American Literature
1600 to 1900
English
Puritanism
Who are the Puritans,
Separatists, Pilgrims?
 Originally referred to as Separatists
 Lived in England and became disillusioned with the
Catholic Church and Anglican Church
 Most modern histories began referring them to as
Pilgrims.
 In England they were jailed and persecuted for not
following the teachings of the Anglican Church.
 Left England to find the religious freedom arriving in
New England in November 1620
Puritan Beliefs
 They were God’s chosen people
 God favored the industrious and hard working
 Viewed nature as harsh and evil and needing to be
tamed.
 God would crush those who defied Him.
 Humans are essentially evil and few were chosen to
be “saved’ by God
 God watched over the earth and exerted His will as he
saw fit.
Positive Qualities of the Pilgrims




Boys and Girls should have an education
Colonies were well planned and organized
Not afraid of working hard and getting dirty.
Established the first public school: Boston Latin
School
 Established the first continent’s college: Harvard
University.
Negative Qualities of Pilgrims
 Series of strict rules and laws.
 Intolerant of any ideas or views that differed from
their religious teachings
 If you missed church, as a you were punished criminal
 All forms of play and recreation were forbidden.
Leaders of the Religious Revolution
 John Calvin
 Expected his followers to devote themselves fully to the
worship of God and nothing else.
 According to Calvin, God had already determined if you were
going to heaven or down under even before you die.
 Calvin was outraged at the belief that if people were “good”
that they could “earn” their way to heaven
 If you have been chosen by God, it was obvious by the way you
lived your life.
William Bradford
1590-1657
 Born in England
 Immigrated to Holland to escape persecution for not
worshipping in government run Anglican Church.
 Joined a group of Puritans on trip to the New World to help
create their own version of an ideal society
 Bradford was the most important leader of Plymouth Colony
 Bradford wrote the first piece of American Literature: History of
the Plymouth Plantation. It is the account of the voyage of the
Mayflower and the first few years of Plymouth colony.
Rationalism/Age of Reason
 Use of reason rather than authority of the past
 There is logic in reasoning and a set of truths that are
to be followed.
 God is an inactive creator who lets the universe run
on its own.
Romanticism Writers
 Deeply intuitive, youthful and loved nature
 Celebrated nature over civilization
 Main philosophy: “ Be not like dumb, driven cattle!”
 “Be an individual rather than one of the crowds”
Realism
 Accurately portray real life without filtering with
romantic notions.
 Writers wrote about ordinary people and
everyday events.
 Rejects imagination in favor of telling it like it is!!
Mark Twain
1835-1910
Born in Florida, Missouri November 30,1835 and
moved to Hannibal in 1839
He was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens
Twain had a very exciting life growing up and as an
adult.
His life was filled with many adventures and jobs.
Steamboat pilot
Gold miner
Newspaper reporter
Mark Twain
 Mark Twain was America’s greatest Storyteller.
 His best stories are based on his own boyhood
growing up along the Mississippi River.
 His famous works are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
 Twain’s stories were funny, however his writing also
addressed serious issues of the time:
Racism
Greed
Injustice
Mark Twain
 Mark Twain traveled the world performing his stories as a One
Man Show.
 Twain wrote about his experiences as a boy.
 Twain was the most famous and successful author of his time.
 His humor touched on serious issues.
 In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain uses his humor to
point out the wrongs of racism.