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Colonial America
American Founding Era Collection
The Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America
March 4, 1789–March 3, 1791Convening first in New York and later in Philadelphia from March 1789 to March 1791, these earliest iterations of the Senate and the House of Representatives worked with a new president to establish a government subject to the vision of a constitution less than a year in existence. Containing all... More
The Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution
As the largest, oldest, and wealthiest of the original thirteen colonies, Virginia played a central role in the fight for independence and as a state in the new republic. This importance is reflected in the number of Virginians who filled key national leadership positions. Three remarkable... More
Founders Early Access
The Rotunda Founders Early Access project makes available for the first time thousands of unpublished documents from our nation’s founders in a free online resource. Conceived with the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities... More
The Papers of Alexander Hamilton Digital Edition
Killed before he was fifty in the most famous duel in American history, Alexander Hamilton had the shortest life of all the major founding fathers and experienced a career filled with as much controversy as triumph. His influence on our nation, however, has been consistent and profound. We remember... More
The Papers of Eliza Lucas Pinckney & Harriott Pinckney Horry Digital Edition
The papers of Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722–1793) and her daughter Harriott Pinckney Horry (1748–1830) document the lives of two observant and articulate founding-era women who were members of one of South Carolina’s leading families, as well as distinguished people in their own... More
The Papers of Revolutionary Era Pinckney Statesmen
One of the leading families of colonial South Carolina and the early republic, the Pinckneys of Charleston were witnesses to—and often active participants in—many of the defining customs and transforming events of the early national South. This digital resource collects, for the first time, the... More

The Papers of Francis Bernard
Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-1769The sixth and final volume of the Bernard Papers presents the official and private correspondence of Massachusetts royal governor Sir Francis Bernard upon his return to England in 1769 until his death in 1779, documenting his attempts to influence British colonial policy. Bernard’s letters on... More
The Natural, Moral, and Political History of Jamaica, and the Territories thereon Depending
From the First Discovery of the Island by Christopher Columbus to the Year 1746Between 1737 and 1746, James Knight—a merchant, planter, and sometime Crown official and legislator in Jamaica—wrote a massive two-volume history of the island. The first volume provided a narrative of the colony’s development up to the mid-1740s, while the second offered a broad survey of most... More

The Correspondence of Thomas Hutchinson
January-October, 1770The Boston Massacre occasioned a flurry of letter writing for Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts. So frequent was the correspondence to and from Hutchinson that this volume covers only the first ten months of 1770, beginning with the rising tide of violence in January and... More

Fashioning the New England Family
As America’s first historical society, the Massachusetts Historical Society has collected family materials since 1791, including long-cherished pieces of clothing that were acquired alongside papers such as letters and diaries. Because of the different storage requirements for textiles and... More
Colonial Williamsburg: The Story
From the Colonial Era to the RestorationIt was in Williamsburg, Virginia, that American independence—and democracy—took root. And it is in the Historic Area of Colonial Williamsburg that millions have learned about the continuing relevance of America’s founding ideas. Spanning nearly five centuries, Williamsburg: The Story chronicles the... More

The Records of Kings Chapel, Boston
The story of the origins of the first Anglican congregation established in Boston and New England, Kings Chapel, is significantly shaped by the gradually emerging imperial policies of the government of Charles II during the late seventeenth century. It is a transatlantic account influenced largely... More
Jefferson on Display
Attire, Etiquette, and the Art of PresentationWhen we think of Thomas Jefferson, a certain picture comes to mind for some of us, combining his physical appearance with our perception of his character. During Jefferson’s lifetime this image was already taking shape, helped along by his own assiduous cultivation. In Jefferson on Display, G. S.... More
Face Value
The Consumer Revolution and the Colonizing of AmericaThe Industrial Revolution was previously understood as having awakened an enormous, unquenchable thirst for material consumption. People up and down the social order had discovered and were indulging in the most extraordinary passion for consumer merchandise in quantities and varieties that had... More
The Papers of James Madison
Secretary of State Series, vol. 111 January 1806-31 May 1806During the period covered by this volume, James Madison continued to deal with the United States' vexing relations with Europe. Mounting outrage against Great Britain's seizure of American vessels, impressment of seamen, and violations of trade agreements with British Canada erupted in Congress.... More
Satan and Salem
The Witch-Hunt Crisis of 1692The result of a perfect storm of factors that culminated in a great moral catastrophe, the Salem witch trials of 1692 took a breathtaking toll on the young English colony of Massachusetts. Over 150 people were imprisoned, and nineteen men and women, including a minister, were executed by hanging.... More

A Company Man
The Remarkable French-Atlantic Voyage of a Clerk for the Company of the Indies [HC][Book description not available]

The Papers of Francis Bernard
Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760–1769British Regulars marched into Boston at midday on Saturday 1 October 1768. For weeks there had been rumors that the landing would be resisted. But by four in the afternoon the two regiments were parading on the Common without incident. The troops were there to deter rioters, cow radicals, and... More

The Papers of Francis Bernard
Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760–1769Governor Francis Bernard's historical reputation rests on his role in pushing the American colonists toward revolution. Bernard was the kind of government official without whom revolutions might not occur: A thwarted modernizer, despairing of metropolitan inertia and resentful of local power shifts... More
Tom Paine's America
The Rise and Fall of Transatlantic Radicalism in the Early RepublicTom Paine’s America explores the vibrant, transatlantic traffic in people, ideas, and texts that profoundly shaped American political debate in the 1790s. In 1789, when the Federal Constitution was ratified, "democracy" was a controversial term that very few Americans used to describe their new... More
Portrait of a Patriot
The Major Political and Legal Papers of Josiah Quincy JuniorSuccessful Boston lawyer, active member of the Sons of Liberty, and noted political essayist, Josiah Quincy Junior (1744–1775) left a lasting impression on those he met--for his passion in the courtroom as well as his orations in the Old South Meeting House, and for his determination to live fully... More