The thirteen North American colonies established by Great Britain eventually formed the nucleus of the United States. This outstanding book describes their history, both individually and collectively. Since its first publication in 1992 it has become the established textbook for students of the period.The second edition has been revised throughout and substantially expanded. It now opens with a wide-ranging account of American Indian societies at the time of the colonists' first arrival. It concludes with a new Part IV containing narrative chapters on the breach with Britain and on the War of Independence. The book ends with the Declaration of Independence in 1776.In addition to chronological narrative, the reader will also find here discussions and examinations of every important aspect of colonial society. The author describes, for example, the colonial impact on American Indian culture, the changing position and role of women, the beginnings of slavery, and the evolution of political and social structures. He also considers the development of education, science and the arts, the tension between religious freedom and the pressure to conform, and the beginnings of African American society.Accompanied by maps, contemporary illustrations, chronologies, documents and a fully updated and expanded section of further reading, this comprehensive and readable history of the colonial period is a fascinating account of the evolution of a new and distinctive society.