List of Figures ix

List of Maps xi

List of Documents xii

Preface to the Fourth Edition xiii

Acknowledgments xvi

Part I Old and New Worlds Meet 1

1 The Peoples of Eastern North America: Societies in Transition 3

1 America Before Columbus and the Problem of History 4

2 The Americas in Ancient Times 5

3 The Eastern Woodlands, 1000–1300 9

4 Eastern Woodlands Societies in Transition, 1300–1500 20

5 Earliest Contacts with Europeans 22

2 The Age of European Exploration 27

1 Western Europe, 1300–1450 28

2 The Portuguese in Africa 30

3 Spain Encounters the New World 32

4 Sixteenth-Century European Competitors 39

5 England: The Elizabethan Prelude 41

Part II The Seventeenth-Century Settlements 51

3 The English Conquer Virginia, 1607–1660 53

1 Virginia Before the English 54

2 The Virginia Company: Early Settlement 55

3 The Charter of Liberties 64

4 The Massacre of 1622 and Fall of the Company 69

5 Growth and Consolidation, 1625–1660 72

4 The Conquest Continues: New England, 1620–1660 78

1 New England Before the English 79

2 The Pilgrims 80

3 Massachusetts: A City on the Hill 84

4 Establishing and Defending Order 91

5 Challenges from England 101

6 Stable Societies 103

5 Diverse Colonies: New France, New Netherland, Maryland, and the West Indies 106

1 New France 108

2 New Netherland and Delaware: The Dutch and Swedish Beginnings 113

3 Maryland: A Catholic Proprietary 120

4 English Colonies in the West Indies 128

6 The Restoration Era 134

1 The Return of Charles II 135

2 Mercantilism: The Navigation Laws 138

3 New York Becomes an English Colony 140

4 The Carolinas: Early Settlement 148

7 The Later Years of Charles II 156

1 Virginia: Bacon’s Rebellion and Its Aftermath 157

2 Massachusetts: The Struggle to Remain Self-Governing 167

3 New Jersey and Pennsylvania: The Beginnings 173

8 James II and the Glorious Revolution 181

1 The Dominion of New England 182

2 Massachusetts Reclaims Control 186

3 New York: Leisler’s Rebellion 189

4 Maryland 194

5 Aftermath 196

9 The Eras of William and Mary, and Queen Anne 200

1 William and Mary’s Colonial Policy 201

2 The Salem Witchcraft Trials 203

3 War on the Northern Frontier, 1689–1713 213

4 War and Political Change in the Carolinas 217

5 Proprietary Problems in Pennsylvania and New Jersey 222

Part III The Eighteenth-Century Provinces in a Changing Continent 227

10 The Economy and Labor System in British North America 229

1 The British Atlantic Economy 230

2 The Southern Plantation System 232

3 Northern Farming and Commerce 240

4 The Mercantilist System 246

5 Money and Taxation 251

6 The Standard of Living: Poverty and Prosperity 255

11 Settler Families and Society 260

1 New World Families 261

2 Children 267

3 Patriarchal Authority 272

4 Social Structure: Rank and Class 278

12 White Women and Gender 284

1 Gender and the Settler Experience in the Seventeenth Century 285

2 Regional Variations 289

3 Gender in a Commercializing Culture: The Eighteenth-Century Refined Lady 296

4 Gender in a Commercializing Culture: Middling and Working White Women 300

13 British North American Religion, Education, and Culture, 1689–1760 308

1 Religion 309

2 Education 318

3 The Anglicization of Taste 324

4 Libraries, Literature, and the Press 326

5 Science and the Arts 329

6 Popular Culture 332

14 Slavery and the African American Experience, 1689–1760 335

1 Slavery: An Evolving Institution 336

2 Slaves’ Experiences 341

3 The African American Family 352

4 African American Culture 355

5 Free African Americans 359

6 Resistance to Slavery 362

15 Expanding Spanish and French Empires in North America 367

1 Florida 369

2 New Mexico 375

3 The Growth of New France 380

4 The French Upper Country, or Pays d’en Haut 384

5 Louisiana 389

6 Texas 394

7 Significance for the British Colonies 396

16 Native American Societies and Cultures, 1689–1760 397

1 Native American Societies in the Eighteenth Century 399

2 The Nations of the Northern Frontier 402

3 The Nations of the Southern Frontier 416

4 Adaptation or Decline? 424

17 Immigration and Expansion in British North America, 1714–1750 427

1 The Germans and Scots-Irish 428

2 The Founding of Georgia 438

3 The Urban Frontier 441

18 British North American Institutions of Government 447

1 The Royal Framework 449

2 Local Government: Town Meeting and County Court 450

3 The Provincial Assembly: Crown versus People 453

4 Parties and Factions in the Age of Walpole 466

5 Toward a Republican Ideology 470

19 Britain, France, and Spain: The Imperial Contest, 1739–1763 473

1 The War of Jenkins’ Ear 474

2 The Struggle for the Ohio 477

3 The Conquest of Canada 489

4 The War’s Consequences 499

Selected Bibliography 507

Index 573

"The Middleton–Lombard text provides a superb introduction to the complex history of colonial America. Its prose, coverage, organization, maps, and illustrations attest to the careful attention to detail which the subject deserves." Joyce Appleby, University of California, Los Angeles

"This new edition brings the classic survey text in colonial American history abreast of the latest scholarship without sacri??? cing any of the earlier versions' coherence, clarity, and accessibility. A superb overview." Fred Anderson, University of Colorado, Boulder

The story of how the 13 North American colonies established by Great Britain went on to form the nucleus of the United States is both fascinating and complex. Since its initial publication in 1992, Colonial America has garnered wide acclaim for its accessibility and well-balanced approach in revealing the myriad in??? uences that shaped early American history to a wide audience. The fourth edition is certain to enhance its sterling reputation as the standard textbook for students of this seminal period of American history.

Fully updated and revised to re??? ect the most recent scholarship, the fourth edition features extensive new coverage of the simultaneous development of French, Spanish, and Dutch colonies in North America. Other additions include enhanced coverage of the English colony of Barbados and trans-Atlantic in??? uences on colonial development, as well as rewritten and updated chapters on families and women. More focused attention is also given to the perspectives of Native Americans and their important in??? uences in shaping the history and development of the colonies.

With its continued in-depth coverage of the background, founding, and development of the 13 English North American colonies, Colonial America: A History to 1763, Fourth Edition offers the most complete portrait of the diverse people, events, and in??? uences that lead to the creation of the United States.