1. AMERICAN LITERATURE Beginnings Exploration, Colonization, Revolution, Expansion 1400 - 1800

2. Beginnings  America is a land of immigrants  Millions came to America against their will as slaves  Many of us may be descendants of recent immigrants  Why do people immigrate?

3. Beginnings  Bering Land Bridge brought inhabitants 20-40 thousand years ago  Over the years there was a southward migration

4. Beginnings  Numerous Native American cultures existed before European exploration  Native Americans had well developed, sophisticated cultures  Native Americans were exploited by Europeans

5. Beginnings  Early explorers were often groping in the dark  Their journals and accounts often emphasized the positive in order to receive support and funding

7.  The Jamestown settlement was established in 1607  Captain John Smith, soldier of fortune, was an early leader  Jamestown met with many hardships Beginnings

12. Beginnings  The American character has been shaped by the moral, ethical, and religious convictions of the Puritans

13. Beginnings  The most famous group landed at Plymouth in 1620  For Puritans, the everyday world and the spiritual world were closely connected

14. Beginnings  Puritans had their roots in Europe  They wanted to “purify” the Church of England  They wanted simple, direct forms of worship

15. Beginnings

16. Beginnings  They were single- minded  They were convinced of their rightness and their beliefs  They believed in a strict and literal interpretation of the Bible Bradford Edwards

17. Beginnings  There was both certainty and doubt in being a Puritan  Puritans were certain the most humanity was damned because of the sins of Adam and Eve  Puritans were also certain that Jesus had been sent to save particular people  There was much doubt about who these particular people were

18. Beginnings  A Puritan could not know for certain if he or she was one of the elect – one of the particular people chosen by God to be saved  Indications that a Puritan might be one of the elect came from outward behavior, and a feeling of being saved, or born again

19. Beginnings  To avoid sin, Puritans tried to lead industrious lives  They worked long and hard  They prayed to fill most of their spare time  They avoided any and all activities that could lead them to sin, and in turn, to hell

20. Beginnings  The Puritans favored plain style in their writing – elaborate style was considered sinful  Puritans believed strongly in education, so that one could read and understand God’s word  Puritans believed in a spiritual compact between the individual and God

21. Beginnings  As colonial life allowed more leisure and temptations, Puritanism became more and more hypocritical  Puritans had to pretend to live sin-free, pure lives  By the early 1700’s, Puritanism had decayed

22. Beginnings  Eventually, Puritans began to accuse their fellow Puritans of being sinful  Suspicions, guilt, and mass hysteria brought forth the Salem Witch Trials

23. Beginnings  In all, almost 150 people in Salem and the surrounding area were accused of witchcraft by their neighbors

24. Beginnings  Nineteen innocent people were hanged  One townsman was crushed to death

25. Beginnings  The European Age of Reason stimulated thought in the American colonies  Rationalism was the philosophy that was popularized by the Age of Reason  Rationalists believed that a human’s pursuit of truth through reason was more important than arriving at truth through faith

26. Beginnings  Rationalism was a direct contradiction of Puritanism  Rationalists saw God as a clockmaker, rather than as a supreme being was guided and controlled human life Newton

27. Beginnings  The political theories of democracy grew from the rationalistic movement  The independent, innovative, self- reliant American grew from the rationalistic movement  Deism was an outlook about God that grew from the rationalistic movement

28. Beginnings  Thomas Jefferson and other colonial politicians subscribed to rationalism and deism Jefferson

29. Beginnings  The Declaration of Independence bases its arguments and assumptions on rationalist thought and led the colonists to a war that logic would have told them not to fight

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31. Beginnings  Contrary to Puritanism, Deists believed that humans were inherently good  They believed in the perfectibility of every human  They believed that the best form of worship of God was in good deeds to other humans

32. Beginnings - Summary  Native Americans populated North America long before European explorers  European explorers discovered largely through wandering  Jamestown (1607) settled for profit  Plymouth (1620) settled for religious freedom

33. Beginnings - Summary  Harsh life bred innovative, self- reliant, independent people  The southern colonies became dependent on agriculture and soil- depleting crops  The northern colonies became dependent on industry

34. Beginnings - Summary  Rationalism and deism were two ways of thinking well suited for the American colonists  These two movements would eventually lead into the American Revolution and democracy  Americans became known for their independence and self-reliance