Turning PointsActual and Alternate Histories: Colonial America from Settlement to the Revolution

This work is a thought-provoking look at the original 13 colonies, presenting the facts and engaging the reader by using alternate history - what if key events had turned out differently? - to help develop critical thinking skills. What would American history look like if Sweden had been more successful with its original colony in Delaware? How close did the United States come to being a French-speaking nation? These questions and more are answered in this history of colonial America, both as it was, and as it might have been. This entry in ABC-CLIO's exciting series "Turning Points in History - Actual and Alternate Histories" covers the development of the original 13 states, from first European contact up to the Revolutionary War. Using the fascinating tool of alternate history - postulating the course of events, had one key fact been different - the book engages students' imaginations and critical thinking skills. This critical period in American history is particularly suited to the alternative history approach: the population of the colonies was small, so the import of individual actions, or of singular events, was proportionately large. If the English had lost one battle to the Swedes, the United States might have been a Swedish colony. If James, Duke of York, had died of the plague in 1654, the U.S. and French revolutions might not have happened.