Anyone else doing Colonial America?

Yes. I'm going to be writing a mystery novel that takes place around the time of the battle of Fort McHenry. It' sounds like my colonial time period is just a little later than yours. But I wiil share any sources I come across and maybe you can do the same. I'm going to be researching over the next few days as I flesh out my plot. Trying my hand at a historical novel is way out in left field for me. Lisa
P. S. I will be out in Portland either last week of October or first week of November for a TV interview on my novel.

Lisa Grace
Author "Angel in the Shadows"
The difference between vampires and angels? Angels are real.
ISBN# 978-1-60911-001-7
www.lisagracebooks.com

Mine takes place from about 1794 to 1804 with the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Some characters may be visiting Colonial America (should the 'C' be capitalised? or even capitalized? I don't know, but sorry if I got it wrong!) aboard their naval ships. I don't actually know quite where the tale is taking place just yet - better get out a map & figure out the geography before I start!

Tigg, or Tiggothy for long

My FMC will be in the 13 Colonies right after the Boston Tea Party, maybe a little later, when the real action picks up. I'm not 100% sure yet.

Mine is either taking place during the Philadelphia Campaign of the Revolutionary War or post-fall of Charles Towne. I have no idea yet, but the Williamsburg official website has some great articles on various aspects of life for the time period.

Hi Kijuna and everyone else,
I found a book called, "Feudalism in Colonial America," by Thomas, Lord of Shalford and a website that might have it on it openlibrary.org
I thoought it might help with the approach you're taking as far as the under-dogs. Lisa

Lisa Grace
Author "Angel in the Shadows"
The difference between vampires and angels? Angels are real.
ISBN# 978-1-60911-001-7
www.lisagracebooks.com

Thanks. :) Openlibrary didn't have it, but scribd.org did. :D

Anarchist - Communist - Muslim - Queer - Transgendered - Lesbian

I'm considering writing about the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692. I studied it extensively in college so I know a great deal about it. I just can't decide if I want it to be in the forefront or in the background of my story. I also can't decide if I want to write in that particular time period, or write about the present with flashbacks or references to 1692.

Hi, I'm doing a sort of historical fiction that pans across North American history and history major at UW-GB, so I have quite a few sources pertaining to colonial history. Or later. If any one needs or wants more recs, feel free to ask. But here are some that I found helpful with the first 100 or 150 years of American experience.

The Norton Anthology of American Literature is a huge wealth of primary sources, while trying to be as multi-cultural as it can be. I'm using Volume A of the 6th edition, which is the section to 1820. It has a section on Trickster tales. Some of my favorites are the letters of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and the captivity narratives-- the most prominent one here is the Mary Rowlandson tale. Also, the first slave narratives started coming out in this period. The most prominent one here is probably the Olaudah Equiano. And of course it has the standards like Cotton Mather, John Edwards, and Anne Bradstreet. The letters or narratives of all these people you can find on Google Books and Project Gutenberg as well.

Women and Power in American History, vol. 1 goes to 1880, ed. by Sklar & Dublin, has some interesting essays that have helped me in the past. As the title implies, its about the changing status of women in American history.

Women's Letters, ed. by Lisa Grunwald, is a huge tome, but something I found irresistable as a nearly bottomless resource for women's roles in America. What I really appreciate here is you get to hear the voices of non-famous, ordinary women. Well, anyone who could write, at least.

These next two books are sort of survey books. They cover the breadth of American history, but their coverage of colonial material is pretty good. Coming to America by Roger Daniels is a standard for most entry level immigration courses. But it does a really good job providing statistics and data for early American travel--which Europeans and Africans came here and how and why and what they did when they got here. The other, Letters of a Nation, ed. b Andrew Carroll, has a great selection of American letters divided by topic, instead of era. It's not really so-called "ordinary" Americans, most of the letters are to or from largely recognizable characters.

And I have a lot more and totally willing to help. :D

JLB

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~Ray Bradbury

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~Anaïs Nin

Poetry: the best words in the best order. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I'll be running around in roughly the 1680s. I have no sources because my concern for historical accuracy is at a lifetime low; plus, monsters.

White Dog, Book 1 - 12500
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White Dog, Book 3 - in progress
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I decided that if I was going to tackle a century, it might as well be the 1700s. I'm amazed at the resources I have in my own home or very close by.

For me, the Revolution will be in the background and only come to the fore during the crisis point in which my character can play a small but helpful part in the fight. I love that much of life was similar over the course of so many years. No "when did radio become popular" or "did they eat coconuts" (they did, but it was a delicacy for the rich, obviously!) to worry about because I know the answers. And, what I don't know, I can find online or by traveling into the historic district of Philadelphia to see how people lived.

I'm writing what I know about and will research or fudge the rest. As long as George Washington doesn't make a telephone call, I'm in good shape. :-)

- Maura

I'm writing about Philadelphia during the late spring to mid fall of 1776, from the point of view of a girl who's father and brother have opposing views on independence. My main angst for information is a mixture of what women in a colonial city did during the day (most info is for women in rural areas that I've found!) and finding solid arguments for the Loyalist side that are more than two or three sentences long. If you're looking for information on clothing, the Williamsburg website has some great activities online for dressing different class citizens in proper colonial attire.

FORGET REGRET... OR LIFE IS YOURS TO MISS
Yes, I do worship Tamora Pierce. It's a way of life.

Mine starts in1794 - really after the colonial but life was about the same. Basing it on an ancestors sister and the family's movement from MA to NY state - steamboats, erie canal, woman's movement etc. I have lots of books - been doing research for over a year - just needed this push to start writing - thank you NANO. I can post what I have when I get home. Thanks for the book mentioned going to get it right now - Women's letters.

Aloha!
Yes I am in Hawaii where there is limited library info so I bought lots of books. If you need some short research I have the following (short because I am writing also) (a few downloaded fom Google and a few from the library othewrise I have them.)
Nonfiction

The Cultivator downloaded
The Genesee Farmer Vol XX 1859 downloaded
Barber, John Warner downloaded Historical Collections of every town in Massachusetts
Barber, John Warner downloaded Historical Collections of the state of New York
Beale, Irene A Beale Genesee Valley Women: 1743 1985
Bethlehem Bethlehem Revisited A Bicentennial story 1793-1993
Bethlehem People of Bethlehem
Bogart, Ernest Ludlow downloaded The Economic History of America
Bolger, Stuart Genesee Country Village: Scenes of town & country in the nineteenth century
Bracken, Jeanne Munn Life in the American Colonies
Brown, Joseph E Mormon Trek West
Brugel, Martin Farm, Shop, Landing
Chamberlain,Samuel Open House in New England
Child, Lydia Maria The American Frugal Housewife
Christman, Margaret C.S. 1846 : portrait of the nation
Coles, George Coles downloaded My First Seven Years in America
Collins, Gail America’s Women
Copeland, Alfred downloaded Our county and its people" A history of Hampden County, Massachusetts
Cott, Nancy F Cott Everyday The Bonds of Womanhood : "Woman`s Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835
Craig, Lee A To Sow One Acre More: Childbearing and Farm Productivity in the Antebellum North
Cross, Whitney
library The Burned-over District: the social and intellectual history of enthusiastic religion in western New York 1800-1850
Davidson, J Brownlee downloded Farm machinery and Farm Motors
Dickens, Charles American Notes
Earle, Alice Morse Home Life in Colonial Days
Earle, Alice Morse Child Life
Earle, Alice Morse Costume and Fashions in Old New England
Earle, Alice Morse Two centuries of Costume in America 1620-1820
Elson, Ruth Miller Guardians of Tradition – American Schoolbooks of the 19th Century
Elting, John R Amateurs to Arms, Military History of the War of 1812
Fuller, Margaret Women in the Nineteenth century
Garrett, Elisabeth Donaghy At Home The American Family 1750-1870
Ginsberg, Lori D Untidy origins A Story of Women’s Rights in Antebellum New York
Grant, Mrs downloaded Memoirs of an American Lady
Griffiths, D. Jr. Two years in Ohio
Grum, Bernard The Timetables of History
Ham, Diane Around Mendon and Honeoye Falls
Heidlet, David S Daily Life in the Early American Republic
Hewitt, Nancy A H Women’s Activision and Social Change Rochester,NY 1822-1872
Hills, Patricia The Painters’ America:Rural And urban life, 1810-1910
Holloway, Mark Heaven of Earth, Utopian Communities in America 1680-1880
Holmes, Oliver W, Rohrbach, Peter T. library Stagecoach East : stagecoach days in the East from the Colonial period to the Civil War
Horsman, Reginald The Frontier in the formative years 1783-1815
Hunt, Gaillard As We Were, Life in America 1814
Huston, Reeve Land and Freedom: Rural Society, Popular Protest, and Party Politics in Antebellum New York
Hyde, Charles M Rev downloaded Historical celebration of the town of Brimfield
Jensen, Joan M library Loosening the bonds : Mid-Atlantic farm women, 1750-1850
Johnson, Paul E Shopkeeper's Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837
Johnson, Paul E Sam Patch the Famous Jumper
Larkin, Jack The Reshaping of Everyday Life: 1790-1840
Lord, Priscilla Sawyer The Folk Arts and Crafts of New England
Macaulay, James downloaded Across the Ferry
Malo, Paul Landmarks of Rochester and Monroe County: a guide to neighborhoods and villages.
Martin, Joseph Plumb A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier
Masur, Louis P 1831: Year of Eclipse
McClatchy, JD American Writer at Home
McCutcheon, Marc
Everyday Life in the 1800s: A Guide for Writers, Students & Historians
McGrane, Reginald Charles The Panic of 1837
Mitchell, Roger Clear Pond: A reconstruction of a life
Monson Massachusetts The History of Monson Massachusetts
Morrison, Michael A Antebellum America
Munsell, Joel downloaded The Annals of Albany  Vol 3.5.6.7.10
Munsell, Joel downloaded Collections on the history of Albany Vol 1
National Portrait Gallery 1846 Portrait of the Nation
Numbers, Guenter B library Medicine without doctors : home health care in American history
Osterud, Nancy Grey Bonds of Community: The lives of farm women in Nineteenth century New York
Purvis, Thomas L. library Revolutionary America, 1763 to 1800
Reynolds, Cuyler downloaded Albany Chronicles
Richards, Caroline Cowles – downloaded Village Life in America, 1852-1872: Including the Period of the American Civil War as Told in the Diary of a School Girl
Ryan, Mary P Cradle of the middle class
Shenkman, Richard Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History
Sheriff, Carol The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox
Smith,Page The nation comes of age : a people's history of the ante-bellum years
Taylor, Alan William Cooper’s Town
Turner, Frederick Jackson downloaded The Frontier in American History
Turner, O Pioneer History of the Holland Land Purchase
Ulrich, Laura Thatcher A Midwife's Tale : The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812
Ulrich, Laura Thatcher The Age of Homespun
Willet, Marinus downloaded A Narrative of the Military Actions
Wolfe, Andrew D Views of Old Rochester and the Genesee Country; From Indian Days to 1918

Fiction
Brown, Charles Brockden Three Gothic novels
Carmer,Carl Genesee Fever
Cooper, James Fenimore The Pioneers
Cooper, James Fenimore The Prairie
de Crevecoeur , J Hector St.John Letters from An American Farmer
Donati, Sara Into the Wilderness
Donati, Sara Donati library Lake in the Clouds
Edmonds, Walter D Drums Along the Mohawk
Edmonds, Walter D library Mostly Canallers
Foster, Hannah W The Coquette
Hawthorne, Nathanial library The Scarlet Letter
Monfredp, Miriam Grace library North star Conspiracy
Monfredo, Miriam Grace Seneca Falls Inheritance
Richter, Conrad Sea of Grass
Richter, Conrad The Trees
Richter, Conrad The Town
Richter, Conrad Light in the Forest
Richter, Conrad The Fields
Rowson, Susanna Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria Hope Leslie
Stowe, Harriett Beecher Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Warner, Susan Wide Wide World

Yeah, I'm doing the Rev War in the South. Twist is that its from the eyes of a loyalist under the command of the (in)famous Colonel Tarleton a.k.a. the Green Dragoon (research has shown that he was not in fact a demon and was actually a pretty decent guy!). I recommend Anthony Scotti's "Brutal Virtue" and D. Bass's "The Green Dragoon" for history on the subject.