American Colonial Literature

1. American Colonial Literature 1500’s to 1700’s

2. 2Theories for Transition from English to American • Whatever was written and published by first Englishman in America is part of the first American Literature. • American writing lost the character of occasional letters to the homeland and became the articulation of the common experience.

3. 3Conditions for a Distinctive American Literature • Free from practical things to pursue artistic and intellectual endeavors. • Had to have developed a consciousness of themselves as Americans in an American way of life in American circumstances. • Had to develop a means of publishing and distributing American writing to an American audience.

4. The Puritans • Major emphasis in literature: • Religion • Emphasis on humanity’s role in: • Society • Family • Personal relationship with God • Personal, meditative—not intended for publication

5. William Bradford Bradford, actually a “Separatist,” fled the persecution of James I of England on The Mayflower. He became the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 9th & 11th Governor of Plymouth Colony up to his death in 1657.

6. The Puritans • #1 motive for settling New England— • to set up a Christian society according to what they thought it should be. • Religion was an every day, every detail concern • Puritan writers were: • literate & learned • skilled & instructed in writing & speaking

7. Characteristics of Puritan Literature • Strenuous & serious • Attempts to represent life truly • Simple, plain style • Scriptural analogies • Figures used from daily life: • Fishing • Farming • Sea and land travel

8. The Bay Psalm Book 1640 1st book printed in America. Eleven copies of the first edition of the Bay Psalm Book are known still to exist: The Library of Congress; Brown University; Yale University; American Antiquarian Society; Rosenbach Museum & Library; Boston Public Library; & private collections.

9. The Planters • Major emphasis in literature: • Letters & pamphlets • Propaganda • Audience: • English citizens to encourage & urge: • Settlement • Investment

10. The Planters: Explorers & Settlers • Settled the Southern Colonies • Characteristics of literature: • Narratives of voyages • Details concerning: • Geography • Climate • Plant life • Animal life • Native life • Native wars & encounters • Journals & histories of founding of towns & villages

11. Captain John Smith John Smith established the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia. His accounts of his encounters with Pocahontas has been the subject of debate for over a hundred years. Smith was seriously injured in the Powhatan native wars and sailed to England for treatment in 1609. He never returned to Virginia.

12. Planter Propaganda • Sole purpose: settlement & investment • Report physical facts • Celebrated wealth and health • John Smith’s books & maps encouraged more Englishmen and women to follow to the region. • He encouraged people with the comment, • "Here every man may be master and owner of his ownelabour and land...If he have nothing but his hands, he may...by industrie quickly grow rich." • His message attracted millions of people in the next four centuries. • Stressed new lands for the king & the church

13. Contrasting Puritan/Planter Literature Puritans Planters • Religious freedom • Bradford: minister • Divine providence insured well-being • Simple language: straightforward & to the point • Native life: docile & peaceful • Moral point to the story • Investment & settlement • Smith: explorer/settler • Smith: prowess insured well-being • Inflated language: big words & long sentences • Native life: hostile • 3rd person point of view lends arrogance to story