Early American Writing Outline

I.               Early American Writing: Historical Context

a.     The Meeting of Two Worlds

                                               i.     The earliest American writers concentrated mainly on describing and trying to make sense out of their challenging new environment and the unfamiliar people with whom they shared it

                                              ii.     In dairies, letters, and reports back home, they recorded a historical turning point: when the world of the Europeans first intersected with that of the Native Americans.

                                            iii.     The earliest writers chronicled how the Europeans and Native Americans viewed one another and the North American land.

b.     From Colony to Colony

                                               i.     The colonists were loyal to the British until after the French and Indian War and then they were taxed to recover money from the war.

                                              ii.     Fired by cries of “No taxation without representation,” the colonists protested British control – in both fiery word and bold actions.

                                            iii.     With each new act of British “tranny,” writers for colonial newspapers and pamphlets stirred the hearts and minds of the colonists to support independence.

                                            iv.     The remarkable minds of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and other colonial thinkers put timeless words to this experiment in the form of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

II.             Cultural Influences

a.     Puritan Beliefs

                                               i.     Puritan settlers believed themselves chose by God to create a new order in America.

                                              ii.     Hard work, thrift, and responsibility were therefore seen as morally good, a sign that God was working within. The thriving settlements and financial success that grew from these qualities were thought to be a mark of God’s approval.

                                            iii.     Puritans tended to be inflexible in their religious faith and intolerant of view points other than their own

III.           Idea of the Area

a.     The Enlightenment

                                               i.     In the 1700’s there was a burst of intellectual energy taking place in Europe that came to be known as the Enlightenment.

                                              ii.     Enlightenment thinkers had begun to question previously accepted truths about who should hold the power in government. Their thinking pointed the way to government by the people – one in which people consent to government limitations in exchange for the governments protection of their basic rights and liberties.

                                            iii.     The political writings of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson shaped the American Enlightenment and began to eclipse even the most brilliant European thought.

b.     The Great Awakening

                                               i.     Preachers such as Jonathan Edwards called for people to rededicate themselves to the original Puritan vision, and a new wave of religious enthusiasm began to rise.

                                              ii.     The movement, called the First Great Awakening, united colonists who were in other ways diverse.

IV.            Early American Literature

a.     The Native American Experience   

                                               i.     When the Europeans arrived, there were more than 300 different Native American cultures in North America with Strongly different customs and about 200 different languages spoken.

                                              ii.     The Native North American cultures did not have a written language. Instead, a group’s history, legends, and myths were entrusted to memory and faithfully passed from generation to generation through oral tradition.

                                            iii.     Creations stories, way to explain how the universe and humans can into being, can be found in every Native American culture. Other forms include legendary histories tracing the migration of people or the deeds of great leaders, fairly tales, lyrics, chants, children’s songs, healing songs, and dream visions.

b.     Exploration and the Early Settlers.

                                               i.     The journals, diaries, logs, and historical narratives of those first Europeans to view the American landscape describe in vivid detail its many sights and wonders, as well as its dangers and challenges.

                                              ii.     The first of these writing were the journals of Christopher Columbus, which recounted his four voyages to the Americas begun in 1492. His fascinating journals provide a vivid record of the most significant journey of him time.

                                            iii.     A report by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca chronicled his eight years of wandering through Florida, Texas, and Mexico. In it he described the landscape and people he encountered, as well as animals that were new to Europeans.

                                            iv.     Samuel de Chaplain wrote vivid accounts of New England and the Iroquois.

                                              v.     As the colonies took root, writing began to focus on the story of the growth of the colonies.

                                            vi.     Captain John Smith wrote stories of his experiences in the colonies in order to attract other people to ensure the success of that colony.

                                           vii.     Other writers who documented the history of the New England settlements wrote in a plainer and with a more serious purpose.

c.      The Puritan Tradition

                                               i.     Puritan writers had their own purpose for recording history. They believed writing should be useful, a tool to help readers understand the Bible and guide them in their daily lives.

                                              ii.     Cotton Mather chronicled the Salem Witch trials and wrote more scientific papers on inoculation fro smallpox.

                                            iii.     Most Puritan writers wrote plain sermons, histories, and treaties, but poetry was how most others expressed themselves.

                                            iv.     The first book issued in the North American colonies was Bay Psalm Book which the Bible’s psalms were rewritten to fit rhythms of Puritan hymns.

                                              v.     Anne Bradstreet’s book The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up, was the first work published by a woman in North America.

                                            vi.     Most Puritan poems used vivid images from nature and from everyday life as a way to help readers grasp the spiritual world beyond.

d.     Writers of the Revolution

                                               i.     Many people were drawn the political writing as the effort to launch a grand experiment in government took shape in North America.

                                              ii.     The most important outlet for the spread of these political writings was the pamphlet.

                                            iii.     Pamphlets were inexpensive and helped spread the word of ongoing debates and helped fuel the revolution.

                                            iv.     Thomas Jefferson also wrote pamphlets, but his great contribution to American government, literature, ans the cause of freedom throughout the world dis the Declaration of Independence.

                                              v.     Natural law is the idea that people are born with rights and freedom and that is the function of government to protect those freedoms.

                                            vi.     In Phillis Wheatley’s poems, she wrote about natural rights of American Americans and pointed out the discrepancy between the colonists, “Cry for freedom” and their enslavement of fellow human beings.