Early Colonial America

1607–1763 CE

Early Colonial America covers the English, French, Spanish, Dutch and other colonial worlds that developed in North America before the American Revolution. It involved settlement, Indigenous diplomacy and resistance, forced African labour, religious communities, frontier violence and Atlantic trade. The period cannot be reduced to founding myths because it was built on contested land, empire and slavery.

Its importance lies in the creation of societies that were already diverse, unstable and tied to global commerce. Colonists, Indigenous nations, enslaved people, merchants, missionaries and imperial officials all shaped the future United States and Canada. It is a strong setting for novels about survival, captivity, witchcraft, migration, family memory and cultural conflict.

American historical fiction gives these entries strong book-discovery value, from James Fenimore Cooper and Kenneth Roberts to Michael Shaara, Charles Frazier, Geraldine Brooks, Paulette Jiles, Larry McMurtry, Charles Portis and Philipp Meyer. Series fiction often follows families, soldiers, settlers, enslaved people, outlaws, scouts and frontier towns across several generations. These pages can connect war novels, frontier fiction, literary westerns, colonial narratives and novels about revolution, slavery and expansion.

Related people for Early Colonial America

Benjamin Franklin1706–1790 Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck1644–c. 1660s Charles II of England1630–1685 Charles I of England1600–1649 Christopher Gist1706–1759 Edward Braddock1695–1755 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Elizabeth Raleigh1565–c. 1647 George Washington1732–1799 John Carverc. 16th century–1621 John Tradescant the Younger1608–1662 Lawrence Washington1718–1752 Myles Standish1584–1656 Oliver Cromwell1599–1658 Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury1563–1612 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex1565–1601 Walter Raleigh1552–1618 William Bradford1590–1657

Series

Series about Early Colonial America (1 series)

The New World Saga in Order

by Tim Holden 3 books 4.3

The New World Saga follows the Washington family and a wider cast of soldiers, traders, settlers, Indigenous diplomats, servants and political agents through the imperial wars that reshaped eighteenth-century North America. It begins with Lawrence Washington’s service in the War of Jenkins’ Ear, then turns to the young…