Native Americans or Indians were already living here when the colonists came. Indians believed that they did not own the land. They could use the land. They were a part of the land. This belief left the land open to new people that were coming. In the Colonial Period there were over 200 tribes. Each might speak their own language.
The way Indians lived was different for each tribe. Some Indians were farmers, others were hunters and fishers. Some tribes were very peaceful. Others were feared as fighters. They lived in many types of homes. Some lived in Tepees, others in Wigwams, Igloos, or Hogans.
Algonquins, for example, were hunters and fishers, but they also planted corn and squash. The Iroquois tribes farmed for most of their food.
Native Americans were diverse. They were diverse in their language. Their food was different. Their clothing was varied too. Their very cultures were diverse.
Life for the Indians was hard because of who and what they were. They were hunted, trodden, and driven or scattered here, there, and everywhere across the land. There seemed to be no good or safe place for them.
Northern Colonies- Mayflower Compact, governments- http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/13-colonies-colonial-life-economics-politics.html;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/3b.as; The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor, p. 40, Rhode Island p. 49;
Middle Colonies- New Jersey government- The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor, p. 55; Pennsylvania colony (Freedoms);
The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Woman on the Frontier by Teri Kanefield, p. 9;
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/colonialtimes.htm;
Farmers- The Farmer by Wil Mara;
My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor; Abigail struggles with illness - her, her family, and the communities. (September 1775, pp. 74 and 75.)
Women- The Extraordinary Suzy Wright: A Colonial Woman on the Frontier by Teri Kanefield, p. 14 (rights);
http://www.history.org/almanack/life/trades/traderural.cfm;
http://www.history.org/almanack/life/trades/traderural2.cfm;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5e.asp;
http://www.usahistory.info/colonial/customs.html;
http://www.history.org/History/teaching/dayInTheLife/webactivities/dress/dress.cfm (Colonial dress);
Two Sets of clothes- The Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in Colonial America by Dale Taylor pp. 254)
http://www.williamsburgkids.com/people/;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeCXLiwWqKw (Making linen from flax);
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5a.asp;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5b.asp;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/6b.asp (Middle Passage- Tight packing of slaves;
http://www.history.org/kids/visitUs/colonialPeople/slave.cfm;
http://www.ushistory.org/us/1a.asp;
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/perspectives_daily.html#;
http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcolonial.html;
www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/00165897ch01.pdf- Population statistics;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/equiano_olaudah.shtml by Olaudah Equiano
Seminole War in Everglades from the US Marine Corp in the National Archives and Records Admin 800px;
Susie Billie collecting medicinal plants at the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in Florida 7830615766 through the Florida archives- Wikimedia Commons;
Six Blackfeet Chiefs painting by Paul Kane- Wikimedia Commons;
Dakota Warrior by K Bodmer through the National Archives Records Administration- Wikimedia Commons;
ATOS- 4.6
Flesch-Kincaid Level- 5.0