American Literature : Colonial Times

[Applause] [Music] [Music] the beginnings of American literature consisted mainly of letters histories reports Diaries and religious works to understand these writings we must look behind them to the colonial period itself in 1607 America was a wilderness to which Englishmen were coming for settlement and exploration the sixth and twentieth day of April recited the land of Virginia we entered into the bay of Chesapeake directly without any left or hindrance there we landed and explored a little way but we could find nothing worth to speaking of but fair meadows and goodly tall trees with such fresh water running through the woods as I was almost ravished at the first sight thereof these words by a man who sailed with Captain John Smith typify the beginnings of literature in colonial America they were about the new land a land that was strange yet beautiful to the Englishman who had come to explore and settle the writings were records of what they saw in the new world reports for friends relatives and business associates back in England Captain John Smith reported arriving at the place where we are now seated the council was sworn and the president elected Claire was made choice for our situation a very fit place for the erecting of a great city all-out provision was brought ashore and with as much speed as might be we went about our fortification thus the founding of Jamestown was recorded by Captain John Smith in his true relation of such occurrences and accidents of note as had happened in Virginia since the first planning of that colony the writings of the colonial period reflect America itself a new unknown America permanent settlement began in Jamestown in 1607 in Plymouth in 1620 during the next hundred years more colonies were founded the older colonies grew and pushed out into the frontier and while the settlements were becoming villages for most of the people of colonial America living was essentially a struggle to survive there was little time to develop the arts for these people were occupied in providing the necessities of everyday life from the soil their labour had to draw forth a living but labour alone did not bring crops the weather and the seasons could bring a rich harvest or disaster insects and animals could destroy the crops and ever-present was the threat of Indian war parties [Applause] [Music] yes colonial life was a struggle in which work and Providence played their parts only evenings when work was done for the day was there time for writing so the colonists wrote what they felt was necessary or useful they wrote letters journals and Diaries and histories of the early settlements the writings of the colonial period reflected the hard pioneer life in which time was not to be wasted they reflected also the deep religious faith of these early Americans parents thought of the Bible as the book children expressed the faith of the colonists in their beginning lessons a in Adams fall we synod all be heaven to find the bible mind that religion was a part of every task is reflected in the poetry of the period make me O Lord by spinning-wheel complete thy holy word my distaff make for me make mine affections thy Swift fliers meet and make my soul thy Holy spool to be my conversation make to be thy real and real beyond their on spun of by wheel and the settlements all life even the government centered about the church from the earliest days when divine services were held within a stockade for protection against Indian attack so it is that religion a deep part of the lives of the colonists is a rich part of colonial writing you will find it in accounts of the Witchcraft Trials that ended for many on the gallows tree you will find it in the simple accounts of life in Quaker settlements of Pennsylvania you will find it in the stories of early days in Maryland when Catholics sought refuge from British suppression you will find it in the heroic accounts of the early traveling preachers who went from settlement to settlement carrying the gospel and you will find it in the stern words of Jonathan Edwards the first great revivalist in America from simple churches such as this in the 1730's came words that were to create new religious revivals through the colonies and even in England and Scotland across the centuries the words of Jonathan Edwards wring out the wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the better they increase more and more and rise higher and higher to an outlet is given and the longer the stream is stopped the more rapid and mighty is it cost when once it is let loose religion the hard life and labor that built settlements in a wilderness and the wonders of the new world these are the dominant themes in the writings of colonial America writings that take the form of practical useful necessary documents rather than literature as we know it today for their reading the colonists turned to the Bible and to writings from England their cultural home though the colonial period is not rich in literature as we think of it today later writers looked back on it for settings for stories thinking back to his boyhood days James Fenimore Cooper wrote a pioneer life in upper New York State the folklore of colonial life in the Hudson River Valley provided themes for Washington Irving Puritan colonial life was imaginatively recreated by Nathaniel Hawthorne and American writers ever since including contemporary authors have found in colonial America a setting for literature as colonial settlements grew and prospered printing companies were founded with their coming came the chance to develop writings in America for American colonists [Music] while it was years before this chance became reality the rise of American printing signals the gradual end of dependence on English writers and the beginning of a new period of writing by colonists for American purposes it signals the beginning of a new era in American literature [Music] you [Music]