Perspectives on Early American

Literature

Perspectives in American Literature

Perspectives on The American Dream

 What are our values?  Where did they come from?  How has America changed?  What does it mean to be an American?  “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…?”

Unit One: Beginnings (to 1750).

  Pamphlets and writings promoting the colonies

  Accounts of religious disputes

  Conflicts and interaction with the Indians

  Political writings

The 13 Colonies

Pilgrims/religion & Patriots/politics)

  The Age of Faith (1607-1750)   I. Historical Context

  A. Puritans and Pilgrims  1. separated from the Anglican church of England  2. religion dominated their lives and writings

  B. Work ethic - belief in hard work and   simple living

  II. Genre/Style   A. sermons, diaries, personal narratives, slave narratives   B. instructive   C. plain style

William Bradford (1590 – May 9, 1657) -- a leader of the separatist settlers of the

Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts   His journal (1620-47), “Of

Plymouth Plantation,” is perhaps the greatest book of 17th Century America.

  credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.

The Mayflower Compact

  1. Spiritual Liberty   2. Religious Liberty   3. Political Liberty   4. Economic Liberty   5. Constitutional Liberty

  While still aboard the Mayflower, before they ever went ashore, the Pilgrims took their Biblical type covenant they used for their church self-government in England, and modeled the Mayflower Compact, the world’s first written charter for local civil self-government--"democracy" with a spiritual undergirding,

Plymouth Rock at Plymouth, MA

Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620, in what would become the United States.

Plymouth Rock .

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The Mayflower

The 102 passengers on the Mayflower were the earliest permanent European settlers in New England. (The Jamestown settlement was the first English settlement in what would become the United States.)

The Mayflower

The Mayflower

  “Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles...they had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor..... And for the reason it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms...all stand upon them with a weather-beaten face, and the whole country, full of woods and thickets, represented a wild and savage hue.”

From: Of Plymouth Plantation

Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672   the very first American female writer to

have her works published   was an unusually well-educated woman

for her time   wrote about politics, history, medicine,

and theology   personal library of books was said to

have numbered over 800, many of which were destroyed when her home burned down on July 10, 1666. This event itself inspired a poem entitled "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666."

Jonathan Edwards October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1758

  a colonial American Congregational preacher, theologian, and missionary to Native Americans

  associated with his defense of Calvinist theology and the Puritan heritage

  “fire-and-brimstone” sermons, such as "Sinners in the hands of an angry God," emphasized the unworthiness of man in God's eyes

  “swooning” of his audience caused controversy over "bodily effects" of the Holy Spirit's presence.

Native American Contact Samoset: First to meet the

Pilgrims. He returned several times, bringing other Native Americans.

Massasoit: chief of the tribe the Wampanoag. He was introduced to the Pilgrims by Samoset and later signed a peace treaty with them that lasted for 50 years.

Squanto: Native American who befriended the Pilgrims and taught them how to grow food.

Unit Two: A New Nation

(1750-1800)… “The Age of Reason”

  American Revolution; growth of patriots

  Development of American character/democracy

  Use of reason as opposed to faith alone

Olaudah Equiano(1745-97) was the first political leader of Britain’s black community. Equiano was born in Nigeria and kidnapped by slave traders at the age of 11. He was brought to Virginia, sold to a Philadelphian, and sent to work in the West Indies. Eventually, he gained his freedom and moved to London where he published the “Interesting Narrative of a Slave”in 1789.

www.westminster.gov.uk/.../celebrating7.jpg

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur 1735-1813

Crevecoeur was a Frenchman who spent many years in North America as a surveyor and trader. He became a citizen of New York and wrote a series of 12 letters-- “Letters from an American Farmer” published in England in 1782.

Thomas Jefferson

Declaration of Independence Considered the finest writer of the era "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal…"

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Franklin is one of the most widely recognized of early American writers. Not only did he play a role in writing the Declaration of Independence and establishing good relations with France, but he also was a philosopher, a scientist, and a humorist. He published Poor Richard’s Almanac, and also his Autobiography.

www.earlyamerica.com/portraits/franklin.html

Unit Three: A Growing Nation The Transcendentalists

The Romantics The Realists

The Transcendentalists (1840-1855)

Transcendentalism stressed individualism, intuition, nature, self-reliance

  resisted materialism; chose simplicity, individualism

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882 One of the country’s greatest Thinkers and from a family of ministers, he too thought of the ministry until his faith faltered with the death of his wife. He became a writer and lecturer and formed the Transcendentalist Club. They believed in the dignity of the individual and the importance of being true to oneself rather than adhering to organized religion. His book Nature laid out the ideas of transcendentalism.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) An eccentric and considered a failure during his own lifetime, Thoreau was an original thinker. A friend of Emerson’s, he also believed in self-reliance and following one’s own conscience. He was at odds with his neighbors and society. His ideas on civil disobedience, materialism, and conservation continue to irritate and challenge readers.

Romanticism (1800-1850)

  a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century. It was a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature.

Emily Dickinson   Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 –

May 15, 1886) lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life. Thought of as an eccentric by the locals, she became known for wearing white clothing and her reluctance to greet guests or, later in life, even leave her room. Most of her friendships were therefore carried out by correspondence.

  Dickinson was a prolific private poet, choosing to publish fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems.[1] The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. In her lifetime, she wrote a total of 1,775 poems.

Walt Whitman

  Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the "father of free verse".

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow   (February 27, 1807 – March

24, 1882) works include: "Paul Revere's Ride", "The Song of Hiawatha", and "Evangeline”.

  Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. His 70th birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, speeches, and the reading of his poetry.

  Although some modern critics consider him too sentimental, his poetry is based on familiar and easily understood themes with simple, clear, and

flowing language.

Realism(1865-1915)   In arts and literature, realism is the depiction of subjects

as they appear in everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation. The term is also used to describe works of art which, in revealing a truth, may emphasize the ugly or sordid.

  Realism also refers to a mid-19th century cultural movement. Realism was heavily against romanticism, which dominated literature and artwork in the late 18th and early 19th century. Realism believed in objective reality and revolted against exaggerated emotionalism. Truth and accuracy were the goals.

Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who actually left the country in order to avoid recapture. He eventually came back and helped others escape via the underground railroad. He also urged Black soldiers to enlist in the Union Army. He wrote A Narrative on the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)

nogodzone.blogspot.com

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and novelist. Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery, reaching millions. It made the political issues of the 1850's regarding slavery tangible, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North and angered and embittered the South. It is claimed that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe, he said, "So you're the little woman that started this great war!"[1]