American literary movements “Colonial Period”

1. American literary movements“Colonial Period” Pre-1600 through 1775

2. For many, this era begins with the first settlement at Jamestown to the outbreak of the American Revolution. We will also include the “pre-settlement” period which covers Native American tradition. Writings from this era were – for the most part – religious, practical, or historical. Some of the more significant writers of the time include William Bradford, theologian Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, Anne Bradsheet, and Phillis Wheatly.Sub Periods include:-Pre-settlement period-Puritanism • Colonial Period

3. Pre-settlement <1620

4. Historical Events (America) • 1492: Native American groups first encounter European explorers. • 1515: Juan Ponce de Leon lands on the Florida Peninsula. • 1565: St. Augustine, FL, first permanent settlement in US founded by Pedro Menendez. • 1586: English colony at Roanoke Island disappears. • 1590: Iroquois Confederacy established to stop warfare among the five nations. • 1607: First permanent English settlement at Jamestown, VA. • 1608: Captain John smith writes “A True Relation...of Virginia.” • 1619: House of Burgesses established in Virginia; first legislature in the Western Hemisphere. • 1620: Pilgrims land at Plymouth Massachusetts.

5. Characteristics • Oral literature relying on performance • Most stories collected and written down in the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century • Distinguishable by form, content, and style - thus correspond to the most fundamental features of literature • Types of oral narratives:  • Origin and Emergence Stories,   • Historical Narratives,   • Culture Hero Stories,   • Trickster Tales

6. Puritanism 1620-1755

7. PUritanism 1620-1765 • Historical Events (America) • 1620: Mayflower, Puritans found Plymouth Plantation • Massachusetts Bay Colony founded • 1636: Harvard University founded near Boston • 1640: First printing press in English-speaking North American arrives in Massachusetts • 1647: Massachusetts establishes free public schools. • 1675: New England frontier towns begin to be raided. • 1676: Nat Bacon’s ill-fated rebellion launched against VA’s governor Berkeley. • 1710: Smallpox epidemic breaks out in Boston; Cotton Mather argues for inoculation (vaccines). • 1735: John Peter Zenger acquitted of libel, furthering freedom of the press. • 1741: Great Awakening, a series of religious revivals, begins to sweep the colonies. • 1741: Jonathan Edwards first delivers his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. • 1752: Benjamin Franklin conducts kite and key experiment. • 1754: French and Indian War begins.

8. PUritanism, cont.1620-1765 • Characteristics • Forms of writing: • Histories • Diaries • Chronicles (describe the earthly in terms of the eternal) • Poetry • Sermons: • a. explanation of biblical quotation • b. interpretation • c. application to the life of the colony

9. Characteristics Cont. • Role of sermons: • new argument in the ongoing theological debates • a part of the political process (“Election Days.”) • --on an election day, a sermon would be given by those wishing to be elected to religious office. These sermons would generally consist of an account of that person’s experience of grace. • scaring the congregation back into religious life (“jeremiads”) • Jeremiads are literary works or speeches that express a bitter lament or righteous prophecy of doom.

10. Characteristics Cont. • Literal truth substituted with potential symbolic lesson • No novels – they divert people’s attention from work • Writing should have a practical purpose • Belief in America being the “promised land” and Americans being the “chosen people” • Frequent religious references • Often plain style so that common people can understand

11. Revolutionary Age 165-1790

12. Revolutionary Age • Era most often begins with the Stamp Act of 1765. Writings focused on the concepts of freedom, change, and self-government.

13. Historical Events (America) • 1765- Stamp Act • 1773 -  Boston Tea Party • 1775-83 –  American Revolution • 1776, 4 July – Declaration of Independence • 1783 -  Treaty of Paris • 1787-88 -   Federalist Papers: Alex. Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison • 1789 -   American Constitution    • 1789-1799 - French Revolution

14. Characteristics • Rational approach to the world, belief in progress • Pragmatism –Truth measured by practical experiences; law of nature • Deism –God created the world but has no influence on human lives. • Idealism – Conviction of the universal sense of right and wrong; belief in the goodness of man. • Interest in human nature

15. Writers • Political Pamphlets • Philosophical / Religious Tracts: • Benjamin Franklin   (1706 – 1790) • Thomas Paine   (1737 – 1809) • Thomas Jefferson   (1743 – 1826) • Alexander Hamilton  (1757 – 1804)