Featured Article: Who was America's first murderer?
The first recorded murder in America was committed by someone who came over on the Mayflower. Who was it, and why did he do it? See more »
colonial life library
Articles in this section cover the exploration of the American continent and what daily life was like in the American colonies. You can learn about how people lived as the new country developed.
Did a U.S. president rewrite the Bible?
Many of the world's people regard the Bible as a sacred text that's integral to their daily lives. So what inspired a U.S. president to cut up a Bible and take out sections he disapproved of?
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Did the Dutch really trade Manhattan for nutmeg?
It's the garnish of choice for eggnog, and some say it's an aphrodisiac. Nutmeg used to be a really hot commodity -- so hot, the Dutch thought it was more valuable than Manhattan.
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Were the American colonists drugged during the Salem witchcraft trial?
The Puritans who conducted the witchcraft trials in Salem, Mass., suspected the devil was at work in their society. But could the madness have been caused by drugs?
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What happened to the lost colony at Roanoke?
When Gov. John White left Roanoke to gather supplies from England, he was astonished at what he found upon his return: nothing. The colonists were gone, their houses were gone and the only clue was a tree carved with the word "CROATOAN."
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What was America's first terrorist threat?
For centuries, the Barbary pirates plundered European and U.S. ships in the Mediterranean. How did America put an end to the kidnapping, enslavement and extortion?
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Who was America's first murderer?
The first recorded murder in America was committed by someone who came over on the Mayflower. Who was it, and why did he do it?
See more »
Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America. On May 14, 1607, three ships from London landed here with 104 or 105 colonists.
See more »Alexander Spotswood
Spotswood, Alexander (1676–1740), a British colonial official. His administration of Virginia, as lieutenant governor (1710–22), was the ablest in the colony's history.
See more »American Colonial Life
American Colonial Life (1607-1776), the way of life in the 13 colonies that became the United States.
See more »American Exploration and Settlement
Norsemen, including Leif Ericson, are generally believed to have been the first Europeans to visit the American continent, about 1000.
See more »American Fur Company
American Fur Company, a United States fur-trading company founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808.
See more »Ann Rutledge
Rutledge, Ann (1813–1835), the legendary first sweetheart of Abraham Lincoln. She was the daughter of James Rutledge, at whose inn Lincoln lived at various times while he was in New Salem, Illinois.
See more »Baltimore - Family
Baltimore, the hereditary title of the Calvert family, the English family that founded Maryland.
See more »Bartholomew Gosnold
Gosnold, Bartholomew (?–1607), an English explorer and American colonist. In 1602 he explored the New England coast from Maine to Narragansett Bay, and gave Cape Cod its name.
See more »Blockhouse
Blockhouse, a fortified building about the size of a small house. It may be part of a fort or may stand alone.
See more »Deerfield Massacre
Deerfield Massacre, February 29, 1704, a bloody raid against British colonists in Massachusetts by the French and their Indian allies during Queen Anne's War.
See more »Edward Randolph
Randolph, Edward (1632–1703), an English colonial agent in America. He was sent to Massachusetts in 1676 as an agent of King Charles II to order the colony to answer complaints about various irregularities in the way it was conducting its affairs.
See more »Edward Winslow
Winslow, Edward (1595–1655), an American colonial governor. In 1620 he sailed from England with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and became one of the founders of Plymouth Colony.
See more »Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne, a French fort built in 1754 at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers form the Ohio River.
See more »Fort Necessity
Fort Necessity, a former earthworks fort in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.
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