The Thirteen Colonies & the American Revolution
Research Guide and Bibliography

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Keywords

Colonial life in America; Massachusetts Bay Colony; Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts); Williamsburg (Virginia); Jamestown (Virginia); Lost Colony (North Carolina); Revolutionary War in America; American Revolution

Background Information

Reference materials are always a good place to start on your research on any topic to help you build background information

• World Book* (print or online): Start with the article “Colonial life in America” or “Revolutionary War in America”
• Look up the name of the colony (Virginia, Massachusetts, etc.) and look for the “history” section
• Look up the name of the colonist or other important person (by last name)
• CultureGrams States Edition* includes history as well as other aspects of the 50 states
  

Other Reference Books

Some reference books offer more specific information about Colonial America and the America Revolution

• Colonial America (Grolier, 1998)
• Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States (UXL, 1999)
• Colonial America Reference Library (UXL, 2000) – includes Almanac, Biographies and Primary Sources
• American Revolution Reference Library (UXL, 2000) – includes Almanac, Biographies and Primary Sources
  

Biographies

Check the reference books mentioned above as well as some of the special locations below

• SIRS Discoverer* – click on “Biographies” in the box on the bottom right to search for a person by name
• eLibrary Elementary* - click on the “topics” tab, then look for “biographies,” then click on “leaders in U.S. history”
• Books can be found in the 921 shelves of the non-fiction or biography collection, alphabetized by the person’s last name
  

Non-fiction Books

• Non-fiction history books focusing on the United States are usually in the 973-979 shelves
• Book on colonial crafts are in the 745 section
  

Web Sites

KidsClick! has great lists of websites about the colonial period and the American Revolution
Liberty! The American Revolution Test your knowledge of the American Revolution with this game. Learn about daily life in the Colonies, read headlines from six colonial cities, and discover a timeline of important events.
A Colonial Family and Community - Henry Ford Museum "Be a history detective. Go back in time and investigate the daily lives of the Daggetts, a colonial family from northeastern Connecticut. Collect clues to uncover answers to 7 questions about colonial life in the 1700s." Play this game to learn about life in colonial America.