Chapter 1
Colonial Beginnings
from An Outline of American
Literature by Peter B. High
American Literature –
Begins in the early 1600s
Earliest Writers – Englishmen describing exploration
and colonization of the “New World” (p.5)
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Briefe and True Report of the New-Found
Land of Virginia (1588) by Thomas Hariot
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mixed facts with fantasy
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read the book as a travel guide
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read these “true reports” as tales of adventure
and excitement
Settlement in the New World
A 17th century map of the Virginia territory
Captain John Smith (1580-1631)
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fought the Turks in Hungary
was sold as a slave and escaped by killing his
master
helped found Jamestown (1607), the first English
colony in America
True Relation of Virginia (1608) and Description
of New England (1616), persuaded his readers to
settle in the New World
General Historie of Virginia, New England, and
the Summer Isles (1624) contains the story of his
rescue by a beautiful Indian princess “Pocahontas”
Captain John Smith (1580-1631)
“Chief Powhatan of the Algonquin Nation, ruled a
confederacy of Powhatan Indian tribes in eastern Virginia.
He was the supreme ruler of the Indians in the Chesapeake
area. Captain John Smith wrote of Chief Powhatan: "He is
of parsonage a tall well proportioned man... his head
somwhat gray.... His age neare 60; of a very able and
hardybody to endure any labour. What he commandeth they
dare not disobey in the least thing. It is strange to see with
what great feare and adoration all these people doe obay this
Powhatan. For at his feet, they present whatsoever he
commandeth, and at the least frowne of his browe, their
greatest spirits will tremble with feare: and no marvell, for
he is very terrible and tryannous in punishing such as offend
him.”
From:http://www.co.henrico.va.us/manager/pokeypix.htm
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Captain Smith being saved by Pocahontas
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Two great stones were brought before Powhattan
(the Indian “King”): then as many as could
dragged him (Smith) to them and thereon laid his
head, and being ready with their clubs, to beat out
his brains, Pocahontas, th King’s dearest daughter,
got his head in her arms, and laid down her own
(head) upon his to save him from death: whereat
the King was contended he should live. (p.6)
Pocahontas
English portrait of Pocahontas
4 faces of Pocahontas
http://www.co.henrico.va.u
s/manager/pokeypix.htm
Differences Between the Southern and the
New England Colonies
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In the South, black slaves were used to grow
tobacco
rich plantation owners were slow to develop a
literature of their own
preferred books imported from England
In New England
The Puritan formed a society based on strict Christian
beliefs, the laws of God
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had a stronger sense of unity and of a “shared
purpose”
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culture and literature developed much faster than
in the South
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Harvard was founded near Boston in 1636 to train
new ministers
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In 1638 The first printing press started there
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In 1704 America’s first newspaper began in
Boston
New England Puritan Literature –
most of them were histories
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History -- developed according to God’s plan;
God directs everything that happens
New England – the Promised Land of the
Bible
Central Drama – the struggle between Christ
and Satan
William Bradford (1590-1675)
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Of Plymouth Plantation
describing the Puritans’ difficult relations
with the Indians
their difficulties during the first winter
written in plain style, accessible to
uneducated readers
used examples drawn from the Bible and
the everyday life of farmers and fisherman
William Bradford (1590-1675)
Thanksgiving
John Winthrop (1588-1649)
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The History of New England
the first governor of
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
minister all his life
described scenes of sadness and
unhappiness
believed most events could be
seen as a sign from God (p.8)
First Puritans – Not Very Democratic
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Edward Johnson (1598-1672)
The Wonder-Working Providence of Sion’s
Saviour in New England (1650)
Male Puritan leaders defined harsh church laws
Puritan society – theocracy-A government ruled
by or subject to religious authority
non-believers were called “snakes” and were
punished severely
laws of society = laws of religion
Examples:
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A Survey of the Summer of Church Discipline
(1648) by Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) -- the
most famous statement of Puritan laws.
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Way of the Churches of Christ in New England
(1645) by John Cotton --less severe
Newer Puritans-- the Beginning of the 1700s
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Roger Williams (1603-1683)
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desired a freer religious environment
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Williams established his colony in Rhode Island
and his Bloudy Tenent (1644) became a famous
statement for religious freedom
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“Freedom” is necessary condition for “the growth
and development of the soul”
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became important to the development of democracy
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Puritan strictness began to relax and tradition grew
weaker and weaker as farmland and more
comfortable settlements had grown up
Roger Williams(1603-1683)
The Mather Family in New England
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Richard Mather (15961669) – p.9
The founder of his
family in America
Increase Mather
(1639-1723)
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Leader of the New England theocracy
 Minister at North Church in Boston, the
most powerful church in New England
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Remarkable Providences (1684) – reveals
the psychological environment of the time
and Puritan’s strange beliefs
Salem Witchcraft
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1690s – witchcraft panic – the town of
Salem, Massachusetts, young girls and old
women were arrested and put on trial as
witches, charged of “selling their souls” to
the Devil
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Witchcraft and other form of evil were real
part of everyday life
Salem Witch Trial
Cotton Mather (1663-1728)
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“An insane genius for
advertising himself,” wrote
more than 450 works
Magnalia Christi Americana
(1702) – description of the
Salem witch trials
Admitted the witch trial was
a mistake, an assault from
hell
Poems on Religious Themes
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
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Tenth Muse Lately
Sprung Up in America
(1650) – p.11
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the first New World
poems published in
England
Edward Taylor (1645-1729)
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hoped for a “rebirth” of the “Puritan Way – p.12
concerned with the inner spiritual life of Puritan
believers
created rich unusual images to help his reader
“see, taste and feel religious doctrine”
“religious people” are rare “as Black Swans that
in milkwhite rivers are”
Great Awakening –
began about 1730s
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Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (1733)
Freedom of Will (1754)
Developed the puritan’s idea of science as “the study
of God’s material creation” – there was a close
relation between knowledge of the physical world and
of the spiritual world.
created a bridge between the old strict Puritan society
and the new, free culture (p.12-13)
Robert Beverley (1673-1722)
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History and Present State of Virginia (1705)
strong defender of black slavery
free of race hatred on the section of the Indians
of Virginia
Wiliam Byrd (1674-1744)
History of the Dividing Line
 writing for London audiences
 ssed humor and realism to describe life along
the frontier between Virginia’s settled areas and
the deep forest
 held liberal view of blacks and the Indians
 supported mixed marriage