Persecution...adventure...prosperity. These are just three of the reasons that early settlers and pioneers set sail or lit out across the land bound for parts unknown. What did they find when they got there? What kind of houses did they build? How different were their clothes from modern dress? What kind of interaction took place with the Native Americans they encountered? These questions and many more are answered in this exciting five-volume social history series. Rich in detail, each volume examines the compelling everyday straggles, the sustaining religious beliefs and the wide variety of foods, clothing and diversions all the way from the Plymouth Plantation in New England to the first Spanish settlements in the Southwest. Through historical narrative, authentic first-person accounts from contemporary diaries and selected illustrations, the young student will find out how the Pilgrims survived brutal northern winters, the religious practices and leisure activities of the immigrants responsible for settling the middle colonies, the elaborate wardrobes and unique schooling of children in the Southern colonies, the way pioneers on the old western frontier converted natural resources to meet their needs and the relationship that existed in the West between Spanish settlers and Native Americans.