Period 2: 1607–1754 (AP US History)

Period 2: 1607-1754

Europeans and American Indians maneuvered and fought for dominance, control, and security in North America, and distinctive colonial and native societies emerged. Topics may include:

 

 

Image Source: Catawba deerskin map showing several American Indian nations in northwest South Carolina, in a 1929 facsimile of the ca. 1724 original (Library of Congress)

Facsimile of a deerskin map made by a Catawba Indian depicting the situation of several nations of Indians to the northwest of South Carolina

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Resources by Period:

Key Concepts

2.1: Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled, and they competed with each other and American Indians for resources.

2.2: The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control.

How Different European Colonies Developed and Expanded

Theodor DeBry's 1594 engraving of Columbus receiving gold from natives on coming ashore in America

Gold, Gospel, and Glory

by John Fea

Watch a discussion of European motives for colonization and exploitation of resources in the Caribbean.

  • Video
1616 portrait of Pocohontas in European dress

Jamestown and the Founding of English America

by James Horn

Learn about Jamestown and the development of North America under English rule.

  • Essay
1682 Map depicting New Netherland (New England)

Colonization and Settlement, 1585–1763

by John Demos

Read a comprehensive essay about the establishment of colonies in North America.

  • Essay
Guillaume De L'Isle 1718 map showing the Louisiana territory

Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississipi

1718

First map showing the Gulf Coast, Mississippi River, Texas, and New Orleans, including routes of early explorers

  • Primary Source
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Transatlantic Trade

Hand-colored engraving depicting the making of sugar

Cuba: An American History

by Ada Ferrer

Watch a discussion of the important role of the sugar and silver trade in Spanish colonies in the Americas.

  • Video
1808 Engraving of the deck and hold of a slave ship illustrating how little space enslaved people had on board

The Middle Passage

1749

The horrors of the Middle Passage through an engraving, a letter, and the view of an enslaved man

  • Primary Source
Folk art wotercolor depicting enslaved people, with some people playing musical instruments and others perhaps dancing

The Origins of Slavery

by Ira Berlin

Learn about the Middle Passage and the development of the slave trade in North America.

  • Essay
1833 Watercolor depicting the sale of enslaved people at auction in Charleston

Facts about the Slave Trade and Slavery

by Steven Mintz

Read about the Transatlantic slave trade starting in 1526.

  • Essay
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Interactions between American Indians and Europeans

Paul Revere's engraving showing Metacomet (also known as Philip) the sachem of the Wampanoag during the 1660s and '70s

King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity

by Jill Lepore

Watch a discussion about Metacom and how the meaning of his rebellion has changed over time.

  • Video
1776 Letter to Antonio Bucarelli

A report from Spanish California

1776

An account of the rebuilding of the San Diego mission and other news

  • Primary Source
Detail of Virginia map depicting Powhatan, Indian chief shown on platform above campfire with tribe

The Colonial Virginia Frontier

by William E. White

Learn about the complex interactions between the Powhatans and European colonists in Virginia.

  • Essay
1730 Map depicting New Netherland (New England)

Map of European settlements and American Indian tribes

1730

Eighteenth-century Dutch map of New England, Pennsylvania, and the Chesapeake with Dutch, English, and American Indian names

  • Primary Source
1884 Map showing Cherokee Nation Territory during the Early Republic (i.e. before forced removal)

Nancy Ward, Cherokee Beloved Woman

by Theda Perdue

Read about Nanye’hi's role as a Cherokee leader in the founding era.

  • Essay
Modern statue of Indian chief Po'Pay

The Pueblo Revolt

by Edward Countryman

Read about Indigenous resistance against Spain in the Southwest.

  • Essay
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Slavery in the British Colonies

Detail from an 1805 Broadside depicting the branding of slaves

How Did Slavery Begin in North America?

by Christopher Brown

Watch a discussion of the origins of slavery in North America.

  • Video
Title page of Daniel Horsmanden's 1744 pamphlet about the Conspiarcy of 1741

The New York Conspiracy

1741

An account of a purported collaboration between enslaved Africans and poor Whites and the resulting prosecution and punishment

  • Primary Source
Portrait from title page of 1794 autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

The Life of Olaudah Equiano

1789

Equiano recounts his experiences as an enslaved person

  • Primary Source
Detail of front page of the New-York Weekly Journal, March 11, 1733

Slave revolt in the West Indies

1733

A New York newspaper reports on a revolt in the Caribbean

  • Primary Source
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Colonial Society and Culture

Cityscape view of Dutch Ships in the New Netherlands Harbor

The Rise and Fall of New Netherland

by Simon Middleton

Read about the role of the Dutch republic in the early exploration and colonization of the Northeast.

  • Essay
Detail of handwritten 1622 letter describing life in Virginia

A Jamestown settler describes life in Virginia

1622

Letter describing Jamestown, survival, and the hunt for gold

  • Primary Source
Oil painting of John Winthrop

Life in Boston

1634

John Winthrop described life in the New England colonies

  • Primary Source
Detail of front page from the New-York Weekly Journal, May 19, 1735

Arguments for educating women

1735

A reprint of a British article in a New York newspaper

  • Primary Source
19th-century engraving of the landing of Roger Williams showing European being greeted by Native people.

The Puritans and Dissent

by Francis J. Bremer

Learn about the cases of Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson.

  • Essay
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American History Timeline: 1607-1754

Image Citations 

Listed in order of appearance in the sections above

How Different European Colonies Developed and Expanded

How Different European Colonies Developed and Expanded

  • de Bry, Theodor, engraver. "Columbus in India primo Appellens, Magnis Excipitur muneribus ab Incolis [Christopher Columbus arrives in America]," In Collectiones peregrinationum in Indiam occidentalem [Collected travels in the East Indies and West Indies], vol. 4: Girolamo Benzoni, Americae pars quarta. Sive, Insignis & admiranda historia de primera occidentali India à Christophoro Columbo. Frankfurt am Main: T. de Bry, 1594. Rijks Museum.
  • Unidentified Artist. Pocahontas. s.l., after 1616. Oil on canvas. Painting based on engraving by Simon van de Passe. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 
  • Visscher, Nicholas. Novi Belgi Novaeque Angliae [Map of New Netherland and New England]. Amsterdam, 1682. Map. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03582.
  • De L'Isle, Guillaume. Carte de la Louisiane et du cours du Mississippi. Paris, 1718. Map. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04222.

Transatlantic Trade

Transatlantic Trade

  • Hinton, John. A Representation of the Sugar-Cane and the Art of Making Sugar. London, 1749. Handcolored engraving. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • Clarkson, Thomas. Woodcut of the deck of a slave ship. In The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament, vol. 2. London, 1808. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC05965.02.
  • Attributed to John Rose. The Old Plantation, ca. 1785-1790, Beaufort County, South Carolina, Watercolor on laid paper. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia.
  • Martin, Henry Byam. Charleston S.C. 4th March 1833 "The Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave." s.l., 1833. Watercolor and pencil on paper. Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1981-42-42.

Interactions between American Indians and Europeans

Interactions between American Indians and Europeans

  • Revere, Paul. "Philip. King of Mount Hope." In The Entertaining History of King Philip's War, Which Began in the Month of June, 1675. With the Proceedings of Benjamin Church, Esq. 2nd ed., by
  • Thomas Church. Newport, 1772. Engraving. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    Rivera y Moncada, Fernando de. Letter to Antonio Bucareli, September 22, 1776. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC06287.06.
  • Smith, John, and William Hole. Virginia. [London, 1624]. Map. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.
  • Seutter, Matthew. Recens Edita totius Novi Belgii [New Netherland - New York]. Augsburg, Germany, 1730. Map. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03583.
  • Royce, C. C. "Map of the Former Territorial Limits of the Cherokee Nation of Indians, 1884." In Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. Washington, DC, 1887. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC05689.
  • Fragua, Cliff. Statue of Po’pay given by New Mexico. National Statuary Hall Collection. 2005. (Courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol)

Slavery in the British Colonies

Slavery in the British Colonies

  • Wood, Samuel. Injured Humanity; Being A Representation of What the Unhappy Children of Africa Endure from Those Who Call Themselves Christians. New York, 1805. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC05113.
  • Horsmanden, Daniel. A Journal of the Proceedings in the Detection of the Conspiracy Formed by Some White People in conjunction with Negro and Other Slaves, for Burning the City of New-York in America, and Murdering the Inhabitants. New York, 1744. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC04205.01.
  • Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Norwich, England, 1794. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
  • New-York Weekly Journal, March 11, 1733. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08724.

Colonial Society and Culture

Colonial Society and Culture

  • Schenk, Peter. Nieu Amsterdam, een Stedeken in Noord Amerikaes Nieu Hollant. s.l., 1702. Print. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC03022
  • Brandt, Sebastian. Letter to Henry Hovener, January 13, 1622. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC00708.
  • Unidentified Artist. John Wintrop. ca. 1800,  after early 17th century original. Oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 
  • New-York Weekly Journal, May 19, 1735. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC07336.
  • Fairchild, Louis, and C. R. Hall, engravers. Landing of Roger Williams. New York: Johnson, Fry & Co., 1867. Engraving based on a painting by Alonzo Chappel. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, GLC08878.0006.