When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, in 1620, they were not alone. Although North America was a vast wilderness, it was populated by more than one million Native Americans scattered throughout the continent. In addition, small European settlements—French, Dutch, English, and Spanish—dotted the Atlantic coastline from Canada to Florida. The colony of Jamestown was in its thirteenth year.

Within sixty years of the Pilgrims' arrival, there were more than two hundred thousand new Americans between Maine and the Carolinas, with Swedes and Germans, Quakers and Jews adding to the rapidly growing, diverse populations. America's first cities were thriving seaports where trade and industry helped increase the colonies' independence. The first college was founded and, in New England, public education had begun. Books were printed, coins minted, and postal service was launched. The first colonial constitution was adopted, in Connecticut.

The New Americans tells the story of the origins of our rich multicultural heritage, and exciting chapter in Betsy and Giulio Maestro's acclaimed American Story series.

From the dust jacket