When did people want to start colonization in North America
The lates 1500s
What brought people to North America and the colonies
The promise of a new and better life
When colonists first moved over to North America what did they share with the Native Americans
They shared ideas, values, and beliefs
What was early American literature about
Was practical writing about everyday life, fascination of the wilderness and government and practical matters
Native American Literature
- oral tradition (no writing)
- writing was about nature and politics
- the Iroquois constitution inspired ours
New England Writing
- used the Puritan plain style of writing
- wrote sermons, journals, histories, prayers and poetry
Puritans
Belong to the Church of England but believe it can be purified. Made a theocracy (government under the church)
Pilgrims
They were the separatists who believed that the Church of England was a lost cause and they had to create their own
What did the puritans want to create
They wanted to build a “city upon a hill” or a holy example for the rest of society to see
Writing of the Middle Colonies
- wrote historical documents
- all people were welcomed and loved in this area of America
Writing of the Southern Colonies
- wrote historical narratives, journals, and diaries
- had leisure time down south so there was more entertainment literature
Pioneers writing
- they were nomadic people
- wrote discoveries, explorations, and narratives
John Smith
- wrote the general history of Virginia
- was a map maker and egotist
William Bradford
- wrote “of Plymouth Plantation”
- ## was reflected governor of Plymouth 30 times
Jonathan Edwards
- was a Puritan minister
- his teachings started the “Great Awakening”
- he wrote “sinners in the hands of an angry God”
Edward Taylor
- most talented poet of the colonial period
- wrote with conceits and wrote in the metaphysical school of writing style
- used heroic couplets (2 rhyming lines of Iambic Pentameter)
Anne Bradstreet
- first American woman to publish a volume of poetry
- topics of writing were medicine, history, home life, children and husband
What are the 4 freedoms
1) speech
2) experiment
3) question
4) arbitrary rulers
What were the topics of literature in the revolutionary period
- science
- ethics
- government
- politics
What did the people of the colonies start to think in the revolutionary period
They began to think of themselves as Americans and not Englishmen
What is the most important literary work of the 18th century
The Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Franklin
- chief spokesmen for the colonies
- renaissance man
- helped write and sign the Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
- wrote the Declaration of Independence
- founded the university of virginia
- 3rd president of the United States
Thomas Paine
- journalist
- wrote “common sense” and “American Crisis”
- know for his rhetoric and persuasiveness
