LITERARY EVENTS IN NORTH AMERICA (to 1900)

Sources: _Harper Am. Lit (1987)
         _Heath Anthology of Am. Lit. (1990)
         _Norton Anthology of Literature by Women_ (1986)
         _Puritanism to Postmodernism_: A History of Am. Lit_
             Richard Ruland and Malcom Bradbury (1991)
         _The Story of English_, McCrum, Cran and MacNeil (1986)

	This is, more or less, a sampling of authors from a number of recent
American Literature Books. The trend over the last 10 years or so has been to 
include more women and minorities. I have included a number here that are 
starting to show up more and more in the "canon". When we discuss women and 
non-Anglo European writers in more detail, I will be discussing the evolution 
of American Literature in a multi-cultural environment in more detail. Ruland
and Bradbury tend to take a more Euro-centered view of American Literature.I
included a number of their comments as they represent the views of people who
argue against a multi-cultural view of American literature. They state, "the
fact remains that the main direction of the recorded American literary
imagination .. was formed from the intersection between the European
Renaissance mind and the new and wondrous land in the West they found" (4).
Other people have argued that American Literature, because of its multi-cultural
and historical roots, is unique to itself. We will explore some of these issues
later in the course.

A. Exploration of America by Europeans: (1492-1620)
	Columbus' logs: 1492
        Pedro de Casteneda 1539 "Death of the Negro Estevan"
              (Explored New Mexico / Arizona region; contact with Zunis)
              Note that African Americans and Spaniards were among
              the earliest "non-native" settlers, much earlier
              than the English. Note also the early Eu contact with Native-Am. 
        Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca 1542 first "captivity narrative" (Florida)
        Champlain 1601-1618 (Quebec region)
    Most of the writings were logs / journals.

B. Colonial Period (1620-1776)
   A. Jamestown VA and the arrival of a merchant class 
      John Smith 1609 Jamestown VA; introduction of slavery to Anglo Am.
            first English language writing in America
      Mrs. Rowlandson's "captivity narrative" 1675
   B. Religious / Historical writings (note parallels with writers in England)
      Pilgrams - 1620
      William Bradford (1590-1657) MA "Of Plymouth Plantation" 1630
      John Winthrop  (1558-1649)   MA
      Roger Williams (1603-1683)   Moved to RI 1630 
      Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)  MA earliest recorded writings by Am. women
      Cotton Mather (1663-1728)    MA
      Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) "Graet Awakening" 1740 religious
         revival that swept the colonies MA
      French-Indian Wars (1756-63)

	The Puritians came mostly from the areas to the East and North of 
London. They retained the "r" sound from their native regions of England
and that sound shows up in the New England accent of today.
The Pilgrams came from East Anglia. One of the results of the ocean crossing
was to reduce the diversity of dialects and start to produce an "American"
speech (_The Story of English_ 106-119 ).
	 The Puritian and other religious settlers in NE tended to view
"America" as the "Promised Land". By extention, they viewed the native peoples
as "devils" in the "Promised Land". Secular groups tended to view them as
"noble savages". Both views go back to England. Ruland and Bradbury point out 
that the idea for Moore's "Utopia" came from the writings of the early
explores of America (6). Other sources of what the "New World" might be like
came from the Bible. Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is based on early writings of
people in America as are a number of other works (ie. Aphra Behn's
_Oroonoko: Or The History of the Royal Slave_ ). 
	When looking at the writings in NE during this period, they are very 
close to that of the metaphysical writers (see the latter Donne in "The
Holy Sonnets"). Some of the basic beliefs were:
	
        1. God as the supreme being; literal view of the Bible
        2. Predestination (your fate, heaven or hell, is determined by God)
        3. God works directly in the world
        4. Election ("few are saved, but by grace alone, not their own 
             efforts") Man is evil and is saved only by the grace of God.
        
	Some other aspects of the first settlers in NE was the concept of the 
pastoral ideal. This was a prelude to Romantisism / transcendentalism.
(Ruland and Bradbury 19). They were influenced by the Bible and, as Ruland and
Bradbury point out, by Geneisis and Exodus : The Garden of Eden and the
Promised Land of the Chosen People. They also considered themselves to be the
New Jerusalem (9). The "Captivity Narratives were stories of trial and
persecudion endured in the Satanic world of darkness that lay just beyond
the convenanted settlement." (Ruland and Bradbury 27).
	One aspect of American Lit vs British Lit. is that American styles
tended to occur later than they did in England, at least through 1900.
   
C. The Early Republic (1776-1836)
   Secular Writing (again,note the parallels with writers in England)
      1770- 500,000 African American in the colonies (Harper)
      Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
      Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
      John Adams (1735-1826)
      Thomas Paine (1737-1809)	
      Phillis Wheatley (1754-1784) - African Am. poet 
      Gustavus Vassa (Oloudah Equiano) (1745-1801)
         one of the earlier "slave narratives" (Afr-Am.) 1789
      Washington Irving (1783-1859) _Rip Van Winkle_
      James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) 
	_Last of the Mohicans_
      
D. The American Renaissance (1836-1865) [American Romantic Period]
   Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)  
   Henry David Thoreau (1817-62) _Walden_ 1846	
   Marget Fuller (1810-59) - "Women in the 19th Century"
   Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1949) Short (horror) Stories
   Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) _The Scaret Letter_ 	1846
   Herman Melville (1819-1891) _Moby Dick_ 1851
   Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) 
   Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ 1851  
   Frederick Douglass (1817-95) "slave narrative" 1845
   Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) "Ain't I a Woman"
   Walt Whitman (1819-92) poet, _Leaves of Grass_ 1855
                                               American Civil War 1861-65
C. Regional Voices (1865-1900)
   Emily Dickerson (1830-86)
   Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) "Life in the Iron-Mills"
   Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) 
   Mark Twain (1835-1910)
   Charles Chesnutt (1858-1932) Afr-Am.
   Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) Afr-Am.
   Jack London (1876-1916)
   Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860-1935) "The Yellow Wall Paper"
   Corridos: Mexican-American ballads
   Conjure Stories