American literary movements

“Colonial Period”

Pre-1600 through 1775

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

Pre-settlement

<1620

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.

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

Puritanism

1620-1755

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.

PUritanism, cont.1620-1765

Characteristics Forms of writing:

HistoriesDiariesChronicles (describe the earthly in terms of the eternal)PoetrySermons:

a. explanation of biblical quotation

b. interpretation

c. application to the life of the colony

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.

Characteristics Cont.

Literal truth substituted with potential symbolic lessonNo novels – they divert people’s attention from workWriting should have a practical purposeBelief in America being the “promised land” and

Americans being the “chosen people”Frequent religious referencesOften plain style so that common people can

understand

Revolutionary Age

165-1790

Revolutionary Age

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

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

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

Writers

Political Pamphlets

Philosophical / Religious Tracts: Benjamin Franklin   (1706 – 1790) Thomas Paine   (1737 – 1809) Thomas Jefferson   (1743 – 1826) Alexander Hamilton  (1757 – 1804)