Revolutionary Literature
A Nation is Born
•1750-1800
•Most writing fuels by politics
•13 original colonies
–Content to be English subjects until 17601770 attitudes began to change
•18th C. (1700’s) – Age of Reason
–Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton
–People began to look to science & logic as
opposed to just their faith
–Believed that people are good natured, not
destined to be evil
The French and Indian War
• 1754-1763
• The last of four battles between France, England,
and their Native American allies.
• Fought for control of North America
• Most Native Americans fought with the French
with the exception of the Iroquois Confederation
who sided with the British and Americans
• George Washington was 21 yrs old and a major –
this was his first major conflict
• England won the battle here, but the war
continued back into Europe
• Treaty of Paris signed in 1763 officially ending the
war
Taxation of the Colonies
• 1765 – England needed to raise revenue to
pay for the French/Indian War and the
rising cost of the empire
• Stamp Act
– Taxed newspapers, playing cards, legal
documents, licenses, and almanacs
– People went NUTS!!
– Repealed almost immediately!
• Other acts followed & colonists formed a
boycott
Boston Massacre
• March 5, 1770
• one of the greatest bits of propaganda in
history
• British dissolved the Massachusetts
legislature and declared martial law
(soldiers are police)
– Troops were sent into Boston and they clashed
with Boston civilians in protests
– A whopping 5 civilians were slain – three there
and two died later
– Acted as spark for the following rebellions
which lead to the American Revolution
Boston Tea Party
• December 17, 1773 (3 ½ years after the Boston
Massacre)
• Most taxes had been repealed except the Tea Tax
• Colonists dressed as Indians and dumped tea
from docked ships owned by the British East
India Tea Company into the Boston Harbor
• Direct action protest and remains an icon of the
American Revolution
• John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren,
and Benjamin Church (the “Indians”) were
charged with high treason
• Brought on the closure of the Boston Harbor and
the Coercive or Intolerable Acts
This 1846 lithograph has become a classic image
of the Boston Tea Party.
A protest notice.
1st Continental Congresses
• The Intolerable Acts sparked the meeting
of the 1st Continental Congress in 1774
– Set up boycotts of British goods and a petition
to King George to fix what was wrong
– Also set up the meeting for the 2nd Continental
Congress in case things didn’t go well
Revolution Starts - 1775
• April – The British replace the Governor of
Massachusetts who sends 700 British
troops to destroy Colonial ammunition
stocks at Concord
• They met resistance from Minutemen on
Lexington Green
• First Shot – “The shot heard round the
world” – 8 Americans killed
• British continued their march to Concord
– 2 Americans & 3 British killed
Revolution Starts - 1775
• British retreat to Boston
– Lost 273 soldiers along the way to American
snipers
• May 1775 – 2nd Continental Congress begins
meeting to manage Colonial war effort
• June 1775
– Battle of Bunker Hill
• 1,000 British soldiers killed
– 2nd Continental Congress appoints George
Washington commanding general of the
Colonial Army
American Revolution
1776-1781
• July 4, 1776 – 2nd Continental Congress
adopts the Declaration of Independence
– A list of complaints against King George of
England
• 1777
– Sept-Oct - Battle of Saratoga
• Turning point b/c it brought French aid
• 9,000 British soldiers were captured
– Nov – Articles of Confederation signed
• Just a friendship b/w the states
Congress Voting Independence
Congress Voting Independence, a depiction of the Second Continental Congress
voting on the United States Declaration of Independence. Oil on canvas.
American Revolution
1781-1809
• 1781
– Battle of Yorktown – last major conflict of American
Revolution
• Washington vs. Cornwallis
• Washington & the French captured 8,000 British soldiers
forcing Cornwallis to surrender
• 1789 – Constitution Ratified
– Long fight in congress
• 1789-1797 – George Washington – 1st President
• 1797-1801 – John Adams – 2nd President
• 1801-1809 – Thomas Jefferson – 3rd President
Lord Cornwallis surrenders after
the Battle of Yorktown.
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States
by Howard Chandler Christy.
George Washington, who presided over the convention, is the figure standing on the
dais. The central figures of the portrait are Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin and
James Madison. Painting by Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952).
George Washington
By: Gilbert Stuart
John Adams
By: Gilbert Stuart
Thomas Jefferson
By: Gilbert Stuart
Revolutionary Literature
• Driven by politics
• Called the “Age of Reason” or the “Age of
Enlightenment”
– People did a lot of writing
• Newspapers (50), magazines (40), and almanacs
• Expression of ideas and the nature of govenrment
– “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” – James Otis
– “Give me liberty or give me death.” – Patrick Henry
• Constitution
– Ben Franklin – “I expect no better”
– Alexander Hamilton – “ weak and worthless
fabric”
Revolutionary Literature
• In addition to political literature – verse
(poetry) began to appear
• Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac
• Theatres and colleges established
• American begins to produce its own
painters, sculptors, & musicians
Benjamin Franklin
• Business man (printer), scientist, politician, ambassador,
and Postmaster General
• Began in Boston as an apprentice printer
– Here is where he composed the Silence Dogood letters
• Moved to Philadelphia and opened his own business
– Began the publication of Poor Richard’s Almanac
– Retired at age 42 and turned to science
• Scientist
– Lightening rod, Franklin Stove, bifocals, earthquake and current
study
• Politician
– Helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution
– Helped bring French aid to the American Revolution
• Ambassador
– Worked on relations with England and France
Poor Richard’s Almanac
• Composed by Ben Franklin under the
pseudonym of Richard Saunders
• Book of observations, facts, information
about weather and the natural world
• Most famous for the aphorisms at the top
and bottom of the pages
– Aphorism – short, witty saying usually with a
moral
• Most deal with hard work and self-reliance
The Autobiography
• Autobiography – self-written account of one’s life
Incomplete b/c it only takes Franklin’s life through
1759
• Gives a glimpse of his life, his personality, and
his character
• The section deals with his commitment to selfdiscipline
• Seeks to arrive at “moral perfection” through the
achievement of 13 moral virtues
• He sought to make the 13 virtues habit rather
than a constant effort
• Listed the virtues so that each virtue
complimented the accomplishment of the next
one (like a recipe)
The Autobiography
• Examines Order in detail
• Frustrated by his own flexibility in schedule
necessary for his business
• The fact that he had a really good memory
made the idea of everything in order a
challenge
• Closes with the benefits those virtues have
offered him throughout his life
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Published in 1789 and helped make society face
the ugliness of the slave industry
• Born to a high ranking family & trained as a
warrior
• He & his sister were kidnapped and forced into
slavery
• Trans-Atlantic voyage was horrid!
– 6-10 weeks
– Families separated & conditions were packed and
cramped
– Buckets in the corners for restrooms (on a rolling
ship) – YUCK!!
– Most were shackled
– Equiano had more freedom than most b/c of his age
– Separated permanently from his sister in Barbados
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Renamed and educated by his master
• Equiano was able to amass enough
money to buy his own freedom
• Settled in England and became an
abolitionist
• Helped establish Freetown, Sierra Leone –
a community for freed slaves
• Eqiuano wrote his biography to let people
know how bad things were
• He lectured against the treatment of
slaves by the British in Jamaica
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Slave Narrative
– Autobiographical account of the life of a slave
– Written in 1st person point of view – from the
perspective of the slave
• Emotional Appeals
– The use of words which are chosen
specifically for their emotional response
– Groans, shrieks, suffocated etc…
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Begins the description of the hold of the ship
– Close quarters
– Sickness & perspiration
– Horrid smells & unfit air
• He is allowed on deck not in chains
• Conditions are so bad, Equiano begins to wish
for death – envious of the creatures of the sea
• Reaffirms his idea of the “cruelty of the whites”
• Fish episode demonstrates the unnecessary
cruelty and harsh treatment
– Sailors threw the extra fish overboard
– Beat the slave who tried to sneak some
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Two of the slaves were chained together & a
third who was very ill jumped overboard
– Two died and the third was beaten badly for
“preferring death to slavery”
• Becomes convinced that the world is full of
magic
– Flying fish & the quadrant
• Landed at Barbados (joyful for whites) – why?
– b/c their voyage was at an end and they were about
to make a lot of money
• Examined like they were livestock
The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
• Equiano and others are convinced these
newcomers are going to eat them
• Upset them so much, older slaves came to
comfort them
• Sorted into holding areas
• Equiano begins a description of the
auction process
Thomas Jefferson
• Incredible list of accomplishments (much like
Ben Franklin in their variety)
– Wrote Declaration of Independence
– 3rd president of the U.S.
– Decimal system for American money
• Lawyer & later served his state of Virginia
• After Rev War
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American minister to France
Served as 1st Sec of State
2nd vice-pres
3rd pres
• Doubled the US’s land mass through the Louisiana Purchase
• Died on the 50th anniversary of the Dec of Ind.
The Declaration of Independence
• Persuasion – writing designed to change the
way a person thinks or acts
– The writer must back up his points with specific
examples or evidence
– Jefferson lists very specific things King George has
done against the colonies
• Charged language - words with a strong
positive or negative connotation (emotional
response) used to plant an image in reader’s
head
– Tyranny means oppressive power, but evokes an
emotional response
– Massacre – as in the Boston Massacre
The Declaration of Independence
• Parallel Structure – repeated word,
phrases, or style which adds flow and
continuity
– The dog ran under the fence, across the yard,
and into the street.
– To eat properly is as important as exercising
regularly.
– Eating properly is as important as exercising
regularly.
– Jefferson repeats the opening words, “He
has…” to lend a certain flow to his list of
complaints
The Declaration of Independence
• Jefferson states that this will be an explanation
to the world why the US has “dissolved the
political bands” with England
• Government’s job is to secure the rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
• If the gov’t isn’t doing its job, it is the
responsibility of the governed to do something
about it
– Jefferson does say that people shouldn’t get rid of
gov’t lightly
– Often, people will live in suffering rather than risk
change
• But, it gets to the point that something must be
done – that is where the colonies are
The Declaration of Independence
Jefferson introduces his list of “repeated injures
and usurpations”
• Refused to pass laws that will benefit the people
• Hasn’t allowed the governors to pass needed
laws w/o his permission and then refuses to
address those needs
• Refused to pass laws to recognize large groups
unless they forfeit their representation
• Called representative meetings in inconvenient
and uncomfortable places
• Dissolved representation b/c they disagreed with
him
• Then refused to replace the representation he
dissolved
• Refused to adopt an “immigration policy”
The Declaration of Independence
• Refused to appoint judiciary powers
(judges)
• Made judged completely beholden to him
so he can control them
• Created new positions and sent officers to
harass the colonies
• Kept armies in their midst even in times of
peace
• Made the military superior to local
authorities (martial law)
The Declaration of Independence
• Next is a list of complaints all in one
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Citizens are housing & feeding soldiers
Refusing to prosecute the soldiers for their crimes
Using them to cut off trade
Imposing taxes w/o our consent
No trial by jury available (likely due to the judge
shortage)
Trying Americans in England
Eliminating English law in Quebec and replacing in
with made-up laws to scare the colonies
For dismantling the colonial law and gov’t system
Suspending our own legislatures (representation)
The Declaration of Independence
• declared us out of his protection and
declared war on us
• “plundered,” “ravaged,” “burned,” and
“ravaged” – emotional language –
– maybe a little propaganda to spark some
sympathy for the “poor” colonies
• Using foreign mercenaries – Hessians
• Forced Americans into the British Navy to
fight against their own people
• Has tried to use the Indians against us
The Declaration of Independence
• Jefferson makes sure to point out that the
colonies have tried to handle this without war
• Again uses the word “tyrant” – do you think he
wants us to remember that?
• Have tried to work with the British people for
some help – got no where
– So they are now our enemies
• Here is the declaration
– We “solemnly publish and declare that these united
colonies…are to be free and independent states.”
– Then lists all the rights that come with independence
• Pledge “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred
honor” – parallel structure
Thomas Paine
• From England and moved to America after
meeting Ben Franklin
• 1776 – Common Sense – pamphlet that argued
America’s need for independence
• Joined the army and wrote the first of The
American Crisis essays
• Washington ordered the essay read to his troops
before they crossed the Delaware to defeat the
Hessians
• Involved in the French Revolution where
American opinion of him turned
• Died a broken unhappy man
• Later he was recognized for his efforts in the
American Revolution
The Crisis
• “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
– very famous line
• Begins by addressing commitment to the
cause (sunshine patriot & summer soldier)
• Nothing worth having is easily won –
• Compares Britain’s control of the colonies
to slavery
• God will not give up on the US b/c we tried
so hard to avoid this
• Can’t see how the king can look to God for
help after his actions
The Crisis
• Example of “unfatherly statement” –
reflects on the fact that if these colonists
don’t address it, it will be left for their
children to deal with
• America must break free from “foreign
dominion”
• Calls on ALL people & states to join forces
– The evil or blessing will reach us all, so we all
have a responsibility to participate
• “blood of his children” – again a reference
to protecting the lives and futures of their
children
The Crisis
• Disclaimer – not hungry for war b/c
unjustified, it is murder
• However, we have the right to defend
ourselves from intruders
• It doesn’t matter who the villain is –
doesn’t care if it is his king or his
countryman – he has declared himself a
threat and should be dealt with
Phillis Wheatley
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Slave born in West Africa – very special
Owners educated her
1st poem published at age 13
Probably published the 1st work by an
African in the colonies
• Freed later, but her life remained
challenging
• Died poor and alone
• Her fame an notoriety has grown
continuously after her death
Wheatley’s Poetry
• Personification
– The giving of human characteristics to a non-human
entity
• Talking to the dog
• The sad looking moon
• The raging ocean
• Poems of praise
– Designed to celebrate a variety of subjects and
objects
– Her subjects are evening and G. Washington
• Classical Allusion – reference to something from
Greek or Roman culture- typically mythology
– Zephyr (god of the west wind) & Aurora (goddess of
dawn) – Columbia (goddess of freedom/America)
“An Hymn to the Evening”
• Sun forsook the eastern main – sunrise
• Storms shook the earth and end
• After storms, “blooming spring” – the
flowers’ beauty and scent are more
obvious
• The streams and the birds are singing
• Beauty is everywhere, but especially an
evening sky after a storm – lovely red
• Reminds us that the earth is God’s living
temple
“A Hymn to Evening”
• Praises him who gives the light – God
• Sleep follows sunset which resets us
• Allowing us to rise and the beauty of
“God’s temple” to guard us against sin
– As we look around, we can’t help but see God
in nature – thereby reminding us of his
presence
• She sleeps until dawn when it all begins
again
“To His Excellency,
General Washington”
• Begins to celebrate Columbia’s work
• Her mother (Earth) is sympathetic
– Interesting that Wheatley associated
Columbia (freedom) as a child of earth
– She is suggesting that freedom is an earthborn right
• Other nations see something brand new
• Sun & moon watch as thing unfold
• Here comes Columbia (America)
described as beautiful and graceful
• Columbia’s army begins its attack – like storms
on an ocean or leaves that cover the ground in
the fall
• Turns to Washington
– He already knows their accomplishments
– She demands that others acknowledge his and his
army’s grace and glory
• Reminds us of America’s success in the
French/Indian war and uses that success to
threaten others
• Columbia wins – Britannia (England) is defeated
b/c of their blindness to Columbia’s power
• Washington will have rewards in heaven after
this!
Abigail Adams
• Remarkable woman – the wife of John Adams
(2nd Pres) and Mother of John Q. Adams (6th
Pres)
• Pioneer for women’s rights
• Received no formal education, however, ALL
(including her daughter) her children were welleducated
• Married John Adams during the Am. Rev. and
became a wonderful correspondent (letters)
• Died and her published letters mark her as a
pioneer for women’s rights
“Letter to Her Daughter from the
New White House”
• Letter written during the construction of the new
White House
• Begins with details of the journey
– Getting lost and acquiring a guide
• City - she italicizes it as a way to sort of be
sarcastic
– Describes outskirts of Washington - cottages w/o
glass
– Buildings for Congress
• Begins to describe the White House itself
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View of river
Staff needed to care for it
“great castle”
No bells – to summon servants
• w/ some bells and firewood, she says she will be
please
• As for firewood – forests everywhere, but no one
to cut and haul the wood
• “new country” – means it is so new that the
comforts and things she has always taken for
granted are missing
• Makes sure her daughter won’t tell of her
complaints
• Lists challenges of living in an unfinished house
• Overall is satisfied with the house
• Closes letter with mention of Mrs. Washington &
Mt. Vernon
Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur
• 1st writer to call America a “melting pot” –
referring to the combination of cultures coming
together
• Emigrated from France to Quebec
• Worked as a trader and surveyor & settled in
New York
• 1780 – traveled to London and published Letters
from an American Farmer
• Returned in 1783- farm burned, wife killed, kids
with other parents
• Returned to Paris during the French Revolution
• Continued writing about America (largely
forgotten in the political turmoil)
From Letters from an American Farmer
• Epistles – letters meant to be read by the public
– basically essays written in letter form
• Begins letter by addressing how the people of
other countries came together
– None should claim their home countries b/c there was
nothing worth claiming there
– No food, work, couldn’t own property, no opportunity
• They left – “here they are become men”
– Means that here they have their own lives, dreams,
goals, etc…
– Uses a metaphor to compare the poor to plants –
there they withered, here they thrive
From Letters from an American Farmer
• Were only known as the poor – here they
are citizens
– What caused the change – their own
motivation
• He ties together all opportunity and
benefits of the American system to the
people themselves.
– We afford ourselves our own opportunities
through our gov’t and laws
• Points out that the land where one finds
success is his or her home
From Letters from an American Farmer
• What is an American?
– The man who lets go of the idea of “purity”
– Gives example of intermarriage within
cultures to produce the “American”
– Lets go of all ancient prejudices and manners
and takes on new ones from his new home
• New race will one day cause great
changes
– Sees possibility of open minds and new
thoughts
From Letters from an American Farmer
• American should love his new country
– The rewards are equal to his labor which is
based on his self-interest
– Families, once starved, thrive and help with
the labor
– Doesn’t lose any of what he works for to
anyone else (this was before income tax!)
• The individual is transformed from
something weak and beat down – “This is
an American”