Thirteen Colonies: Primary Sources (Thirteen Colonies)

Rating:
Summary: A supplemental volume of Colonial primary documents
Review: I love books like "Primary Sources," the fourteenth volume of the Thirteen Colonies series. This volume is a compilation of articles recalling settlement of the thirteen colonies that eventually formed a new nation. My father had a similar sort of book on the Civil War, entitled "The Blue and the Gray," which had all sorts of excerpts from primary documents such as newspaper clippings, political speeches, popular songs, letters, etc. This small volume does the same for the colonial period of American history. You will find excerpts from things like Powhatan's final speech to John Smith, a letter describing the tarring and feathering of a loyalist, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and Per Kalm's travels through New Jersey and New York. There are also various political documents, not just the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, but also the Mayflower Compact and the Maryland Toleration Act. You will also find The Propriety of Pennsylvania, which William Penn worte to entice settlers to the area, selections from the "New England Primer," and editorials on both sides of the question of American independence.

This is not the sort of book that young students will be inclined to read, but teachers will be able to use to great advantage. There are all sorts of possibilities here for handouts as well as selections that can be read aloud. Melinda Allman, who edited this volume, has done all of the work for us. There are very few of this primary sources that I would be interested in reading in their entirety and she has selected the choice parts for our edification. The book is more sparsley illustrated that the other thirteen volumes in the series, but that certainly makes sense. The organizational structure of the chapters is the same as the other volumes, looking at the origins of the colony, their initial formation, what life was like for the colonists, what happened during the fight for independence, and the emergence of a new nation. The Thirteen Colonies series is an excellent set of volumes that explore the roots of the United States by not only looking at the history of each colony, but establishing its uniqueness in the minds of students. This final reference volume just makes this excellent series even better.

Rating:
Summary: A supplemental volume of Colonial primary documents
Review: I love books like "Primary Sources," the fourteenth volume of the Thirteen Colonies series. This volume is a compilation of articles recalling settlement of the thirteen colonies that eventually formed a new nation. My father had a similar sort of book on the Civil War, entitled "The Blue and the Gray," which had all sorts of excerpts from primary documents such as newspaper clippings, political speeches, popular songs, letters, etc. This small volume does the same for the colonial period of American history. You will find excerpts from things like Powhatan's final speech to John Smith, a letter describing the tarring and feathering of a loyalist, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography, and Per Kalm's travels through New Jersey and New York. There are also various political documents, not just the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, but also the Mayflower Compact and the Maryland Toleration Act. You will also find The Propriety of Pennsylvania, which William Penn worte to entice settlers to the area, selections from the "New England Primer," and editorials on both sides of the question of American independence.

This is not the sort of book that young students will be inclined to read, but teachers will be able to use to great advantage. There are all sorts of possibilities here for handouts as well as selections that can be read aloud. Melinda Allman, who edited this volume, has done all of the work for us. There are very few of this primary sources that I would be interested in reading in their entirety and she has selected the choice parts for our edification. The book is more sparsley illustrated that the other thirteen volumes in the series, but that certainly makes sense. The organizational structure of the chapters is the same as the other volumes, looking at the origins of the colony, their initial formation, what life was like for the colonists, what happened during the fight for independence, and the emergence of a new nation. The Thirteen Colonies series is an excellent set of volumes that explore the roots of the United States by not only looking at the history of each colony, but establishing its uniqueness in the minds of students. This final reference volume just makes this excellent series even better.