The earliest American literature was aninteresting mixture of travel accounts andreligious writings produced mainly byimmigrants from England.

Colonialism, Puritanism, and Revolutionary Nationalism

(16th to Early 19th Century)

Characteristics

The Colonial period was dominated by Puritan beliefs and thus literature of this period is usually historical, religious, or didactic.

The most common genres were tracts, polemics, journals, narratives, sermons, and some poetry.

Imaginative literature was rare; in some colonies, it was banned for being immoral.

Colonial Period

William Bradford- the first

historian of America, describedin his book History of PlimmothPlantation the travel of thepilgrims from the time they setsail for the new land to theirlanding on the coast of Americain 1620.

William Bradford's descendantsinclude Noah Webster, JuliaChild and Supreme CourtJustice William Rehnquist.

Colonial Prose Writers

Captain John Smith –

described the truthful accounts of his adventures in A Description of New England. (1616)

Francis Higginson –described America’s wealth of natural resources in New England’s Plantation (1630).

Colonial Prose Writers

Cotton Mather - wrote

Magnalia Chisti Americana, a massive collection of cultural, supernatural and religious literature.

Jonathan Edward –considered as the greatest of Puritan religious leaders, whose tracts and semonsreflected his conversion to Calvinism.

Colonial Prose Writers

Anne Bradstreet – America’s

first notable poet, capturedthe colonial experience inverses in her collection ofpoems, The Tenth Muse LatelySprung Up in America, whichis reflective of her own piety.

Michael Wigglesworth –achieved wide popularityamong his contemporarieswith his poem The Day ofDoom (1662), a description ofthe day of judgement.

Colonial Poets

Characteristics

This period begins with the passing of the StampAct in England and ends in 1790.

The Revolutionary period usually refers towritings that are politically motivated, either insupport of British rule, in support of Americanpatriotism and independence, or relating to theConstitution.

The Age of Reason—style of writing referred to as“logical reasoning”.

The best known writer of the Revolutionary eraoutside of the political field is Ben Franklin.

Revolutionary Period

Writing was meant to be public: during thisperiod over 50 newspapers were published in coastalcities. Besides newspapers, most published writingswere pamphlets, magazines, and speeches (oratory).

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was influential inswaying public opinion in favor of independence.

This period produced political documents for theages. However, no American novels or plays ofimportance had been written.

Revolutionary Period

Thomas Paine – known for hisworks, Common Sense and The Crisis,which urge colonials to rebel.

Interesting Facts About Thomas Paine

He nearly died of typhoid fever onhis first trip to America.

Paine was also an inventor. Hereceived a patent for a bridge designand invented a smokeless candle.

Paine's writings also influencedfuture Americans such as AbrahamLincoln and Thomas Edison.

Revolutionary Writers