America First Hand, by Robert D. Marcus and David Burner is written in distinct detail about several accounts by American colonists that are written and relay what it was like in the colonies during the first couple decades. The accounts describe how teenagers, men, and women, all in their own way, questioned society, religion, and government in order to improve themselves and have their own effects on a changing county. The author compares and contrasts religious, political, and social issues that were dealt with during the early 1800’s.

In part one the author introduces the encounters of Indians and Europeans, starting with lectures from Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci, and concluding with descriptions of the New World from the first settlers. This ranges from the years 1493 to times of the first settlers. Here Christopher Columbus explains to the royalty his discover in the Indies and his plans on conquering it. Part two relates the experiences in the colonies, describing the early American life with vivid examples of readings. In this chapter, the author provides the letters that John and Margaret Winthrop wrote to each other expressing their love

The authors examined the experiences of Hetty Shepard, Ben Franklin, and Eliza Pickeny. Three Americans from very different backgrounds who all had thoughts, actions, and ideas to better themselves and hopefully better their fellow man and society. They show that people should try to better themselves based on his or her own opinions and ideas rather than rely on those of others. Miss Hetty Shepard was a Puritan girl living in New England at the height of colonization and had trouble with the Indians. She recorded a diary to describe the days as they went by. Also along with her daily acknowledgements, Hetty reveals private thoughts and inquires that show her doubts and questions concerning her strict Puritan beliefs. The author shows passages from a diary written by Hetty Shepard about what some may call the rebellious mind of young woman. Based on her writings, others may call her the beginning of the independent, or republican, women. Men of the colonial time period did not have it much easier than women. Inventor, philosopher, printer, and ladies’ man extraordinary Ben Franklin was also considered in this book. He was a writer/printer from Philadelphia, and a person who was interested in the science of humanity. Franklin in the midst of the Age of Enlightenment was a man concerned with his own personal perfection. Eliza Pinckney, “A Republican Women”, was an extraordinary woman of the colonial south. Throughout her life she knew how to fend for herself. She was educated and cultured; she took on the responsibilities of running several plantations, as well as the responsibility of raising two children on her own through long distance correspondence. She was in every meaning of the word, independent. All three of these people, Hetty Shepard, Ben Franklin, and Eliza Pinckney began their ways by suppressing their natural thoughts, impulses, and emotions in order to fulfill the requirement society expected of them.

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Some topics in this essay:
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