The American literature

The American literature

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Introduction

Like any other of the national literatures, The American literature was molded by the history of the country itself. For approximately one hundred and fifty years, America was simply a cluster of colonies spread near the eastern seashore of the continent of North America (Paul 110). A number of colonies, which did not want to be part of the north decided to move towards the western side. After succeeding in rebelling against the motherland, the colonies came together to form the United States of America, an independent nation. The nation continued to expand even more, and by the end of the nineteenth century it had reached the Gulf of Mexico to the south, the 49^th parallel to the north, and the pacific to the west (Paul 120).By the end of the same century it had found its place among the most powerful countries in the World. Its wealth attracted interest of other nations, and eventually it involved itself in both world wars. The emergence of science as well as industry, coupled with the change of people’s way of thinking and feelings all contributed to the development of the American Literature. The following is the history of literature in United States of America form the 17^th century to the birth of a new nation (Paul 130).

Rise of American Literature in the 17^th century

The American literature was initially a colonial literature, it was first written by men of, English origin.  The person who initiated the American literature was a soldier, by the name of John Smith who wrote down his thoughts (Paul 160). His renowned books include, A True Relation of … Virginia … (1608). The general History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles (1624) .Even though these earlier works were mostly on praise of the authors themselves, they were to help other Englishmen get more colonies (Paul 180). With each passing day, more works were authored, every work describing a certain colony. Such work included Daniel Denton’s work in 1670 where he described New York, William Penn’s work in 1682 description of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Ashe’s description of Carolina (Paul 200). These are a few, among many works, which were in praise of America. These authors swore allegiance to the British Government, even though others had a different opinion that motivated the colonists to relocate from their own motherland. More significant, is the issues raised by the writers, questioning the government involvement with the church. The position that most authors felt was no right, was the one taken by Nathaniel Ward in 1647, where he defended the colonists who had sponsored innovative ideas in Massachusetts, in the aftermath more authors published their satisfaction with the position taken by Nathaniel (Paul 230).

Some religious works that were also published include the work of William Bradford that described the history of the Plymouth Plantation, which showed the separation of the pilgrims Separatists from the Anglicans (Paul 250). Other religious work that was published includes Roger William’s work, which was more drastic as it called for the church and the state to go different ways.  He also advocated for the church to be given powers and called upon religious tolerance (Paul 270).  Some poetry work were published, in 1650 Anne Bradstreet published her work titled in The Tenth Muse. The work consisted mainly, of her feelings about the relationship between religion, and family.  Another work was that of Edward Taylor whose work was a reflection of his happiness in the beliefs of Christianity and experience (Paul 300). All works from different authors that was done in the 17^th century had t.............