As European conflicts escalate outside of the North American continent, there was little attention paid to the colonies. The West Indies were identified as the crown jewels of the Americas, so if problems were to erupt their attention was focused…
Richard Ingoldesby makes a direct request by way of letter to use the military might of the Iroquois League. Here he calls upon the Five Nations to participate in land raid against the French in Canada. This letter was written during the time of…
This primary document is a letter and a first-hand account of life for indentured servitudes, and draws parallels between the treatment of indentured servants and slavery. It also provides a look into the difficulties of settling the New World. As it…
This is a letter from French Catholic Jesuit minister Pierre Biard to General Claude Acquaviva
of the Society of Jesus, at Rome, May 26, 1614. It describes Father Biard's capture in New France by
the English and their violent treatment. It also…
Part of Governor Shape’s correspondence, this details the buildup of French fortifications in the Ohio valley. The French construction discouraged English colonists and proved to be a point of great tension for Sharpe. Highlighting a key factor of…
This letter is from Luis de Quirós to Juan Baptista de Segura of the Spanish Catholic Jesuit
Society. It details Luis de Quirós’s experiences with the Native Americans in which he asks for
seeds to trade with Native Americans, and gives a good…
In this document Joseph Houlton and John Walcot blames multiple wives of townsmen for “sundry acts of witchcraft.” Most importantly the accusation against Martha Carrier, because she was later tried and put to death for the accusation of being a…
In this document, John Hale testifies in court that he witnessed Sarah Bishop having different “fits”. About midway through the document, it states that she had a vision of his children being dead. This is just one of the accusation that consisted of…