A wealth of full-text or excerpted primary sources provide insights into the notable issues, themes, movements, people, and events during a period of expansion and conflict in American history. Primary sources illustrate the many ways colonists sought to establish a new society: creating works of art and literature, establishing schools and churches, and passing laws governing all aspects of life. Sources also reveal attitudes toward slavery, the dearth of womens rights, and struggles between Native Americans and newly arrived European colonists. This volume features letters, personal narratives, laws, paintings, speeches, works of literature, and many other primary source types.