Description
Book SynopsisAt a time when surveys reveal that Americans know less and less about our past, Tony Williams provides entertaining and informative descriptions of 50 of the most important and dramatic events from the colonial and Revolutionary periodsome known and some forgottenfrom the Mayflower Compact to the Annapolis Convention. Published in association with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, America''s Beginnings takes the reader throughout the American colonies and introduces many leading figures, from John Smith and John Winthrop to the Founding Fathers. Along the way, Williams examines the principles that led colonists to come to America and succeeding generations to become a free and independent nation. Read individually or from cover to cover, these stories illuminate the founding principles and heroic struggles that established the country and shaped the American character.
Trade ReviewAmerica's Beginnings breathes new life into many of the people responsible for creating and implementing the fundamental principles and virtues of our republic. Tony Williams transports the reader back through a beautiful and rugged landscape and fills it with stories of the 17th and 18th century Americans whose lives gave structure, direction, and meaning to our shared national narrative. Williams' stories provide a primer on courage, perseverance, and optimism that will serve today's citizens well. -- Michael Hartoonian, Scholar in Residence at Hamline University, St. Paul
Tony Williams has produced a succinct, entertaining, and informative book on 50 of the key events in early America. Easily accessible to young readers as well as experts, Williams bolsters his narrative with spicy quotations and important facts, never losing the big picture that America was . . . and is . . . exceptional. -- Larry Schweikart, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller,
A Patriot’s History of the United States
Tony Williams' America's Beginnings: The Dramatic Events that Shaped a Nation's Character, is a well written and highly readable collection of vignettes that will whet the appetite of budding historians. -- Alf J. Mapp Jr., author of Three Golden Ages: Discovering the Creative Secrets of Renaissance Florence, Elizabethan England, and America's Founding
America’s Beginnings tells the story of what Declaration of Independence signer Richard Henry Lee called “the vineyard of liberty.” Like the making of a fine wine, the success of the early American republic was far from inevitable. Tony Williams compellingly captures the difficulties and triumphs of early Americans. He tells of our beginnings with appreciation for the extraordinary accomplishments of the American Founders. This is civic-minded history at its best, and offers rich reading for citizens young and old alike. -- David J. Bobb, Hillsdale College Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship
What were the 50 most important events of the colonial and revolutionary era? A new book published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers surveys the top 50, from the Lost Colony of Roanoke to the passage of the Bill of Rights. Written by historian Tony Williams, America’s Beginnings, the Dramatic Events that Shaped a Nation’s Character” guides readers throughout the colonies, introducing figures such as John Smith, John Winthrop and the Founding Fathers while also examining the principles that turned subjects of a king into citizens of a free and independent nation. * The Virginia Gazette *
Table of Contents
Preface Chapter 1: Lost Colony Chapter 2: Jamestown Chapter 3: Starving Time Chapter 4:First Representative Legislature in Britain's New World Chapter 5: First Africans Chapter 6:Mayflower Compact Chapter 7:City Upon a Hill Chapter 8:Indian Uprising of 1622 Chapter 9: Dissents of Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams Chapter 10: Pequot War Chapter 11: King Philip's War Chapter 12: Bacon's Rebellion Chapter 13:Glorious Revolution in America Chapter 14:Salem Witch Trials Chapter 15: Boston Smallpox Epidemic of 1721 Chapter 16: Great Awakening Chapter 17: Benjamin Franklin and the Lightning Rod Chapter 18: Albany Plan of Union Chapter 19: Great Meadows Chapter 20: Braddock's March Chapter 21: Royal Proclamation of 1763 Chapter 22: Stamp Act Chapter 23: Townshend Acts Chapter 24: Boston Massacre Chapter 25: Boston Tea Party Chapter 26: Continental Congress Chapter 27: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Chapter 28: Lexington and Concord Chapter 29: Bunker Hill Chapter 30: Fort Ticonderoga Chapter 31: Common Sense Chapter 32: Declaration of Rights Chapter 33: Declaration of Independence Chapter 34: Crossing the Delaware Chapter 35: Saratoga Chapter 36: French Alliance Chapter 37: Valley Forge Chapter 38: Guilford Courthouse Chapter 39: Yorktown Chapter 40: Newburgh Conspiracy Chapter 41: Peace Treaty of 1783 Chapter 42: Washington Surrenders His Commission Chapter 43: Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom Chapter 44: Annapolis Convention Chapter 45: Shays' Rebellion Chapter 46: Constitutional Convention Chapter 47: Ratifying Conventions Chapter 48: The Federalist Chapter 49: Inauguration of George Washington Chapter 50: Bill of Rights Bibliography Index
