AMERICAN LITERATURE Beginnings

1. AMERICAN LITERATUREBeginnings Exploration, Colonization, Revolution, Expansion 1400 - 1800

2. Beginnings • America is a land of immigrants • Millions came to America against their will as slaves • Many of us may be descendants of recent immigrants • Why do people immigrate?

3. Beginnings • Bering Land Bridge brought inhabitants 20-40 thousand years ago • Over the years there was a southward migration

4. Beginnings • Numerous Native American cultures existed before European exploration • Native Americans had well developed, sophisticated cultures • Native Americans were exploited by Europeans

5. Beginnings • Early explorers were often groping in the dark • Their journals and accounts often emphasized the positive in order to receive support and funding

7. Beginnings • The Jamestown settlement was established in 1607 • Captain John Smith, soldier of fortune, was an early leader • Jamestown met with many hardships

12. Beginnings • The American character has been shaped by the moral, ethical, and religious convictions of the Puritans

13. Beginnings • The most famous group landed at Plymouth in 1620 • For Puritans, the everyday world and the spiritual world were closely connected

14. Beginnings • Puritans had their roots in Europe • They wanted to “purify” the Church of England • They wanted simple, direct forms of worship

15. Beginnings

16. Beginnings • They were single-minded • They were convinced of their rightness and their beliefs • They believed in a strict and literal interpretation of the Bible Bradford Edwards

17. Beginnings • There was both certainty and doubt in being a Puritan • Puritans were certain the most humanity was damned because of the sins of Adam and Eve • Puritans were also certain that Jesus had been sent to save particular people • There was much doubt about who these particular people were

18. Beginnings • A Puritan could not know for certain if he or she was one of the elect – one of the particular people chosen by God to be saved • Indications that a Puritan might be one of the elect came from outward behavior, and a feeling of being saved, or born again

19. Beginnings • To avoid sin, Puritans tried to lead industrious lives • They worked long and hard • They prayed to fill most of their spare time • They avoided any and all activities that could lead them to sin, and in turn, to hell

20. Beginnings • The Puritans favored plain style in their writing – elaborate style was considered sinful • Puritans believed strongly in education, so that one could read and understand God’s word • Puritans believed in a spiritual compact between the individual and God

21. Beginnings • As colonial life allowed more leisure and temptations, Puritanism became more and more hypocritical • Puritans had to pretend to live sin-free, pure lives • By the early 1700’s, Puritanism had decayed

22. Beginnings • Eventually, Puritans began to accuse their fellow Puritans of being sinful • Suspicions, guilt, and mass hysteria brought forth the Salem Witch Trials

23. Beginnings • In all, almost 150 people in Salem and the surrounding area were accused of witchcraft by their neighbors

24. Beginnings • Nineteen innocent people were hanged • One townsman was crushed to death

25. Beginnings • The European Age of Reason stimulated thought in the American colonies • Rationalism was the philosophy that was popularized by the Age of Reason • Rationalists believed that a human’s pursuit of truth through reason was more important than arriving at truth through faith

26. Beginnings • Rationalism was a direct contradiction of Puritanism • Rationalists saw God as a clockmaker, rather than as a supreme being was guided and controlled human life Newton

27. Beginnings • The political theories of democracy grew from the rationalistic movement • The independent, innovative, self-reliant American grew from the rationalistic movement • Deism was an outlook about God that grew from the rationalistic movement

28. Beginnings • Thomas Jefferson and other colonial politicians subscribed to rationalism and deism Jefferson

29. Beginnings • The Declaration of Independence bases its arguments and assumptions on rationalist thought and led the colonists to a war that logic would have told them not to fight

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31. Beginnings • Contrary to Puritanism, Deists believed that humans were inherently good • They believed in the perfectibility of every human • They believed that the best form of worship of God was in good deeds to other humans

32. Beginnings - Summary • Native Americans populated North America long before European explorers • European explorers discovered largely through wandering • Jamestown (1607) settled for profit • Plymouth (1620) settled for religious freedom

33. Beginnings - Summary • Harsh life bred innovative, self-reliant, independent people • The southern colonies became dependent on agriculture and soil-depleting crops • The northern colonies became dependent on industry

34. Beginnings - Summary • Rationalism and deism were two ways of thinking well suited for the American colonists • These two movements would eventually lead into the American Revolution and democracy • Americans became known for their independence and self-reliance