Week 2: The Literature of Colonial America
Online Resources
(Return to the English 2327 Table of Contents)
(Return to the Week 2 Schedule)
 

 
The Puritans: American Literature 
Links to online resources for most major Puritan leaders and writers. 
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Captain John Smith 
A history of the settlement of Jamestown and short biography of its founder. 

Plimoth Colony Library 
Links to historical materials from one of the most endearing of the early European colonies. 

Pilgrims and Puritans in New England 
Biographies of William Bradford and Jonathan Winthrop. 

The "Plimoth Adventure" Reconstructed 
The history of the Plymouth story begins in the English town of Scrooby. 

"A Plea for Religious Liberty" by Roger Williams 
Constructed as an argument, this essay espouses the principle of religious freedom as it would be practiced by Williams and the inhabitants of the Colony of Rhode Island. 

A Selection from Thomas Morton's New English Canaan 
This short section includes Morton's song sung by the settlers as they drank and danced around their infamous Maypole. 

The first page of one of the most important colonial documents in existence, the "Journal" of John Winthrop chronicles the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
 
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Thomas Morton: "Manners and Customs of the Indians (of New England)" 
This is one of the earliest estimations of Native Americans by English colonial settlers. 
(Internet Modern History Sourcebook) 

John Winthrop 
A brief biography and photograph of the statue of the colonial governor in the United States Capitol. 

Massachusetts Historical Society Exhibit of the Journal of John Winthrop 
The fascinating saga of the Wintrop manuscripts 

"A Modell of Christian Charity," by John Winthrop 
The essay, written during the passage across the Atlantic in 1630, reflects Winthrop's concept of the Christian community he and the other Puritans hoped to found in their New England settlement. 

The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson 
The e-text of the history of Mary Rowlandson. 

Mary Rowlandson 
A website devoted to the publication of the Narrative. 
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Click here to see a panorama of Plymouth Plantation grounds. 
 
 

 

This page was last modified on January 21, 2007,
and is maintained by Dr. Geoffrey A. Grimes.
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