INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LITERATURE
Major Periods of American Literature
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Pre-Colonial Period Till 1620
Colonial and Puritan Period 1620 – 1800
The Age of Reason 1750-1800
The American Renaissance- American Romanticism and Transcendentalism 1800 1865
 Realism and Naturalism 1865 - 1914
 Modernism 1914 - 1945
 Contemporary Literature and Post modernism since 1945
Pre-Colonial Period
Characteristics:
1. Oral literature: epic narratives, creation myths, stories, poems, songs.
2. Use stories to teach moral lessons and convey practical information about the natural
world.
3. Deep respect for nature and animals
4. Cyclical world view
5. Figurative language/parallelism
American literature begins with the orally transmitted myths, legends, tales, and lyrics
(always songs) of Indian cultures. There was no written literature among the more than 500
different Indian languages and tribal cultures that existed in North America before the first
Europeans arrived. As a result, Native American oral literature is quite diverse.
Examples of almost every oral genre can be found in American Indian literature: lyrics,
chants, myths, fairytales, humorous anecdotes, incantations, riddles, proverbs, epics, and
legendary histories. Accounts of migrations and ancestors abound, as do vision or healing
songs and tricksters’ tales. Certain creation stories are particularly popular. In one wellknown creation story, told with variations among many tribes, a turtle holds up the world. In
a Cheyenne version, the creator, Maheo, has four chances to fashion the world from a watery
universe. He sends four water birds diving to try to bring up earth from the bottom. The snow
goose, loon, and mallard soar high into the sky and sweep down in a dive, but cannot reach
bottom; but the little coot, who cannot fly, succeeds in bringing up some mud in his bill. Only
one creature, humble Grandmother Turtle, is the right shape to support the mud world Maheo
shapes on her shell — hence the Indian name for America, “Turtle Island.”
The songs or poetry, like the narratives, range from the sacred to the light and humorous:
There are lullabies, war chants, love songs, and special songs for children’s games, gambling,
various chores, magic, or dance ceremonials.
Colonial and Puritan Period 1620 – 1800
First Colonisers: French, Spanish, Dutch
 Seeking for adventure and wealth
 Criminals sent from Britain
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 People escaping religious persecution
The first permanent English settlement in North America was established at Jamestown,
Virginia in 1617.
New England was the most intellectually advanced, religiously strict, there was a stress put
on education.
 1620 Puritans arrived and settled in the state of Massachusetts.
 1636 Puritans founded Harvard University.
Characteristics:
1. Wrote mostly diaries and histories, which expressed the connections between God and
their everyday lives.
2. Sought to “purify” the Church of England by reforming to the simpler forms of worship
and church organization described in the New Testament
3. Saw religion as a personal, inner experience.
4. Believed in original sin and “elect” who would be saved.
5. Used a plain style of writing
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Puritans committed much time to find in themselves if they were The Elects, the ones chosen
by God.
 Poverty treated as something shameful.
 The Bible as the literal world of God.
American Puritanism is one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought
and literature; The representatives of the Enlightenment set themselves the task of
disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas. They also
actively participated in the War for Independence. The Puritans emphasize hard work, piety
and sobriety; The earliest writings include diaries, travelling books, journals, letters, sermons
even government contracts.
Literature written during the Colonial period:
 Religious: sermons, treatises
 Diaries (tracing God’s signs of approval in their everyday life)
 Historical narratives, Indian-captivity narratives
Famous Authors and Works:
John Smith 1580-1631
 1608 The General History of Virginia
 First American book written in English
 The advantages of settling in New World
William Bradford 1590-1657
 First historian in New England
1630 Of Plymouth Plantation - the single most complete authority for the story of the
Pilgrims and the early years of the Colony they founded. It is a clear and compelling account of
the colony’s beginning. Bradford also recorded the first document of colonial self-governance
in the English New World, the Mayflower Compact,” drawn up while the Pilgrims were still
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on board ship. The compact was a harbinger of the Declaration of Independence to come a
century and a half later.
 A historical narrative
 How Puritans arrive to New World and how God let them to do it, relations with
Indians, trips on vessels, the importance of beer, etc.
Anne Bradstreet 1612-1672
 Women were not allowed to be taught to read and write.
 She was born in England and she came to America with her husband.
 Publishing poetry in America was impossible; she was accused of plagiarism.
Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758
 1741 Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God – the most famous sermon.
 Vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of scripture.
 Excellent language.
 Emotional and intellectual.
 Hard logic of consequences of sins.
The Age of Reason 1750-1800 (The Enlightenment)
A cultural movement of intellectuals in the 17th and 18th century, which began first in
Europe and later in the American colonies.
Purpose: to reform society using reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and
advance knowledge through the scientific method.
Characteristics:
 Revolutionary War
 The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence were
created.
 Mostly comprised of philosophers, scientists, writing speeches and pamphlets.
 Human beings can arrive at truth (God’s rules) by using deductive reasoning, rather
than relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or intuition.
 political writing, especially in the 1770s;
 18th century: birth of the "American Dream" ("from rags to riches"); search for a
national identity; decline of Puritanism
 1730s: "Great Awakening" (religious revival movement)
 1776: Declaration of Independence
 The War for Independence lasted for eight years (1776-1783)
 It promoted scientific thought, skepticism and intellectual interchange and opposed
superstition, intolerance and some abuses of power by the church and the state.
 People were more interested in seeking for pleasures.
Famous Authors and Works:
Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790
 The first American who considered America as a place with its own culture.
 He was born in Boston.
 He wrote essays to his brother’s newspaper: Freedom of Thought, Drunkeness, Pride
and Hoop Pettycoats.
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 Plenty of common sense, humour, and free thinking; he often spoke against Puritans;
the stress on a hard work.
 1723 Franklin moved to Philadelphia.
 1733 Poor Richard’s Almanac
 “Poor Richard’s Almanac” and “Autobiography” are the recording of his rising from a
state of poverty and obscurity to wealth and fame.
 Mottos in “Poor Richard’s Almanac”
 Lost time is never found again.
 A penny saved is a penny earned.
 Fish and visitors stink in three days.
 Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
 Almanac – an annual publication that includes information such as weather forecasts,
farmers’ planting dates, tide tables, proverbs, etc.
 Optimism and practicality.
 Franklin believed in progress of humanity and in the influence of science.
 Political writings and political cartoons.
 1771-1778 The Autobiography - Franklin's account of his life is divided into four
parts, reflecting the different periods at which he wrote them.
 Themes: optimism, practicality of advice
Thomas Paine 1737-1809
 An English-American author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, revolutionary.
 One of the Founding Fathers.
 “A corset-maker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by
inclination.”
 He emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 and he arrived in time to
participated in the American Revolution.
 1776 Common Sense - presented the American colonists with an argument for
freedom from British rule at a time when the question of seeking independence was
still undecided.
 Understandable to common people.
 Structured like a sermon.
 Biblical references, to make his case to the people.
 Independence connected with common dissenting Protestant beliefs as a means to
present a distinctly American political identity.
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826
 One of the Founding Fathers.
 The principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
 1776 United States Declaration of Independence – a formal proclamation of the
thirteen American colonies announcing the separation from England.
Main points:
 Revolution was necessary and justified;
 Blacks weren’t treated as men but as a cattle or children;
 Women had their rights only when protected by their husbands, fathers, sons.
 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
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Phillis Wheatley 1753-1784
 The first African-American poet and first African-American women to publish her
writing.
 Born in Gambia and sold into slavery at the age of 7 or 8. She was purchased by the
Wheatley family of Boston, who taught her to read and write, and encouraged her
poetry when they saw her talent.
 1775 To His Excellency, General Washington
 Neoclassical poem,
 An ode.
 1773 On Being Brought from Africa to America
 Patriotic from the position of an American citizen.
 Crediting her slavery as a positive, because it has brought her to Christianity.
 Negroes may be saved by Christianity.
On Being Brought from Africa to America
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
Lines 1-2
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
•
Where would that be? And why is it italicized? It's probably Africa, but it's also a
country that didn't practice Christianity. That is, Africa represents a pre-Christian state for the
speaker.
•
The speaker seems to be saying it was a good thing that she was brought from her
homeland. Mercy brought her and it also "taught my benighted soul to understand," although
what she understands is unstated. What's important is that the speaker feels like "mercy" in
her life is, in a good way, responsible for taking her from home and enlightening her soul.
•
Benighted means to be overcome with darkness, or to be morally and intellectually in
the dark. As in, dark as the night. And if the speaker's soul is dark, then we know she's saying
that, before "mercy," her soul was in the dark: unsaved, pagan, ignorant, etc.
Lines 3-4
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
•
The speaker states what mercy taught her: God exists, and God saves. Through mercy,
the speaker was taken from the Pagan land and taught that there's a God who can save her.
•
Next, the speaker says she never knew about redemption or that there was a God who
could save her. And she wasn't searching for redemption either.
Lines 5–6
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die"
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•
She is talking about sable as the color black. She means something more natural, as
in, her skin. Just like her soul was benighted in Africa before she was saved by God's mercy,
here she's referencing her race.
•
She's saying, "Look, I know people view us with disdain." And "scornful eye" is
another poetry power-move, which we'll call synecdoche, using a part (the eye) to represent a
whole (the people). People probably did literally look scornfully at her, but she's also talking
about the figurative mean-mugging that saw slaves as less than human because of their skin
color.
•
She says that it's only "some," but she is admitting that there are others in society who
view black people negatively.
•
She could be saying that people think her skin color has condemned her to death—but
could this be more of a spiritual death, maybe? Perhaps this is saying that she's inferior
because she's black, and outside of God's grace.
Lines 7-8
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.
•
The speaker is equating black people with all other Christians in the world. This poem
was published in the late 1700s in the United States, and the author was a former slave.
Racial inequality was the norm in society, and whites definitely did not consider blacks to be
their equal. But our speaker, with the subtle use of a comma, is saying, "Look, remember,
Negroes can be, and are, Christians." This could also suggest that if Negroes are equal in
God's eyes, then they should be considered equal in society.
•
And so, just like the speaker uses "benighted" to describe the dark state of her soul,
she could be referring to people "black as Cain" because they are separated from God.
•
The last line of the poem refers to the speaker's spiritual awakening. Just as mercy
enlightened her earlier in the poem, all Christians can be "refin'd and join th' angelic train." In
other words, God's saving grace reaches out to all Christians, and they can join "th' angelic
train" (most likely, Heaven). Here our speaker is using a metaphor to equate this train with
Heaven.
"On Being Brought from Africa to America" is a short, but powerful, poem about slavery.
"On Being Brought" is Wheatley's most anthologized poem. "On Being Brought" mixes
themes of slavery, Christianity, and salvation. This poem addresses ideas of liberty, religion,
and racial equality.
The speaker says she was brought from a "Pagan" land and it was a good thing that she was
brought from her homeland. Mercy brought her and it also "taught my benighted soul to
understand that God exists, and God saves. The speaker says she never knew about
redemption or that there was a God who could save her. And she wasn't searching for
redemption either.
Then she speaks about her race. She feels that some people has scornful attitude towards the
black race. They are viewed as secondary because of their skin colour. Then she is equating
the black people with all other Christians in the world. If Negroes are equal in God's eyes,
then they should be considered equal in society. The last line of the poem refers to the
speaker's spiritual awakening. Just as mercy enlightened her earlier in , allthe people of
different races can be "refin'd and join th' angelic train.
The first two lines serve as the opening for the poem. Here she is describing her transition of
physically being brought from her native land to America. In saying that it was “Mercy” that
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allowed her to come to this place shows that she was grateful for her enslavement because it
introduced her to Christianity. Her use of the term “benighted” is an indicator not only of her
skin colour but the ignorance associated with it. However, the ignorance she refers to is not
the typical idea that many proponents of slavery liked to describe. She is not saying that
Africans are less intelligent or weaker than Anglo- Saxons, but they are just unaware of
amazing thing that is Christianity. In the latter lines, Wheatley just calls to all of her readers
to remind them that all people are fully capable of being refined and moving on to glory.
Phyllis Wheatley is clearly a delicate revolutionary. At first glance, she appears to just be just
showing thanks for being enslaved because it has brought such joy to her life in finding
Christianity. At second passover, her true tone is revealed. This is most evident in the last two
lines. By using the word “Remember”, the author is taking a position of power as if she
already has grasp on the reader. In the way she positions the words “Christians” and
“Negros” and saying that they ALL might be refined and join the train to heaven. Africans
may not be perfect, but neither are the so-called Christians who enslave other human beings.
She was Americans and slaves alike to know that the journey she had is possible for
everyone, and those that follow Christian principles should be allowed to live freely.
History has shown the various kinds of revolutionaries. In Phyllis Wheatley’s time, disdain
and reactions from individuals dominated publications, speeches, conversations. Even in
present day, it’s much more effective when protesters opt to take a more “mild” route in the
midst of a hectic society. It allows that individual to stand out and make people say “Oh, let
me look at what they have to say.” This “Dare to be different mentality” is also used in
fashion to get ahead. Needless to say, Wheatley is very strategic in her writing so that she
can compel her readers to support her beliefs.
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