Interpreting a Continent

Kathleen DuVal is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and author of The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. John DuVal is professor English and literary translation at the University of Arkansas and translator of many award-winning books.

This reader provides important documents for colonial American history, including new English translations of non-English documents. It reflects current scholarship and teaching that includes all of North America and non-Europeans in the story of colonial America, which is no longer simply the story of the thirteen colonies that revolted against the British Empire but also of Spaniards, French, Dutch, Africans, and various Native Americans.

Section I: ExplorationChapter 1: Cristóbal Colón a Luis de SantángelChapter 2: Greenlanders' Saga, c. 1000Chapter 3: Christopher Columbus to Luis de Santángel, 1493Chapter 4: Jacques Cartier's First Voyage, 1534Chapter 5: Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca's Shipwreck off the Texas Coast, 1528¿1536Chapter 6: Jacques Marquette on Descending the Mississippi River with Louis Joliet, 1673Chapter 7: Captain James Cook's Third Voyage, 1776¿1780Chapter 8: Osage Creation Account (Black Bear Clan Version), Recorded 1920sSection II: Interpreting and Instructing New PeoplesChapter 9: La Relation des MontagnaisChapter 10: The Requerimiento, 1533 VersionChapter 11: Pedro de Castañeda de Nájera on the Search for the Seven Cities of Cíbola, 1540Chapter 12: Rock Painting, Pecos River Valley, Texas, 1500sChapter 13: Montagnais Indians on Their First Encounter with the French, Early 1500sChapter 14: John Smith on the Powhatans, 1607¿1616Chapter 15: John Eliot's Translation of the Bible into the Massachusett Language, 1663Chapter 16: Olaudah Equiano on Encountering Europeans, 1740sChapter 17: Pontiac's Speech to an Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Huron Audience, 1763Section III: Founding and GoverningChapter 18: La Relation de Samuel de ChamplainChapter 19: Great Law of the Iroquois League, c. 1300s (recorded late 1800s)Chapter 20: Samuel de Champlain on Founding Quebec, 1608Chapter 21: John Winthrop on Founding New England, 1630Chapter 22: Laws for the Province of Pennsylvania, 1682Chapter 23: Creek Leaders Meet the Trustees of Georgia, 1734Chapter 24: Father Junípero Serra Writes from San Diego, 1770Chapter 25: Catherine the Great's Response to a Petition to Establish a Russian Colony, 1788Section IV: Social and Economic LifeChapter 26: Método de Gobierno que se Observa en Esta Misión de la Purísima ConcepciónChapter 27: Thomas Campanius Holm's Engraving of New Sweden, 1640sChapter 28: Hans Sloane Observes Jamaica, 1687¿1689Chapter 29: Saukamappee on the Coming of Horses, Guns, and Smallpox, 1700sChapter 30: Benjamin Franklin Becomes a Printer, 1714¿1723Chapter 31: Eliza Lucas to Mrs. Boddicott, 1740Chapter 32: Runaway Advertisements, Mid-1700sChapter 33: Mary Christina Martin's Case Before the German Society of Pennsylvania, 1772Chapter 34: Spiritual and Temporal Guidelines for a Texas Mission, Late 1700sSection V: SlaveryChapter 35: Los Negros Fugitivos a le Rey de EspañaChapter 36: François Froger's Plan of Fort Saint Jacques, Gambia, 1695Chapter 37: New Netherland Act Emancipating Certain Slaves, 1644Chapter 38: Virginia Codes Regulating Servitude and Slavery, 1642¿1705Chapter 39: Louisiana's Code Noir, 1724Chapter 40: Venture Smith's Account of Slavery and Freedom, 1700sChapter 41: Afro-Floridians to the Spanish King, 1738Chapter 42: George Whitefield Admonishes Southern Slaveholders, 1740Chapter 43: Advertisement for a Slave Sale, Charleston, c. 1770sSection VI: Women and ColonialismChapter 44: La Relation du Père Jacques GravierChapter 45: Anne Bradstreet's Prologue to The Tenth Muse, 1650Chapter 46: Marie de L'Incarnation to Her Son, 1667Chapter 47: Deodat Lawson Describes Events at Salem, 1692Chapter 48: Father Jacques Gravier Describes Indian Conversions at the Illinois Mission, 1694Chapter 49: María de Jesús de Agreda and Catherine Tekakwitha, 1600sChapter 50: Susannah Johnson Recalls Her Captivity, 1754¿1757Chapter 51: Phillis Wheatley's "On Being Brought from Africa to America," 1773Section VII: Violent ConflictChapter 52: Antonio de Otermín a Francisco de AyetaChapter 53: Francisco López de Mendoza Grájales's Account of the Conquest of Florida, 1565Chapter 54: Henri Joutel's Account of the Murder of La Salle, 1687Chapter 55: Antonio de Otermín Describes the Pueblo Revolt, 1680Chapter 56: Antoine Simon Le Page Du Pratz Describes French Conflict with the Natchez, 1729Chapter 57: George Washington Recalls His Defeats at Fort Duquesne, 1754¿1755Chapter 58: Louis-Antoine de Bougainville's Journal of the Seven Years' War, 1756Chapter 59: Ohio Indians Talk to the British, 1764