American Diaries Journals

These 93 stories provide a unique insight into the lives of mostly ordinary colonial people who lived in extraordinary times. Read the first description of the New World in the exploring ship captain's logbook, a letter from the first indentured servant, and the trial of Bridget Bishop, the first person hung for witchcraft in Salem. Compare the diary of the richest man in Virginia to Mary Cooper's diary wherein she longed for rest from her labors.Read 16-year-old George Washington's Rules of Civility, the pathetic letter from near-destitute indentured Elizabeth Sprig, Benjamin Franklin's account of Grime's confession and hanging, John Adams' defense of British soldiers in the Boston Massacre, and the first prayer given in the First Continental Congress.Read 16-year-old Sally Wister's diary of the battle of Germantown, a journal of the participants in the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's account of his Midnight Ride, and newspaper accounts of President Washington's death and funeral.