Encounters and Foundations to 1800
Introduction to the Literary Period
Feature Menu
Fast Facts
Key Concept: Native Cultures Thrive
in America
Key Concept: The Puritans Settle in
New England
Key Concept: The Rise of Rationalism
Your Turn
Encounters and Foundations to 1800
Fast Facts
Historical Highlights
• Dekanawida, a Mohawk visionary, unites
American Indian peoples with the Iroquois
Confederacy, c. 1500.
• Pilgrims land at Plymouth in 1620.
• Colonists battle the British in the Revolutionary
War from 1775 to 1783.
Encounters and Foundations to 1800
Fast Facts
Literary Highlights
• Columbus’s journal, published in 1493,
describes the North American continent and its
people.
• Anne Bradstreet publishes the Tenth Muse in
1650.
• Benjamin Franklin publishes Poor Richard’s
Almanac in 1732.
[End of Section]
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times
• Before the first Europeans arrived, American
Indians had lived here for thousands of years.
• The first interactions between Europeans and
American Indians involved trading.
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
History of the Times
• Mutual curiosity led to
increasing interdependence
between the cultures.
• Europeans relied on American
Indians to teach them survival
skills.
• Indians were eager to acquire
European firearms, textiles,
and steel tools.
The Granger Collection, New York
• Settlers, however, exposed
native populations to diseases.
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
Literature of the Times
• Native American literature
is rooted in oral tradition.
• Storytellers were highly
valued by their communities.
• Oral traditions captured myths
of origin and histories of certain
Native American groups.
• Explorers wrote detailed
accounts of the American
Indians they encountered.
Cabeza de Vaca in the Desert
by Frederic Remington.
Key Concept:
Native Cultures Thrive in America
Comprehension Check
What interactions took place between European settlers
and Native Americans?
[End of Section]
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• The Puritans’ moral, ethical, and religious
convictions helped shape American character.
• Puritans believed in thrift, hard work, and
self-sufficiency.
• They also believed that a
spiritual contract existed
between God and
humanity.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
History of the Times
• In the Mayflower Compact, the
Puritans set out a new form of
government.
• This contractual agreement
became a model for American
constitutional democracy.
• Because political authority was
based on religious tenets, the
political views of Puritans were
sometimes uncompromising
and harsh.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
Literature of the Times
• The Bible provided a model
for Puritan writing.
• Each life was viewed as a
journey to salvation, so Puritans
connected Biblical events to
events in their own lives.
• Diaries and histories were the most common
forms of literature; they reflected a sense of
intense piety and strict self-discipline.
Key Concept:
The Puritans Settle in New England
Comprehension Check
Explain three ways in which Puritan beliefs influenced
the colonists’ lives.
[End of Section]
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
History of the Times
• European political and social turmoil led people
to question the divine right of monarchs.
• A new movement, the Enlightenment, began to
spread, fostering a belief in rationalism.
• Rationalists believe that reason and intellect,
rather than revelation, lead to discoveries of
scientific and spiritual truth.
• Inspired by rationalism, the founders of the
new country set forth ideals of religious
tolerance and individual liberty.
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Literature of the Times
• Most American writing was in response to
unfolding political and social events:
independence from Britain, the struggle of women
to gain equality with men, or the struggle of
enslaved African Americans to end slavery.
• Pamphlets, letters, and poetry were popular
forms of literature.
• The most famous piece of literature of the time
period was Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography.
Key Concept:
The Rise of Rationalism
Comprehension Check
How did rationalism differ from Puritanism, and what
effect did rationalism have on the new American
political system?
[End of Section]
Encounters and Foundations to 1800
Introduction to the Literary Period
Your Turn
With a partner, summarize the main historical events
and important pieces of literature that shaped this time
period.
Try to use the following Academic Vocabulary words in
your analysis.
aspect
interpret
cite
perspective
contemporary
[End of Section]
The End