History Logo
ShowsThis Day In HistoryScheduleTopicsStories
  • History Classics
  • Live TV
  • Your Profile
Your Profile
History
  • Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
  • Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
Email Updates
  • Live TV
  • History Classics
  • Shows
  • This Day In History
  • Schedule
  • Topics
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • History Podcasts
  • History Vault
  • Shop
  • History Travel

Colonial America

Topics

See All

Whitefield PreachesBritish evangelist and founding father of Methodism, George Whitefield (1714 - 1770) preaching in Moorfields, London, 1742. Engraving by E. Crowe Original publication: Illustrated London News pub. 1865. (Photo by Illustrated London News/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Featured

Great Awakening

First Great Awakening In the 1700s, a European philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, was making its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the American colonies. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized a scientific and logical view of the world, while downplaying religion. In many ways, religion was becoming more formal and less […]

Read moreRead more about Great Awakening
Color Print Depicting Public Worship at Plymouth by the Pilgrims( Original Caption) Public worship at Plymouth by the Pilgrims. Colored engraving. Undated.

Freedom of Religion

Religion In Colonial America America wasn’t always a stronghold of religious freedom. More than half a century before the Pilgrims set sail in the Mayflower, French Protestants (called Huguenots) established a colony at Fort Caroline near modern-day Jacksonville, Florida. The Spanish, who were largely Catholic and occupied much of Florida at the time, slaughtered the […]

Read more
HISTORY: The Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch Trials

Context & Origins of the Salem Witch Trials Belief in the supernatural–and specifically in the devil’s practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others in return for their loyalty–had emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. In addition, the harsh realities of life […]

Read more
HISTORY: The 13 Colonies

The 13 Colonies

The 13 Colonies were a group of colonies of Great Britain that settled on the Atlantic coast of America in the 17th and 18th centuries. The colonies declared independence in 1776 to found the United States of America.

Read more

Stories

See All

Jamestown

Featured

10 Things You May Not Know About the Jamestown Colony

Explore surprising facts about America’s first permanent English settlement.

Read moreRead more about 10 Things You May Not Know About the Jamestown Colony
Jamestown

What Was Life Like in Jamestown?

Life in the early 1600s at Jamestown consisted mainly of danger, hardship, disease and death.

Read more
Historic Foodway's kitchen in Colonial Williamsburg. (Credit: C Watts/Flickr/CC BY 2.0)

Want To Eat Like A Colonist? Ask This Virginia Chef

Meet the man who recreates colonial recipes.

Read more
Swedish colonists landing on the Atlantic shores of Delaware during the 1600s.

America’s Forgotten Swedish Colony

For nearly 20 years in the 17th century, Sweden had a little-known colony that spanned parts of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Read more

This Day in History

See All

1704

Deerfield settlement razed in Queen Anne’s War

Colonial America
1770

The Boston Massacre

Colonial America
1637

Pequot massacres begin

Native American History
1675

King Philip’s War begins

Colonial America
1634

The settlement of Maryland

Colonial America
1639

The first colonial constitution

Colonial America
A+E NetworksOur Family of Brands
  • History Education
  • History Vault
  • Mobile/Apps
  • News
  • Shop
  • Share Your Opinion
Follow History
  • d
  • e
  • p
  • m
  • +
  • Biography
  • Crime and Investigation
  • History en Espanol
  • LRW
  • Military History
  • Ad Choices
  • Advertise WIth Us
  • Accessibility Support
  • Copyright Policy
  • Corporate Information
  • Employment Opportunities
  • FAQ/Contact Us
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Notice
  • Terms Of Use
  • TV Parental Guidelines
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Ad Choices
  • Accessibility Support

© 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.