"I have approached the subject from the English end, from the land whence the colonists came and of which they were always legally a part, and have broadened the scope of my inquiry to include all England's colonial possessions in the West that were founded in the seventeenth century. I have done this because I believe that final conclusions must always rest upon the experiences England had with all, not a part, of her colonies. That some of these colonies remained British while others became American does not, historically speaking, enter in as a determining factor."--Author's preface, v. 1.

"The English side of the story."--Preface. "Published on the Louis Stern Memorial Fund."

V. 1. The settlements, I. The age of discovery ; England's commercial activities ; Factors influencing colonization ; Preliminaries of settlement: Sagadahoc ; The settlement of Virginia ; Virginia's relations with Indians, Spaniards, and French ; The tobacco contract ; The downfall of the Virginia Company ; The first legislative assembly and after ; Virginia in 1641 ; Early years in Bermuda, 1612-1652 ; The fall of the Bermuda Company ; The coming of the Pilgrims ; The new Plymouth Colony ; The lure of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia ; Gorges and his projects for New England ; The formation of the Massachusetts Bay Company ; The great Puritan migration ; Gorges and the Puritans ; From charter to commonwealth in Massachusetts ; Religious and political difficulties in the bay colony ; Aspects of early Massachusetts life -- v. 2. The settlements, II. Roger Williams and the founding of Rhode Island ; The Rhode Island colony firmly established ; The beginnings of Connecticut ; From fundamental orders to charter in Connecticut ; The rise and fall of the New Haven colony ; The proprietary governments: introductory ; Far flung Barbados ; Proprietary Maryland ; Fall of the proprietary in Maryland -- v. 3. The settlements, III. Rough shaping a policy: I. The western design and Jamaica ; Rough shaping a policy: II. New Netherland and the Royal Commission of 1664 ; A Dutch province and a ducal propriety ; Proprietary troubles in the Jerseys ; Carolina: the beginnings ; The two Carolinas: later years ; The proprietary province of Pennsylvania -- v. 4. England's commercial and colonial policy. The beginnings of England's commercial policy ; The Dutch rivalry ; England's commercial system defined: 1660-1662 ; The enumerated commodities ; The system completed: 1663-1673 ; Strengthening the methods of enforcement: 1675-1696 ; The customs service in the colonies ; The vice-admiralty courts ; The origin and work of the board of trade ; Mercantilism and the colonies: historically considered ; England's attempt to enforce her colonial policy.