[left]The Colonial Period (1650-1765):

American literature begins as a natural part of the America adventure, the great overflow of the renaissance 16th – 17th century, or the energy of the renaissance that sent small ships across the Atlantic which engendered in the explorers and settlers a desire to describe the discoveries and the adventures. The settlers wrote descriptions of the country like those by Captain John Smith in (1580-1531) of Virginia, the most famous of the scores of chronicles. He was an English adventurer who wrote chronicles in order to recount the first commercial venture which founded the settlement in the American colonials. He wrote about the Indian wars, made personnel journals.
Virginia and the south:

The confrontation of the colonists with uncrown wilderness let them to a gradual and urgent process of civilizing this wilderness by imposing their European culture bringing from the civilization to the wilderness. They were confronted to a fighting back and permanent rejection by the savages which hindered the settlement hands, the settlers had to possessed a radical revision of their account which were done in a language belonging to European roots and tradition that was incompatibly adopted to convey realities with which its language did not have a close knowledge hence, a gap between the language and the realities was created. And with the arrival of Puritanism is America in 1620. The ambivalent relationship between language and facts was enhanced. At that time the Puritans were feeling from religious approach by the high Anglicans (member of the church) under archbishop Lord William (1573-1645) who elevated by the king Charles I promoted Catholic against who was determined to root out Calvinist’s dissenters. Presbyterian or Puritan by legal persecution. John Calvin, a French reformer (1509-1564) created a doctrine (Calvinism).

The roman church was the dominate power (Catholic) à rules all Europe: what every the pop said is true and must applied.

The priest are not allowed to get married because those people should devote the whole life that serve of the God.

The Protestant separate from the Roman church in order to rule their own church (protestant church), they developed rules. The priests are allowed now to marry and serve the God; this origin is <Catholicà protestant>.

The Catholic does not believe in these three: there is only one God. The son is a prophet; we need one part and not three parts of God.
Religion problems:

The Protestants are the first people, because they thought that the new land is El Dorado (the promise land) for they are the best people. They hurry to that El Dorado. The land that God promise us, to establish their rules which completely differ from the catholic rules, those people called Pilgrims. They went to worship God and to purify faith. They are going to settle.
Literature diagram:

The American literature has no link with America, the first writers wrote by Pilgrims, discovers, traders to inform people in Europe about the conditions in the new land. Total sum of Germans, diary without fiction.
Religious writers (Amerindians):

William powid explain another attitude of the Indians, the pilgrim will help the Indians how to cook. Indians will be helpful because they know everything about the way to avoid the risks of being killed.

The content was the description of the landscapes which was different uncomments. It was totally dangerously wild and in confrontation with the Indians which were very harsh.
Puritanism:

Puritans use the European language, and between them or when they describe they use their own language. The English church separated from the Catholic Church in 1531.

John Calvin[1], a French reformer created a doctrine (Calvinism[2]) based on the theological system, he insisted that {the church should be independent and the state should be its servant}. He was influenced by Lutheranism[3] that Luther[4] Martin invented it.

Puritanism[5]: the earliest English Puritanism was devout members of the Church of England and had no desire to produce schism. By the type of Eli***eth[6] reign, the Church of England was clearly protestant in respect to its separation from Rome. Only other hand, the Puritans wanted the reform to be carried much further, in order to simplify or purify the creeds and rituals and to diminish the authority of the bishop, but still no official rake was intending. The Puritan movement was peculiarly English phenomenon which grow out of the situation to created by the desired of Henry VIII to take control over the church of England without reforming it and willingness of his Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Granmer to keep up the appearances of Catholic church while making it protestant in doctrine.

The Puritan Heritage

The power for impress of early Puritanism has been continuougly strong influence upon certain aspects and qualities of American thought and culture.

The most important element of this Puritan legacy:

· Rigid sense of morality

· Emphasis upon material success

· Self-reliang

· Feeling for democracy

· Enthusiasm for education (1636 Harvard College was created that time)

· Fervor (strong desire) for social reform

· Conflict of conscience arising from and awareness that material success is not adequate as a major goal in life.
The enlightenment
Introduction:

The earlier Eighteen-century (18th century): there were two movements, these were:

- The enlightenment

- The great awakening
The Enlightenment:

At the beginning of the 18thC, a new era in intellectual and punctual history of the western world was downy.

The change was intuited while intellectual and philosophical reaction against the theological revolution was led en Europe by writing on such great thinkers as “Descartes”, “Spinoza[1]”, “Hobbes[2]”, “J. Luke”, and “Newton[3]” in England.

In America, the influence of the enlightenment was soon felt, but it had to wait for the foundling fathers of the republic fully express: “Benjamin Franklin”, “Thomas Jefferson[4]”.

Many modifications on the doctrinism think about the enlightenment and in part from another wave of religious revival through the colonies, nearly the great awaking
I. The characteristics of enlightenment:

Is a movement that it is intellectual and cultural and philosophical. The philosophy Emphasize in 18th century, the English is marked by certain basic ideas summarize as the following:

1. The secular viewpoint concerned primarily with this life and this world, a non-religious rather than and anti-religious attitude.

2. Exaltation of raison as the one through guide to knowledge, and sense impression (rather than innate ideas) as the raw material from which the human mind explains the world.

3. Acceptance of the laws of nature as forming a quaintest pattern not subject to divine or miraculous intervention

4. Confidence in the inevitability and unavoidable of man’s progress, both intellectual and material

5. Convention that human affairs should be directed by natural law, not by monarch and the tradition associated with them (human being is free, is able to judge his own faith, not the church).

This philosophical emphasize are important in the thinking of the French philosopher "Voltaire[5]”, “Montesquieu[6]" and "Rousseau[7]", and it is really important also in the atmosphere that the founding fathers of the US shaped their plans and actions.

To give religion other vision away to exalt in the opposite in order to understand.
Started to explain this world these reasons. Ideas making to the intelligent the result never serve the humanity in reveal what made him understand à intellectual progress.

The human being no long determine by the laws of the church individual is able to judge the purity of his faith, source of freedom all this in helpful to find fathers establish their process of evolution.
II. Sources and influences of the Great Awakening

In 18thC, "John[8]" and "Charles Wesley[9]", and later by George Whitefield, started prich differently, and they became more personal.

During their revival meetings, they make people more interesting, and the focus gives salvation to all men. Those people were choosing by God to make religion individual.

Note:

At the same time that enlightenment was stressing philosophic rather than religion, a considerable number of religious revivals where taking place in 18th century America. This new religious fervour was stimulated notably by the introduction of the teachings of the Methodists, brought the colonies in the early 1730th by "John" and "Charles Wesley", and a little later by “George White” field.

In their preaching, these men:

1. Offered solution to all men, not a certain Category of men.

2. They also were immensely emotional and personal in their discourses

3. Their revival meetings were basically emotional, yet, they encouraged the individual to consider his faith as his own, not as something he accepts from others (this permitted more freedom in faith).

These were liberal views, which characterized the revivalism of the great awakening during the 18thC, favoured of an atmosphere of free discussion in all fields.
Neoclassicism:

During the 18th century, the predominant literary style in Europe was neoclassicism; the writers of antiquity were widely admired and emulated as being suitable to the new rationalism. Accordingly, the influence of the Neoclassicism style became apparent in American literature as the century progress.

Neoclassicism avoided excess of any kind, and exalted the ideals simplicity.
I. The revolutionary period:
1. The rise of national literature 1765-1865

When the American Revolution growth out, there was already enough of literary culture in America to encourage the growth of a national literature. Literary societies and circulating libraries were appearing everywhere to cure the needs of a growing reading public, and yet, the federal (the government) period was not a time for artistic development (people were more concern).

The reason from the paucity of literary production is partly to be found in the social and religious by a grand of the town.

The enlightenment was an age of rationality and other organizations, which saw the gradual decline of the preceding Calvinist,[10] believes (Puritanism[11]).

What mattered now was toleration harmony, and conformity to the laws of nature. The 17th century’s harsh doctrines of predestination, the conception of a wrathful that punishing sinners in hell, where giving way to a distrust of superstition and an optimistic believe that men was good and capable of infinite improvement.

It was a time when people believe is sense and harmony and how certain forms of government could help serve men.

These principals were admirably bodied in the person Benjamin Franklin[12] whose fascination for balance and restraint could be felt through his clear direct and measured style of neoclassic age. Yet, these interest reveal itself almost in political writings, the forceful style so admired was used in pamphlets and essays rather than in more introspective forms of literature.
2. The federal age:

It didn’t favour the description of emotions and inner conflicts. Literature was not turned towards the analysis of the self, but towards more rational aims. Drama was not encouraged as being usually considered as improper and immoral.

Statesmen, orators, thinkers and writers of the revolution:

Understandably, the best American minds during the revolution period and the infancy of the republic were preoccupied with political writings. As men of the enlightenment their approach was secular and their views were largely conditioned by the British rationalists such as ”lock“ and French philosophers such as “Montesquieu”. Their were stately pronouncement emulated the clarity and strength of the best 18th century English prose:

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790): his life bears testimony to the variety of his pursuits and talents. It is a story of a gradual rise to power and of constant success. He was a perfect representative of the enlightenment of the tolerant reasonable scientific intellect of the 18th Century believing in the perfectibility of men.

His writing are variants -as: essay, letters, speeches, satirical works- but his literally master piece in his autobiography written in a simple and direct style aimed at being understood by all, it relates his rise to success and studies his own development and brought to maturity.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Paine Credo ran: “My country is the world and my religion is too good” his primary skill was as a professional revolutionist and a pamphleteer with his superlative ability to coin raise by his eloquence, he transformed America agitation from the civil war to regress wrongs into a fight for total independence from Britain to stop the success of the common sense published in (1776) giving direction to American dissatisfaction gives it a leading place among political writing in American history.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826): is the president of USA. A man of remarkable and cyclopaedic talents, he was interested in education, history, science, literature, and architecture as well as politics. His believes reflect the confident ideas of the 18th century enlightenment.
The effects of the revolutionary period on American writings:

The arts in America needed time to develop in the period immediately after the revolution, the atmosphere was hardly conductive to the creation of literature. The one piece from thus period that is read is Greve Coeur’s letters from an American former whose culture was a Frenchman in an old culture and resident here for only a third of his life.
I. Preromantics:

St John Greve Coeur anticipated the romantic age with this optimism. (Another prenoman) and idealization of Americans. Their reformers for nature and their sentimentalism and humanitarianism. Another preromantic of that period was Philip Freneau who was the poet of feelings and nature and usually dealt with such themes as Melan Sholy.
II. The Age of Romanticism:

Romanticism was not so much a specific style or form of literature is itself, it was more a spirit of reaction against the previously nationalism, is exalted phenomena of the senses and emotions even to the point of sentimentality. American romanticism was not usually as self-conscious or extreme as the European variety.

Its subject was often the national ideals, history and frontier life of the situation of America at that time. Thus, much of the best American romanticism is comparatively extroverted (does not deal with the inner feelings of human and vital feeling) seeming when contrasted with some of the more remote European product of the moment.

[1] Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) Dutch philosopher and theologian, author of "Ethics" (also Benedict de Spinoza)

[2] Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), English philosopher and writer, author of "Leviathan"

[3] Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English mathematician and physicist who formulated the law of universal gravitation

[4] Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American statesman, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, 3rd president of the United States (1801-1809)

[5] Voltaire. (1694-1778, born Francois Marie Arouet), eighteenth century French writer and philosopher, central figure in the Enlightenment

[6] Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat (1689-1755), French political philosopher and writer

[7] Rousseau family name; Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Swiss born French politician and philosopher, author of the novel "Emile"

[8] John Wesley (1703-1791), English theologian and father of Methodism

[9] Charles Wesley (1707-1788), English Methodist preacher and hymn writer;

[10] Calvinist ['Cal·vin·ist || 'kælvɪnɪst] follower or supporter of Calvinism (doctrines and teaching of John Calvin)

[11] Puritanism ['Pu·ri·tan·ism || 'pjʊərɪtənɪzm] strictness about moral and religious issues

[12] Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) American statesman scientist and author, signer of the Declaration of Independence, publisher of "Poor Richard's Almanack"

[1] John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian and reformer, leader of the Protestant Reformation

[2] Doctrines and teaching of John Calvin

[3] Doctrine of the Lutheran Church

[4] Martin Luther (1483-1546), German theologian and leader of the Protestant Reformation

[5] Strictness about moral and religious issues

[6] Queen of England from 1558 to 1603



[1] Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) Dutch philosopher and theologian, author of "Ethics" (also Benedict de Spinoza)

[2] Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), English philosopher and writer, author of "Leviathan"

[3] Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English mathematician and physicist who formulated the law of universal gravitation

[4] Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American statesman, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, 3rd president of the United States (1801-1809)

[5] Voltaire. (1694-1778, born Francois Marie Arouet), eighteenth century French writer and philosopher, central figure in the Enlightenment

[6] Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat (1689-1755), French political philosopher and writer

[7] Rousseau family name; Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Swiss born French politician and philosopher, author of the novel "Emile"

[8] John Wesley (1703-1791), English theologian and father of Methodism

[9] Charles Wesley (1707-1788), English Methodist preacher and hymn writer;

[10] Calvinist ['Cal·vin·ist || 'kælvɪnɪst] follower or supporter of Calvinism (doctrines and teaching of John Calvin)

[11] Puritanism ['Pu·ri·tan·ism || 'pjʊərɪtənɪzm] strictness about moral and religious issues

[12] Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) American statesman scientist and author, signer of the Declaration of Independence, publisher of "Poor Richard's Almanack"