A Young Person's Introduction to Life in 18th-Century North America

    British, Dutch, Spanish, French, Swedish, and German settlers colonized North America during the eighteenth century, sparking wars with the native peoples and one another over land rights and natural resources.  The slave trade became a massive multinational industry that brought wealth to landowners and merchants in North America, while depleting Africa's west coast of its laboring force.

General information
    JYF Museums. "Ask JYF Museums | How Common Were Cats in Early Virginia?" YouTube. December 3, 2025.
    PBS Origins. "The Other American Colonies They Don't Teach You About." YouTube. February 11, 2026.
    Rowe, Kaz. "What National Treasure (2004) Got Wrong (and right) About History." YouTube. December 1, 2022.
    Townsend, Jon. "Lighting Then VS Now: Fire Before Electricity." YouTube. January 14, 2024.

Arts and architecture
    Townsend, Jon. "How to Build an Earthen Oven." YouTube. December 5, 2011.
    Townsend, Jon. "Keeping Livestock on the Frontier - Wattle Fence Build." YouTube. July 25, 2022.
    Townsend, Jon. "Three Years of the Log Cabin - How's it Held Up?" YouTube. December 8, 2022.

Economy and trade
    Cox, Abby. "Get In Loser, We're Going Shopping (in the 18th Century) 🛍." YouTube. December 20, 2020.
    Draper, Jenny. "Answering White People's Questions About Slavery: The London History Show." YouTube. March 3, 2021.
    HISTORY. "What Was the Tea Act of 1773? | History." YouTube. February 9, 2020.
    Rowe, Kaz. "Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet: The True History Behind Our Flag Means Death." YouTube. April 22, 2022.
    Townsend, Jon. "Do You Know the Difference? Shilling, Sixpence, Halfpenny?" YouTube. July 27, 2021.
    Townsend, Jon. "Lives of The Downtrodden in Early America." YouTube. September 12, 2018.

Food and drink
    McKnight, Cheyney. "A Day in the Life of an Enslaved Cook | These Roots Episode 2." YouTube. June 28, 2021.
    Miller, Max. "A Dish for the First 4th of July... and why it should be on the 2nd." YouTube. June 30, 2020.
    Miller, Max. "How to Eat Like a Pirate: Hardtack & Grog." YouTube. February 2, 2021.
    Miller, Max. "Pemmican: History's Power Bar." YouTube. September 27, 2022.
    Miller, Max. "Pineapples - The Most Expensive Fruit in History." YouTube. February 18, 2025.
    Miller, Max. "Pumpkin Pie from 1796 - A History of Pumpkins." YouTube. October 31, 2023.

Games and entertainment
    Old-fashioned Agnes. "18th century games." YouTube. March 21, 2021.
    Townsend, Jon. "Bowling Then VS Now." YouTube. November 12, 2023.

Health and medicine
    Chris the Redcoat. "'Too Clean'." YouTube. March 19, 2021.
    JYF Museums. "Hands-on History | The Science of Staying Clean." YouTube. October 22, 2025.

Literature and education
    Hartmann, Elizabeth. "The Coquette - Hannah Foster." YouTube. April 27, 2021.

Religion and folklore
    Cox, Abby. "A Dress Historian Explains the History of the Witch Hat." YouTube. October 18, 2020.
    Kellgren-Fozard, Jessica. "Non-Binary and Religious: The Public Universal Friend // Historical Profile // Vlogmas 2019 Day 19." YouTube. December 19, 2019.

Travel and transportation
    Kelly, Peter. "Strategic Waterways of the French and Indian War | Seven Years War |. America and Canada 1700's |." YouTube. April 4, 2025.
    Townsend, Jon. "From Tree To Canoe: Full Length Anniversary Edition - Dugout Canoe Build." YouTube. October 1, 2022.

Warfare and empire
    Chris the Redcoat. "Duties and Responsibilities of Rank in the British Army During the American Revolution." YouTube. February 26, 2021.
    Chris the Redcoat. "Germans in the British Army? (No, Not the Hessians)." YouTube. May 4, 2020.
    Chris the Redcoat. "Myth vs Reality: Recruitment and Training in the 18th Century British Army." YouTube. June 24, 2023.
    HISTORY. "The French and Indian War Explained | History." YouTube. February 4, 2020.
    PBS Origins. "Would You Have Joined the American Revolution?" YouTube. March 20, 2018.

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