Early American Writings

Description

Early American Writings brings together a wide range of writings from the era of colonization of the Americas through the period of confederation in North America and the formation of the new United States of America. The anthology includes materials representing cultures indigenous to the Americas as well as writings by British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Swedish, German, African, and African American peoples in America during the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. With more than 170 writers included, the collection represents the works known and admired in the writers' own day, illustrates the diversity of interests and peoples depicted in those writings, and demonstrates the range of cross-cultural references early American readers experienced. The breadth of the collection provides readers with a fuller understanding of the backdrop for what is known as "American" culture today, in all its diversity.
Early American Writings includes several original translations and features more poetry than any other anthology in the field. Each section covers a different period of colonization and is introduced by extensive commentary. All selections have been carefully annotated to help students place the writings in their cultural and regional contexts. Ideal for courses in early/colonial American literature and culture, colonial American studies, American studies, and American history, Early American Writings gives students an unprecedented look into the diverse and fascinating culture of early America.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE: CREATION, EMERGENCE, TRANSFORMATION
Penobscot
Corn Mother
Algonquian
A Story about Great Rabbit
Iroquois
The Creation of the World
Iroquois, or the Confederacy of the Five Nations
Seneca
The Origin of Stories
Creek
Origins of the People
Salish
The Beginning
Gros Ventres
The Creation of the World
Acoma
Emergence into the Upper World
2. EUROPEANS' NEW WORLD: THE FIRST CENTURY
Southern Experiences
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
from The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492-1493
Letter of Columbus, Describing the Results of His First Voyage
Amerigo Vespucci (1452?-1512)
Letter to Piero Soderini, Gonfaloniere of the Republic of Florence, 1504
Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566)
from A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
Prologue / [Preface] / from New Spain
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1490?-1577?)
from The Relation of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
from Chapter 7: The Character of the Country / from Chapter 8: We Go from Aute / from Chapter 10: The Assault from the Indians / from Chapter 11: Of What Befel Lope de Oviedo with the Indians / from Chapter 21: Our Cure of Some of the Afflicted / from Chapter 24: Customs of the Indians of That Country / from Chapter 27: We Moved Away and Were Well Received / from Chapter 32: The Indians Give Us the Hearts of Deer / from Chapter 33: We See Traces of Christians / from Chapter 34: Of Sending for the Christians
Pedro de Castañeda (1510-1570?)
from Castañeda's Narrative
from Part I
from Preface / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / from Chapter 9
from Part II
Chapter 3
Jean de Léry (1534-1613)
from History of a Voyage to the Land of Brazil, Otherwise Called America
from Preface / Chapter 16
René Goulaine de Laudonnière (1529-1574)
from A Notable Historie Containing Foure Voyages Made by Certaine French Captaines unto Florida
from Preface/ from The Historie of the First Voyage
Garcilaso de la Vega, el Inca (1539-1616)
from The Florida of the Inca
Book I
Chapter 3 / Chapter 4
Book II
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4
from Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru, Part I
Book I
Chapter 6 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / from Chapter 19
Northern Experiences
Jacques Cartier (1491-1557)
from The First Relation
Samuel de Champlain (1570?-1635)
from Voyages and Discoveries in New France
To the King / Preface / [Of the Hurons]
Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636-1710?)
from The Relation of my Voyage, being in Bondage in the Lands of the Irokoits, which was the next yeare after my coming into Canada, in the yeare 1651, the 24th day of May
3. THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE: STRANGERS IN THE LAND
Yucatec Maya
The First Seating of the Land Owners
Aztec/Mexican
History of the Miraculous Apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531
Hopi
The Coming of the Spanish and the Pueblo Revolt
Joseph Jeremy, Micmac
The Floating Island
Yuchi
Creation of the Whites
Handsome Lake, Seneca
How America Was Discovered
Lenape and Mahican
Arrival of the Dutch
Flathead
Creation of the Red and White Races
4. BRITAIN'S FIRST CENTURY IN AMERICA
Southern Experiences
Arthur Barlowe (flourished 1584-1585)
from The First Voyage Made to the Coasts of America
John Smith (1580-1631)
from Proceedings of the English Colonie in Virginia [Powhatan's Speech to Captain Smith]
from A Description of New England
from The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles
from The Third Booke
from Chapter 1 / from Chapter 2 / from Chapter 3 / from Chapter 4
Edward Maria Wingfield (1560?-1613?)
A Discourse of Virginia
Letters from Virginia
Letter to Sir Thomas Dale (1614), John Rolfe
Letters to His Parents (1623), Richard Frethorne
Letter to Dr. Ralph Smith (1686), William Fitzhugh
Letter to the Royal Society of London (1688), John Clayton
Richard Ligon (1634-1703)
from A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbados
Conflict in the Caribbean and in Virginia
Great News from the Barbadoes (1676), Anonymous
Manifesto Concerning the Present Troubles in Virginia (1676), Nathaniel Bacon
Bacon's Epitaph and Upon the Death of G: Bacon, John Cotton of Queen's Creek
Northern Experiences
William Bradford (1590-1657)
from Of Plymouth Plantation
The First Book
from Chapter 1: [Why the Separatists Left England] / from Chapter 2: [Of Their Departure into Holland] / from Chapter 5: [Showing What Means They Used for Preparation to this Weighty Voyage] / from Chapter 9: [Of Their Voyage] / from Chapter 10: [Showing How They Sought out a Place of Habitation]
The Second Book
from Chapter 28: Anno Dom: 1637 [The Pequot War] / from Chapter 32: Anno Dom: 1642 [Wickedness Breaks Forth] / from Chapter 33: Anno Dom: 1643 [The Life and Death of Elder Brewster]
John Winthrop (1588-1649)
A Model of Christian Charity
from The Journal of John Winthrop
Thomas Morton (1579?-1647)
from New English Canaan
from The Second Book
from Chapter 1: The General Survey of the Country
from The Third Book [The Incident at Merry Mount]
from Chapter 14: of the Revels of New Canaan / from Chapter 15: of a Great Monster Supposed to be at Ma-re Mount; and the Preparation Made to Destroy it / from Chapter 16: How the Nine Worthies Put Mine Host of Ma-re Mount into the Enchanted Castle at Plymouth and Terrified Him with the Monster Briareus
Roger Williams (1603-1683)
from A Key into the Language of America
from Chapter 21: of Religion, the Soul, etc.
from The Bloody Tenet of Persecution, for Cause of Conscience, in a Conference between Truth and Peace
A Letter to the Town of Providence
John Eliot (1604-1690)
from Indian Dialogues, for Their Instruction in that great Service of Christ
Dialogue I: [A Dialogue between Pium bukhou and His Unconverted Relatives]
Letter to the Honorable Council Sitting at Boston (1675)
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
from The Tenth Muse, Lately Sprung Up in America
from The Four Ages of Man
from Several Poems
Contemplations / Before the Birth of One of Her Children / In Memory of My Dear Grand-child Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665 Being a Year and Half Old
Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666. Copied out of a Loose Paper
Letters from New England
Letter to Sir Edward Altham (1623), Emmanuel Altham
Letter to His Parents (1630), [John] Pond
Edward Taylor (1642?-1729)
from Christographia
Meditation 44 / from Sermon III
from Gods Determinations
The Joy of Church Fellowship Rightly Attended
Upon a Spider Catching a Fly
Upon a Wasp Child with Cold
Huswifery
Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children
The Ebb and Flow
A Funerall Poem upon the Death of My Ever Endeared, and Tender Wife Mrs. Elizabeth Taylor, Who Fell Asleep in Christ the 7th Day of July at Night about Two Hours after Sun Setting 1689 and in the 39 Yeare of Her Life
Mary White Rowlandson (1637?-1711)
Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
John Williams (1664-1729)
from The Redeemed Captive Returning to Zion
A Collection of Poems from New England
from The Whole Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre
Psalme 1 / Psalme 19 / Psalme 23 / Psalme 137
from The New England Primer (1683)
Alphabet / The Dutiful Child's Promises / Verses / The Death of John Rogers
John Cotton (1584-1652)
A Thankful Acknowledgment of God's Providence
Nathaniel Ward (1578-1652)
[Mercury shew'd Apollo, Bartas Book]
Benjamin Woodbridge (1622-1684)
Upon the Author; by a known Friend / Upon the TOMB of the most Reverend Mr. John Cotton, Late Teacher of the Church of Boston in New-England
John Josselyn (1608?-1700?)
Verses Made Sometime since upon the Picture of a Young and Handsome Gypsie, Not Improperly Transferred upon the Indian Squa
5. NEW SPAIN IN NORTH AMERICA
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648?-1695)
from Response to the Most Illustrious Poetess Sor Filotea de la Cruz
from Romances
[Prologue to the Reader] / [In Reply to a Gentleman from Peru, Who Sent Her Clay Vessels While Suggesting She Would Better Be a Man] / [While by Grace I Am Inspired]
Gaspar Perez de Villagrá (1555?-1620)
from The History of New Mexico
Canto 1 / from Canto 29 / from Canto 30 / from Canto 31 / from Canto 32
Pueblo Conflict in New Spain (1680-1692)
Letter on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, Antonio de Otermín
from Letter on the Reconquest of New Mexico (1692), Diego de Vargas
Fray Carlos José Delgado (1677-post-1750)
Report Made by Rev. Father Fray Carlos Delgado to Our Rev. Father Ximeno....the Year 1750
Eusebio Francisco Kino (1644-1711)
from The Celestial Favors of Jesus
Book I
Chapter 3: My Arrival at These Missions of Sonora, and My First Entry into this Pimeria, with the Father Visitor, Manuel Gonzales / Chapter 4: Expedition to San Ygnacio de Caborica, San Joseph de Los Himiris, and Nuestra Seora de Los Remedios / Chapter 5: First Opposition Experienced in This New Conversion / Chapter 6: Second Opposition and Discord Sown in Pimeria
Francisco Palóu (1723-1789)
from Life of Junpero Serra
from Chapter 22: The Expeditions Arrive at the Port of Monterey--The Mission and Presidio of San Carlos Are Founded / from Chapter 58: The Exemplary Death of the Venerable Father Junípero
José Longinos Martnez (?-1803)
from The Journal of José Longinos Martínez
from Part Two: Journey through Old California, Cape San Lucas to Mission San Miguel / from Part Three: Journey through New California, San Diego to Monterey
6. NEW FRANCE IN NORTH AMERICA
Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649)
from Relation of What Occurred in the Country of the Hurons in the Year 1636
[Dedicatory Letter to Paul Le Jeune]
from Part 1: Chapter 1 / Chapter 3
Marie Guyart Martin, Marie de l'Incarnation (1599-1672)
Letters to Her Son
[The Deaths of Daniel, Brébeuf, and Gabriel Lalemant] / [A New Language to Learn] / [The End of the Huron Mission] / [The Coming of Bishop Laval] / [New France a Crown Colony] / [An Answer to Criticism]
Marie Madeleine Hachard, Sister Saint Stanislaus (1704-1760)
Letters Written at New Orleans to Her Father
October 27, 1727 / January 1, 1728 / April 24, 1728
Louis Vivier (1714-1756)
Letters Written among the Illinois
June 8, 1750
November 17, 1750
Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz (1695?-1775?)
from The History of Louisiana
from Book 4
Chapter 1: The Origin of the Americans / from Chapter 2, Section 1: [Of the Natives of Louisiana] / from Chapter 3, Section 2: [Of Their Language, Government, Religion, Ceremonies, and Feasts]
7. THE BRITISH COLONIES OF NORTH AMERICA, THE EARLIER COLONIAL YEARS
The Staple Colonies
Edward "Ned" Ward (1667-1731)
A Trip to Jamaica
John Lawson (1670?-1711?)
from A New Voyage to Carolina
from A Description to North-Carolina / An Account of the Indians of North-Carolina
Charles Woodmason (1720?-post-1776)
To Benjamin Franklin, Esq., of Philadelphia, on his Experiments and Discoveries in Electricity
Indico
James Grainger (1721?-1766)
from The Sugar-Cane. A Poem. In Four Books. With Notes
Book IV: The Genius of Africa
Robert Beverley (1673-1722)
from History and Present State of Virginia (1705)
from Book 1
Chapter 2: Containing an Account of the first Settlement of Chesapeak Bay
from Book 3: Of the Indians, Their Religion, Laws, and Customs, in War and Peace
from Chapter 1: Of the Persons of the Indians, and their Dress / Chapter 5: Of the Travelling, Reception, and Entertainment of the Indians / Chapter 6: Of the Learning, and Languages of the Indians
William Byrd II (1674-1744)
from The History of the Dividing Line Run in the Year 1728
Letters to Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery
Letter to John Boyle, Baron Boyle of Broghill
Letter to John Perceval, Earl of Egmont
Patrick Tailfer, Hugh Anderson, David Douglas (flourished 1741)
from A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia in America
Henry Timberlake (1730?-1765)
from The Memoirs of Lieut. Henry Timberlake
Britain's Middle Atlantic: Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York
George Alsop (1636-post-1673)
from A Character of the Province of Mary-Land
The Preface to the Reader / Chapter 1 [Of the Situation and Plenty of the Province of Mary-Land] / Chapter 3 [The Necessariness of Servitude Proved, with the Common Usage of Servants in Mary-Land, Together with Their Priviledges] / Chapter 4 [Upon Trafique, and What Merchandizing Commodities this Province Affords]
Ebenezer Cook (1667-1733)
The Sot-Weed Factor; or, a Voyage to Maryland, &c.
Richard Lewis (1700-1734)
A Journey from Patapsko to Annapolis, April 4, 1730
Food for Criticks
Dr. Alexander Hamilton (1712-1756)
from Itinerarium
William Penn (1644-1718)
Letter from William Penn to the Committee of the Free Society of Traders
George Keith (1639-1716)
An Exhortation and Caution to Friends concerning Buying or Keeping of Negroes
Elizabeth Ashbridge (1713-1755)
Some Account of the Early Part of the Life of Elizabeth Ashbridge
John Woolman (1720-1772)
from Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes
from The Journal of John Woolman
Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776)
from The History of the Five Indian Nations
New England
Cotton Mather (1663-1728)
from Magnalia Christi Americana
Galeacius Secundus: The Life of William Bradford, Esq., Governor of Plymoth Colony
The Negro Christianized
Samuel Sewall (1652-1730)
from The Diary of Samuel Sewall
The Selling of Joseph. A Memorial
My Verses upon the New Century
John Saffin (1632-1710)
A Brief and Candid Answer
Sarah Kemble Knight (1666-1727)
The Journal of Sarah Kemble Knight
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Personal Narrative
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
from The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit
Charles Chauncy (1705-1787)
from Enthusiasm Described and Caution'd Against
from Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion
8. DUTCH, SWEDES, AND GERMANS IN NORTH AMERICA
Johannes Megapolensis, Jr. (1603?-1669)
A Short Account of the Mohawk Indians
Adriaen Van Der Donck (1620-1655)
from A Description of the New Netherlands
from Of the Manners and Peculiar Customs of the Natives of the New Netherlands
Henricus Selyns (1636-1701)
Bridal Torch for Rev. AEgidius Luyck
To My Friend Captain Gerard Douw
Epitaph for Peter Stuyvesant
Maria Van Cortlandt Van Rennselaer (1645-1689)
Letters to Rygart van Rensselaer
December 1675? / September? 1680 / November 12, 1684
Francis Daniel Pastorius (1651-1720)
Petition of the Germantown Quakers, "Reasons Why We Are Against the Traffic of Menbody"
from Positive Information from America, Concerning the Country of Pennsylvania
from The Beehive
[When I Solidly Do Ponder / If any be pleased to walk into my poor Garden, I heartily bid him or her welcome, thus / [When One or Other Rambles] / [As Often as Some where before My Feet] / [Extract the Quint-essence] / [Delight in Books from Evening]
Christoph Saur (1695-1758)
from A Dialogue between a Newcomer and a Settler in Pennsylvania
Gottlieb Mittelberger (1715-1779?)
from Journey to Pennsylvania
[Preface] / from Part I: The Crossing to Pennsylvania / from Part II: Description of the Province of Pennsylvania
9. CULTURAL CONSOLIDATIONS IN BRITISH NORTH AMERICA
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Silence Dogood, No. 1
Silence Dogood, No. 2
The Speech of Miss Polly Baker
An Edict by the King of Prussia
Speech in the Convention at the Conclusion of Its Deliberations
Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim on the Slave Trade
from Autobiography
Part One/ Part Two
A Collection of Poems
William Dawson (1704-1752)
To Silvia, on Approach of Winter / Anacreonitic
Jane Colman Turell (1708-1735)
An Invitation into the Country, in Imitation of Horace, Left Only in a Rough Copy / [Lines on Childbirth] / [Lines on the Death of Mother]
Martha Wadsworth Brewster (1710-post-1759)
[Prefatory Poem to the Reader] / An Essay on the Four Ages of Man, Resembling the Four Seasons of the Year
Bridget Richardson Fletcher (1726-1770)
Hymn XXXVI. The Greatest Dignity of a Woman, Christ Being Born of One / Hymn LXX. The Duty of Man and Wife
John Leacock (1729-1802)
Song, The First of May, to St. Tammany
Lucy Terry (1730-1821)
Bars Fight (c. 1746)
Thomas Godfrey (1736-1763)
A Dithyrambic on Wine / A Night-Piece
Milcah Martha Hill Moore (1740-1829)
The Female Patriots. Addressed to the Daughters of Liberty in America, 1768
Nathaniel Evans (1742-1767)
Hymn to May / An Ode, Attempted in the Manner of Horace, to My Ingenious Friend, Mr. Thomas Godfrey / Elegy, to the Memory of My Beloved Friend, Mr. Thomas Godfrey, Who died near Wilmington, North-Carolina, August 3d, 1763. / To Benjamin Franklin, Esq; L.L.D, Occasioned by Hearing Him Play on the Harmonica
Annis Boudinot Stockton (1736-1801)
To the Visitant, from a Circle of Ladies
By a Lady in America to Her Husband in England
A Sudden Production of Mrs. Stockton's in One of Those Many Anxious Nights in Which She Watched with Mr. Stockton in His Last Illness
A Poetical Epistle, Addressed by a Lady of New Jersey to Her Niece, upon Her Marriage, in This City
Addressed to General Washington, in the Year 1777, after the Battles of Trenton and Princeton
To the President of the United States
The Vision, an Ode to Washington
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
from Common Sense
The Crisis
William Bartram (1739-1823)
from Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida
Jupiter Hammon (1711-1806?)
An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ, with Penetential Cries
An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatly, Ethiopian Poetess
A Poem for Children with Thoughts on Death
An Address to the Negroes in the State of New-York
Briton Hammon (flourished 1760)
Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprizing Deliverance of Briton Hammon
Samson Occom (1723-1792)
A Short Narrative of My Life
A Sermon Preached by Samson Occom
Joseph Johnson (1751-1776)
Letter from J--h J--n, one of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians, to his Countryman, Moses Paul, under Sentence of Death in New-Haven Goal
Dedication to a Life of the Spirit
Phillis Wheatley (1754?-1784)
from Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
To Maecenas / To the University of Cambridge, in New-England / On Being Brought from Africa to America / On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield / Thoughts on the Works of Providence / On Recollection / To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for North America &c. / To S. M. a Young African Painter, on Seeing His Works
To His Excellency General Washington
Letters to Obour Tanner
May 19, 1772 / July 19, 1772 / October 30, 1773
Letter to Samson Occom
February 11, 1774
Letters to Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntington
October 25, 1770 / June 27, 1773
Letter to William Legge, Second Earl of Dartmouth
October 10, 1772
Letter to David Wooster
October 18, 1773
Letter to Samuel Hopkins
February 9, 1774
Letter to John Thornton
October 30, 1774
Prince Hall (1735?-1807)
Petition to the Honorable Council and House of Representatives, for the State of Massachusetts-Bay, in General Court Assembled January 13, 1777
A Charge, Delivered to the Brethren of the African Lodge on the 25th of June, 1792
A Charge, Delivered to the African Lodge, June 24, 1797, at Menotomy
Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797)
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2
John Marrant (1755-1791)
A Narrative of the Lord's Wonderful Dealings with John Marrant, a Black
10. CONFEDERATION AND THE FORMATION OF A BRITISH AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
from Notes on the State of Virginia
from Query 6: A Notice of the Mines, and Other Subterraneous Riches / from Query 11: A Description of the Indians Established in That State / from Query 14: Laws / Query 17: The Different Religions Received into That State / Query 18: The Particular Customs and Manners That May Happen to Be Received in That State
Letter to François Jean, Marquis de Chastellux
September 2, 1785
Letter to Jean Marie Antoine Nicholas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet
August 30, 1791
The Declaration of Independence
The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America, Adopted in Congress, July 4, 1776
British Loyalists in British North America
William Franklin (1730-1813)
Speech before the New Jersey Assembly, January 13, 1775
Hannah Griffitts (1727-1817)
On Reading a Few Paragraphs in "The Crisis," April 1777
Jacob Bailey (1731-1808)
The Factious Demagogue, a Portrait
Joseph Stansbury (1740-1809)
To Cordelia
Jonathan Odell (1737-1818)
from The American Times
J. Hector St. Jean de Crèvecoeur (1735-1813)
On the Situation, Feelings, and Pleasures of an American Farmer
History of Andrew the Hebridean
A Singular Punishment
from Letters from an American Farmer
from Letter 12: Distresses of a Frontier Man
Three Federalist Papers
The Federalist No. 6 (Hamilton)
The Federalist No. 10 (Madison)
The Federalist No. 51 (Madison)
Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814)
Letter to the Independent Chronicle, on Chesterfield
Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions
from Poems, Dramatic and Miscellaneous
To a Young Lady / To Mrs. Montague, Author of "Observations on the Genius and Writings of Shakespeare"
John Adams (1735-1826)
A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law, No. 4
Letter to Mercy Otis Warren
April 16, 1776
Letter to Thomas Jefferson
July 29, 1791
Abigail Adams (1744-1818)
from The Travel Diaries of Abigail Adams
[Boston to Deal] / [London to Plymouth]
Letter to John Adams
Letter to Mercy Otis Warren
Timothy Dwight (1752-1817)
from Greenfield Hill
Part II: The Flourishing Village
Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820)
On the Equality of the Sexes
Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, Especially in Female Bosoms
Observations on Female Abilities
Part III / Part IV
Joel Barlow (1754-1812)
from The Vision of Columbus
[Dedication to King Louis XVI of France] / Introduction / Book I / Book II
Philip Freneau (1752-1832)
Account of the Island of Santa Cruz, Containing an original Poem on the Beauties of that Island
The Prophecy of King Tammany
Lines Written at the Pallisades, near Port-Royal, in the Island of Jamaica--September, 1784
The Island Field Negro
Speech of the Indian Head of the Ship Delaware
On Deborah Gannet
William Hill Brown (1765-1793)
Harriot, Or, the Domestick Reconciliation. Sketched from the Life
Seduction
Hannah Webster Foster (1758-1840)
Picture of a Libertine
Susannah Haswell Rowson (1762-1824)
The Happy Pair
The Ingrate
Maternal Sorrow
Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810)
The Man at Home, No. XI
A Lesson on Sensibility
Noah Webster (1758-1843)
from Effects of Slavery, on Morals and Industry
Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806)
Copy of a Letter from Benjamin Banneker to the Secretary of State, with His Answer
11. THE NATIVE PEOPLES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA AND THE SETTLERS WHO REMAINED
The Mahicans
Speech of the Mahicans to Gov. William Burnet of New York, 1722
Stung Serpent
Speech to Antoine Le Page du Pratz, 1723
Canasatego
Speech at the Treaty of Lancaster, 1744
Gachradodow
Speech at the Treaty of Lancaster, 1744
The Chickasaws
Speech of the Chickasaws to the Governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, 1771
John Killibuck
Speech to the Governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, 1771
Cornplanter
Speech in the Council at Philadelphia, 1790
Index