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Chapter 1 Colonial Beginnings

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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Chapter 1 Colonial Beginnings

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  1. Chapter 1 Colonial Beginnings from An Outline of American Literature by Peter B. High

  2. American Literature – Begins in the early 1600s Earliest Writers – Englishmen describing exploration and colonization of the “New World” (p.5) • Briefe and True Report of the New-Found Land of Virginia (1588) by Thomas Hariot • mixed facts with fantasy • read the book as a travel guide • read these “true reports” as tales of adventure and excitement

  3. Settlement in the New World

  4. A 17th century map of the Virginia territory

  5. Captain John Smith (1580-1631) • 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”

  6. Captain John Smith (1580-1631)

  7. “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

  8. Captain Smith being saved by Pocahontas • 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)

  9. Pocahontas English portrait of Pocahontas 4 faces of Pocahontas http://www.co.henrico.va.us/manager/pokeypix.htm

  10. Differences Between the Southern and the New England Colonies • 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

  11. In New England The Puritan formed a society based on strict Christian beliefs, the laws of God • had a stronger sense of unity and of a “shared purpose” • culture and literature developed much faster than in the South • Harvard was founded near Boston in 1636 to train new ministers • In 1638 The first printing press started there • In 1704 America’s first newspaper began in Boston

  12. New England Puritan Literature – most of them were histories • 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

  13. William Bradford (1590-1675) • 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

  14. William Bradford (1590-1675)

  15. Thanksgiving

  16. John Winthrop (1588-1649) • 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)

  17. First Puritans – Not Very Democratic • 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

  18. Examples: • A Survey of the Summer of Church Discipline (1648) by Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) -- the most famous statement of Puritan laws. • Way of the Churches of Christ in New England (1645) by John Cotton --less severe

  19. Newer Puritans-- the Beginning of the 1700s • Roger Williams (1603-1683) • desired a freer religious environment • Williams established his colony in Rhode Island and his Bloudy Tenent (1644) became a famous statement for religious freedom • “Freedom” is necessary condition for “the growth and development of the soul” • became important to the development of democracy • Puritan strictness began to relax and tradition grew weaker and weaker as farmland and more comfortable settlements had grown up

  20. Roger Williams(1603-1683)

  21. The Mather Family in New England • Richard Mather (1596-1669) – p.9 • The founder of his family in America

  22. Increase Mather (1639-1723) • Leader of the New England theocracy • Minister at North Church in Boston, the most powerful church in New England • Remarkable Providences (1684) – reveals the psychological environment of the time and Puritan’s strange beliefs

  23. Salem Witchcraft • 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 • Witchcraft and other form of evil were real part of everyday life

  24. Salem Witch Trial

  25. Cotton Mather (1663-1728) • “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

  26. Poems on Religious Themes Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) • Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650) – p.11 • the first New World poems published in England

  27. Edward Taylor (1645-1729) • 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”

  28. Great Awakening – began about 1730s • 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)

  29. Robert Beverley (1673-1722) • History and Present State of Virginia (1705) • strong defender of black slavery • free of race hatred on the section of the Indians of Virginia

  30. 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

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