Andrews, Charles McLean

1904

“An excellent general account of this period. It emphasizes the variety of conditions and experiments in government in the various colonies. Contains maps and a critical essay on authorities.” – Standard Catalog 1929.

Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1690

Author: Andrews, Charles M., ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1915

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

Contents:General introduction.–The beginning, progress, and conclusion of Bacon’s rebellion, 1675-1676. –The history of Bacon’s and Ingram’s rebellion, 1676.–A true narrative of the late rebellion in Virginia, by the Royal Commissioners, 1677.–Narratives of Thomas Miller, Sir Peter Colleton, and the Carolina proprietors, 1680.–Byfield’s account of the late revolution, 1689.–Letter of Samuel Prince, 1689.–A particular account of the late revolution, 1689.–Letter of Captain George to Pepys, 1689.–Andros’s report of his administration, 1690-1691.–Narrative of the proceedings of Andros, 1691.–C.D., New England’s faction discovered, 1690.–Increase Mather’s brief account of the agents, 1691.–Declaration of Protestant subjects in Maryland, 1689.–A modest and impartial narrative, 1690.–A letter from a gentleman of the city of New York, 1698.–Loyalty vindicated, 1698.

Colonial Fights and Fighters

Author: Brady, Cyrus Townsend

Doubleday, Page 1913

French and Indian War causes, Who started the French and Indian War? French and Indian War outcome. Stories from the Age of Discovery through the French and Indian War, divided into the following parts:

1. In the Age of Discovery
2. Gentlemen of the Black Flag
3. Various Early Colonial Wars
4. The French and Indian War.

Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706

Author: Burr, George Lincoln, ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1914

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

Contents:From “An essay for the recording of illustrious providences” … by Increase Mather, 1684.–The New York cases of Hall and Harrison, 1665, 1670.–“Lithobolia, or The stone-throwing devil”, by Richard Chamberlain, 1698.–The Pennsylvania cases of Mattson, Hendrickson, and Guard, 1684, 1701.–“Memorable providences, relating to withcrafts and possessions”, by Cotton Mather, 1689.–“A brief and true narrative of withchcraft at Salem village”, by Deodat Lawson, 1692.–Letter of Thomas Brattle, F.R.S., 16902.–Letters of Governor Phips to the home government, 1692, 1693.–From “The wonders of the invisible world”, by Cotton Mather, 1693.–A brand pluck’d out of the burning”, by Cotton Mather, 1693.–From “More wonders of the invisible world”, by Robert Calef.–From “A modest inquiry into the nature of witchcraft”, by John Hale, 1702.–The Virginia case of Grace Sherwood, 1706.

Letters from an American Farmer

Author: Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John

Duffield 1904

“Letters from an American Farmer was published in London in 1782, just as the idea of an “American” was becoming a reality. Those epistolary essays introduced the European public to America’s landscape and customs and have since served as the iconic description of a then-new people. Dennis D. Moore’s convenient, up-to-date reader’s edition situates those twelve pieces from the 1782 Letters in the context of thirteen other essays representative of Crèvecoeur’s writings in English.” – Publisher.

Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646

Author: Davis, William T., ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1908 Dewey Dec. 973.2

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

‘Of Plymouth Plantation’ was written was written between 1630 and 1651 by William Bradford, the leader of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. It is regarded as the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and the early years of the colony which they founded. The journal tells the story of the Pilgrims from 1608, when they settled in the Dutch Republic on the European mainland, through the 1620 Mayflower voyage to the New World, until the year 1647. -Wikipedia.

A Summary, Historical and Political, of the First Planting, Progressive Improvements, and Present State of the British Settlements in North America

– Volume 2

Author: Douglass, William

Boston: Rogers & Fowle 1749-1752

The English Colonies in America

– Volume 2

– Volume 3

– Volume 4

– Volume 5

Author: Doyle, John Andrew

1882-1907

The goal of the author was to write a “complete history of the English Colonies in North America during their period of dependence on the mother country.”

Home Life in Colonial Days – American Colonies History

Illustrated by Photographs gathered by the Author of ‘Real Things, Works and Happenings of Olden Times’

Author: Earle, Alice Morse

NY: Macmillan 1917

Chapter headings are:
-Homes of the Colonists – The Light of other Days -The Kitchen Fireside -The Serving of Meals -Food from Forest and Sea -Indian Corn -Meat and Drink -Flax Culture and Spinning -Wool Culture and Spinning, with a Postscript on Cotton -Hand-Weaving -Girls’ Occupations -Dress of the Colonists -Jack-knife Industries -Travel, Transportation, and Taverns -Sunday in the Colonies -Colonial Neighborliness -Old-time Flower Gardens.

The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America

– Volume 2

Author: Fiske, John

1889

Contents: Volume 1. The Medieval Netherlands -Dutch Influence upon England -Verrazano and Hudson -The West India Company -“Privileges and Exemptions” -King Log and King Stork -A Soldier’s Paternal Rule -Some Affairs of New Amsterdam -Dutch and English
Volume II. The English Autocrats -New York in the Year 1680 -Penn’s Holy Experiment -Downfall of the Stuarts -The Citadel of America -Knickerbocker Society -The Quaker Commonwealth -The Migrations of Sects -Appendices.

New France and New England

Author: Fiske, John

1904

Contents: From Cartier to Champlain -The Beginnings of Quebec -The Lords of Acadia. Later History of Champain -Wilderness and Empire -Witchcraft in Salem Village -The Great Awakening -Norridgewock and Louisburg -Beginnings of the Great War -Crown Point, Fort William Henry, and Ticonderoga -Louisburg, Fort Duquesne, and the Fall of Quebec.

Old Virginia and her Neighbours

– Volume 2

Author: Fiske, John

1897

Contents: Volume 1 The Sea Kings -A Discourse on Western Planting -The Land of the Powhatans -The Starving Time -Beginnings of a Commonwealth -A Seminary of Sedition -The Kingdom of Virginia -The Maryland Palatinate -Leah and Rachel

Volume 2 The Coming of the Cavaliers -Bacon’s Rebellion -William and Mary -Maryland’s Vicissitudes -Society in the Old Dominion -The Carolina Frontier -The Golden Age of Pirates -From Tidewater to the Mountains.

American Archives: Fourth Series. Containing a Documentary History of the English Colonies in North America …

from the King’s message to Parliament, of March 7, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence by the United State [1774-1776]. 6 volumes

Author: Force, Peter, comp.

Washington: Government Printing Office(?) 1837-1846

“American archives: consisting of a collection of authentick records, state papers, debates, and letters and other notices of publick affairs, the whole forming a documentary history of the origin and progress of the North American colonies; of the causes and accomplishment of the American Revolution; and of the Constitution of government for the United States, to the final ratification thereof”.

The Book of the Colonies : Comprising a History of the Colonies Composing the United States …

from the Discovery in the Tenth Century until the Commencement of the Revolutionary War. Compiled from the Best Authorities

Author: Frost, John

Hartford: Belknap and Hamersley 1849

The History of the United States of North America, from the Plantation of the British colonies till their Assumption of National Independence

– Volume 2

– Volume 3

– Volume 4

Grahame, James

Boston: Little Brown 1845

Provincial America 1690-1740 (American Nation, Vol. 6)

Greene, Evarts Boutell

1905

Contents: i. England and the Colonies (1689) ii. Provincial Reorganization (1689-1692) iii. Extension of Imperial Control (1689-1713) iv. Administrative Control of the Provinces (1689-1713) Sr. Constitutional Tendencies in the Colonies (1689-1713) vi. Puritans and Anglicans (1689-1714) vii. French and English Interests in America (1689) viii. King William’s War (1689-1701) ix. Queen Anne’s War (1700-1709) x. Acadia and the Peace of Utrecht (1709-1713) xi. Imperial Policy and Administration (1714-1742) xii.. Provincial Politics (1714-1740) xiii. Provincial Leaders (1714-1740) xiv. Immigration and Expansion (1690-1740) xv. Founding of Georgia (i 732-1754) xvi. Provincial Industry (1690-1740) xvii. Provincial Commerce (1690-1740) xviii. Provincial Culture (1690-1740) xix. Critical Essay on Authorities.

Sir William Johnson and the Six Nations

Griffis, William Elliot

NY: Dodd, Mead 1891

Johnson (1715-1774) was the chief Indian agent for the colony of New York, and played a leading role in relations between the northern colonies and the Indians, particularly concerning the Six Nations of the Iroquois.

Narratives of Early Maryland, 1633-1684

Hall, Clayton Colman, ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1910

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

The Fall of New France, 1755-1760

Hart, Gerald E.

Montreal: Drysdale 1888

The French and Indian War, from the perspective of an English Canadian historian of the late 19th century.

Winthrop’s Journal, “History of New England”, 1630-1649, Vol. 1

Volume 2

Hosmer, James Kendall, ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1908

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

“John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts Bay, kept this journal as a personal record of his life and service, but also as a semiofficial history of the first nineteen years of the Bay Colony. Since the late colonial period, historians have used Winthrop’s journal, first as a manuscript, and since 1790 in a variety of editions, for the study of the founding of Massachusetts…. The value of the journal to historians lies in the wealth of information not found in other surviving contemporary records that it provides concerning political and religious affairs in the first years of the new colony. Winthrop gives firsthand accounts, often extremely biased toward his own point of view, but substantial in detailing a range of events and figures in the early history of New England. William Bradford of Plymouth, John Cotton, Anne Hutchinson, and Roger Williams inhabit the pages of the journal; Antinomianism, Indian wars, witchcraft, and wolves are all described and discussed.” -Massachusetts Historical Society website.

Preliminaries of the Revolution 1763-1775 (American Nation, Vol. 8)

Howard, George Elliott

Harper & Brothers 1905

“An excellent study of this period which aims “to show what the issue really was and why people who had lived under one general government for a century and a half could no longer get on together.” Contains maps and a critical essay on authorities.” – Standard Catalog 1929.

Narratives of New Netherland, 1609-1664

Jameson, J. Franklin, ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1909

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

Original Narratives of Early American History (18 Vols)

Jameson, J. Franklin, ed.

1906-17

“An extensive, authoritative series of source material for the 17th century. Volumes cover early Spanish exploration, history of various colonies, Indian wars, Spanish exploration in the Southwest, narratives of the Northwest, etc.” – Standard Catalog 1929.

Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents

Jameson, John Franklin, ed.

1923

“A well edited collection of documents covering the years 1638-1763 and illustrating all aspects of these two employments.” – Standard Catalog 1929.

Narratives of the Indian Wars, 1675-1699

Lincoln, Charles H.

Scribner’s Sons 1913

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”. These took place in New England.

Contents: A relacion of the Indyan warre, by John Easton, 1675.–The present state of New-England with respect to the Indian war, by N.S., 1675.–A continuation of the state of New-England, by N.S., 1676.–A new and further narrative of the state of New-England, by N.S., 1676.–The war in New-England visibly ended, by R.H., 1677.–Narrative of the captivity of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, 1682.–Decennium luctuosum, by Cotton Mather, 1699.

A Short History of the English Colonies in America

Lodge, Henry Cabot

NY: Harper 1900

Contents: Virginia 1606-1765 – Virginia 1765 – Maryland 1632-1765 – Maryland 1765 – North Carolina 1663-1765 – North Carolina 1765 – South Carolina 1663-1765 – South Carolina 1765 – Georgia 1732-1765 – Georgia 1765 – Delaware 1609-1682 – Pennsylvania 1681-1765 – Pennsylvania and Delaware 1765 – New Jersey 1664-1765 – New Jersey 1765 – New York 1609-1765 – New York 1765 – Massachusetts 1620-1765 – Connecticut 1635-1765 – Rhode Island 1636-1765 – New Hampshire 1623-1765 – New England 1765 – Preparing for Revolution: 1765-1776 – War for Independence: 1776-1782 – Peace: 1782.

Select Charters and other Documents Illustrative of American History, 1606-1775

Macdonald, William, ed.

Macmillan 1904

Contains the text of 80 documents.

A History of the Colonies Planted by the English on the Continent of North America …

from their Settlement to the Commencement of that War which Terminated in their Independence

Marshall, John

Philadelphia: Small 1824

The author was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, and is still considered one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in U.S. history. He was a veteran of the Revolutionary war, and prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court was a Federalist leader in the House of Representatives. As the Supreme Court met for only three months per year, Marshall apparently found ample time for researching and writing history.

Travels in the American Colonies

Mereness, Newton D.

Macmillan Company 1916

Numerous travel accounts collected here.

La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West

Parkman, Francis

1879

Francis Parkman was possibly America’s most influential and widely read historian in the late 19th century. His reputation for research and interpretation has suffered in the 20th century, but his ability to tell a story has aged well. “In his inimitable style Parkman describes the exploration of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes, and the adventures of Joliet, Marquette and Father Hennepin, grouping all these events about La Salle.”
(La Salle. Robert Cavelier, sieur de, 1643-1687) – A.L.A. Catalog 1926.

Montcalm and Wolfe

– Volume 2

Parkman, Francis

1884

The story of the downfall of France in America, culminating in the battle on the Heights of Abraham.

Memoir upon the Late War in North America between the French and English, 1755-60 …

followed by observations upon the theatre of actual war, and by new details concerning the manners and customs of the Indians; with topographical maps

– Volume 2

Pouchot, Pierre

Roxbury, Mass:1866

Pierre Pouchot (1712-1769) was an officer and engineer in the French army. During the French and Indian War he was in charge of construction and defense of Forts Niagara and Levis, among other assignments. This memoir, written in 1768, draws upon his wartime experience in Canada as well as his knowledge of French military strategy and operations. It is the only history of that war on this webpage written by a French military participant.

Colonial America to 1763

Purvis, Thomas L.

Facts on File 1999

A volume in the series ‘Almanacs of American Life’. “Each volume is an almanac-format compilation of information in statistical and tabular form, with connective text describing the detail of life during the period. Each book is enhanced by about 100 illustrations… and contains an extensive bibliography.” They provide info on climate, natural history, geography, dates of events, the economy, the population, diet and health, religion, politics & government, cities, education, arts & letters, science and technology, popular culture, crime etc.” -Book cover.

A General History of the United States of America from the discovery in 1492: (vol 1)

or, sketches of the divine agency, in their settlement, growth, and protection; and especially in the late memorable Revolution, exhibiting a general view of the principal events, from the discovery of North America to the year 1765

Trumbull, Benjamin

NY: Williams & Whiting 1810

This history should be in 3 volumes, but only the first volume was found online.

The author, Benjamin Trumbull (1735-1820), was a Connecticut minister educated in divinity at Yale. He wrote in the Preface that, “after the revolutionary war, it was the desire of many pious men , that the remarkable deliverances, which the United States of America had experienced, might be fully exhibited to the public, as a tribute of praise to their great Deliverer, and for the instruction of posterity.” He wrote that he agreed to a request from the General Association of the State of Connecticut to write such a history, but decided to expand the theme to start with the discovery of America and take the story through to the establishment of the U.S. Trumbull believed that this was the first published history of the United States.

Narratives of Early Virginia, 1606-1625

Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed.

Scribner’s Sons 1907

A volume in the series “Original Narratives of Early American History”.

Contents: Observations by Master George Percy, 1607.–A true relation, by Captain John Smith, 1608.–Description of Virginia and proceedings of the colonie.–The relation of the Lord De-La-Ware, 1611.–Letter of Don Diego de Molina, 1613.–Letter of Father Pierre Biard, 1614.–Letter of John Rolfe, 1614.–Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, 1619.–Letter of John Pory, 1619.–Generall historie of Virginia by Captain John Smith, 1624; the fourth booke.–The Virginia planters’ answer to Captain Butler, 1623.–The tragical relation of the Virginia Assembly, 1624.–The discourse of the old company 1625,

French Policy Defeated, being an account of all the hostile proceedings of the French, against the inhabitants of the British Colonies in North America, for the last seven years

Unknown

London: 1755

[Continued from the title page] “Also, the vigorous measures pursued both in England and America, to vindicate the rights of the British subjects, and the honour of the Crown, from the insults and invasions of the perfidious enemies. With an authentic account of the naval engagement off Newfoundland, and the taking of the forts in the Bay of Fundy. Embellished with two curious maps, describing all the coasts, bays, lakes, rivers, soundings, principal towns and forts, confining on the British plantations in America.”

The Mississippi Basin: The Struggle in America between England and France 1697-1763, with full cartographical illustrations from contemporary sources

Winsor, Justin

Boston: Houghton, Mifflin 1895

A General History of the British Empire in America Containing an Historical, Political, and Commercial View of the English Settlements; … – American Colonies Books

Including all the Countries in North-America, and the West-Indies, Ceded by the Peace of Paris

– Volume 2

Wynne, John Huddlestone

London: Richardson and Urquhart 1770

John Huddlestone Wynne (1743-1788) lived in Southampton, England and wrote on a variety of topics, including essays, poetry, an annotated edition of the New Testament, and history. His works of history don’t appear to have gained much respect within the profession. In this work, the second volume is almost entirely about the war of 1754-1760 between Britain and France.