At a time when surveys reveal that Americans know less and less about our past, Tony Williams provides entertaining and informative descriptions of 50 of the most important and dramatic events from the colonial and Revolutionary periodsome known and some forgottenfrom the Mayflower Compact to the Annapolis Convention. Published in association with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation,America's Beginnings takes the reader throughout the American colonies and introduces many leading figures, from John Smith and John Winthrop to the Founding Fathers. Along the way, Williams examines the principles that led colonists to come to America and succeeding generations to become a free and independent nation. Read individually or from cover to cover, these stories illuminate the founding principles and heroic struggles that established the country and shaped the American character.

Tony Williams is the author ofHurricanes of Independence: The Untold Story of the Deadly Storm at the Deciding Moment of the American Revolution andThe Pox and the Covenant: Franklin, Mather, and the Epidemic that Changed Americas Destiny. He resides in Williamsburg. Virginia.

PrefaceChapter 1: Lost ColonyChapter 2: JamestownChapter 3: Starving TimeChapter 4:First Representative Legislature in Britain's New WorldChapter 5: First AfricansChapter 6:Mayflower CompactChapter 7:City Upon a HillChapter 8:Indian Uprising of 1622Chapter 9: Dissents of Anne Hutchinson and Roger WilliamsChapter 10: Pequot WarChapter 11: King Philip's WarChapter 12: Bacon's RebellionChapter 13:Glorious Revolution in AmericaChapter 14:Salem Witch TrialsChapter 15: Boston Smallpox Epidemic of 1721Chapter 16: Great AwakeningChapter 17: Benjamin Franklin and the Lightning RodChapter 18: Albany Plan of UnionChapter 19: Great MeadowsChapter 20: Braddock's MarchChapter 21: Royal Proclamation of 1763Chapter 22: Stamp ActChapter 23: Townshend ActsChapter 24: Boston MassacreChapter 25: Boston Tea PartyChapter 26: Continental CongressChapter 27: Give Me Liberty or Give Me DeathChapter 28: Lexington and ConcordChapter 29: Bunker HillChapter 30: Fort TiconderogaChapter 31:Common SenseChapter 32: Declaration of RightsChapter 33: Declaration of IndependenceChapter 34: Crossing the DelawareChapter 35: SaratogaChapter 36: French AllianceChapter 37: Valley ForgeChapter 38: Guilford CourthouseChapter 39: YorktownChapter 40: Newburgh ConspiracyChapter 41: Peace Treaty of 1783Chapter 42: Washington Surrenders His CommissionChapter 43: Virginia Statute for Religious FreedomChapter 44: Annapolis ConventionChapter 45: Shays' RebellionChapter 46: Constitutional ConventionChapter 47: Ratifying ConventionsChapter 48:The FederalistChapter 49: Inauguration of George WashingtonChapter 50: Bill of RightsBibliographyIndex