Books with title Everyday life in Colonial America

From the moment Europeans stumbled across North America at the end of the fifteenth century, monarchs and investors sought to exploit the land s riches. With high expectations, colonists sailed across the Atlantic, seeking a better life and perhaps even fortune. But life in America was harder than they thought. Several colonies failed, and without the help of friendly Native Americans, others may not have made it, either. Even after the colonists learned how to build houses, hunt, and farm, life remained hard for all concerned. Men had to plant and tend crops, hunt wild game, and fix anything that broke. Women had to take care of the children, sew, cook, and perform dozens of other duties. Children also had a list of chores that they had to perform every day. There was so much work, in fact, that colonists began using indentured servants and then slaves from Africa to plant and harvest their crops. Learn what daily life was like for the colonists, and how their successes affected the Native Americans and governments in other countries.

Slaves replaced indentured servants as a source of cheap labor in all of the colonies early in the seventeenth century. Slavery was first legalized in Massachusetts. However, economics soon made slavery unnecessary in the North while increasing demand for it in the South. Readers learn from those who lived it, how this increased demand led to the importation of African slaves into the colonies and the expansion of an institution that would threaten to tear a new nation apart.

In the early 17th century, all the world knew of North America came from reports of the earliest European explorers. By the end of the 18th century, the world knew America as the United States—a country whose earliest years were shaped by colonialism. This historical, non-fiction text examines life in Colonial America through the eyes of the kids who lived there. Age-appropriate language takes readers inside the clothes, toys, schools, and ways of life in the 17th and 18th centuries. Fact boxes provide opportunities for additional learning. A glossary and index round out the text, completing a comprehensive learning experience.