In 1693, King William III and Queen Mary II of England granted a royal charter for two institutions of higher education in the Colony of Virginia. The first institution was the College of William & Mary. The second institution was the Indian School...
The Mississippi Gulf Coast was the home of many different peoples, cultures, and empires during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. According to some historians, the Gulf Coast region may have been the most diverse region in early North...
About 620 miles north of New Orleans and 62 miles south of St. Louis sits the town of Ste. Geneviève, Missouri. Established in 1750 by the French, Ste. Geneviève reveals much about what it was like to establish a colony in the heartland of...
African chattel slavery, the predominant type of slavery practiced in colonial North America and the early United States, did not represent one monolithic practice of slavery. Practices of slavery varied by region, labor systems, legal codes, and...
There are a lot of books about Benjamin Franklin. They tell us about his youth and accomplishments in business, politics, and diplomacy. They tell us about his serious interest in electricity and science, and about his philanthropic work. But only a...
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of African and African American music to the United States’ musical traditions. Steven Lewis, a Curator of Music and Performing Arts at the Smithsonian, notes that “African American influences are so...
Our 5-episode series about music in Early America continues with this second episode that seeks to answer your questions about music in Early America. David Hildebrand is a musicologist and an expert on early American music. His research specialty...
Did you know that small Native American nations had the power to dictate the terms of French colonization in the Gulf South region? Elizabeth Ellis, an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University and a citizen of the Peoria Tribe of...
In a town as old as Williamsburg, Virginia, which was established in 1638, it’s often the case that historic buildings with interesting pasts stand unnoticed and in plain sight. Such was the case for the building that once housed Williamsburg’s Bray...
About 620 miles north of New Orleans and 62 miles south of St. Louis, sits the town of Ste. Geneviéve, Missouri. Established in 1750 by the French, Ste. Geneviéve reveals much about what it was like to establish a colony in the heartland of North...