Beginnings to 1800

• The First Migration: Ice Age Travelers– Ice Age hunters crossed Bering land bridge– By 1490s, American Indians living all over N

America– Native Americans were here in 15th century

before Europeans arrived• Native Americans were already living in diverse

societies before Europeans showed up• Many cultures still remain today

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Route of Ice Age hunters

• The Europeans Arrive: the Explorers– Spanish and French explorers in 15th and 16th cen.• Letters, journals, books described “New World”:– Abundant resources– Peacefulness and hospitality of inhabitants– Promise of unlimited wealth

• Cabeza de Vaca – Narrative (journal) – Not just adventure in the New world, but story of

transformation

Beginnings to 18001.1

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Puritan HeadlinesA recent Google search found:

• Idle Hands: Some Puritan Advice for the Unemployed.• New puritans gang up with old-style snobs.• Puritan's rants cost him his freedom - and his ears• Snickers, sin, and salvation: the Puritan themes of TV's 'The Biggest Loser'.• Tosa church service returns to Puritan era• Jobs in America: Puritan values must replace MBA values.• These Witches Aren't in Puritan New England Anymore.• 'It was the white heat of showbusiness, but it was a Puritan lifestyle,

working 70, 80 hours a week'• Americans reveal their Puritan roots whether it's in business, sex or war• Separating the Pilgrims From the Puritans.

Do you notice any common themes??

• A way of writing that stresses simplicity and clarity of expression.

• No metaphors, no allusions, no imagery

• Very straightforward, simple, direct

• Mimicked Puritan worship style

1.2Beginnings to 1800 - Plain style

from Of Plymouth Plantation

• William Bradford– Farmer’s son from Yorkshire,

England– Became Colonial governor in

America– A man of “more than

ordinary piety, wisdom, and courage”

– Cotton Mather

• Manuscript still exists today, held in Boston

• Not to attract, but to inspire others to carry Puritan ideal

1.2

What is Plain Style?

This is plain style:“They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good and plenty.”(Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford)

This is NOT plain style:“First, for the incomprehensibleness of God, the understanding of man hath a limited, a determined latitude; it is an intelligence able to move that sphere which it is fixed to, but could not move a greater: I can comprehend naturam naturatam, created nature, but for that natura naturans, God himself, the understanding of man cannot comprehend.”(John Donne)What’s the difference?

from Of Plymouth Plantation• Pg. 31: “But that which was most sad and lamentable was, that in

two or three months’ time half of their company died, especially in January and February, being the depth of winter, and wanting houses and other comports; being infected with the scurvy and other diseases which this long voyage and their inaccommodate condition had brought upon them. So as there died sometimes two or three of a day in the foresaid time, that of 100 and odd persons, scarce fifty remained.”

• What adjectives does Bradford use to describe the starving time?

• How does this matter-of-fact style affect readers?

With a partner, rewrite this passage from a different POV.

• The Puritan Legacy– More influential than

explorers’ writings– Shaped American character• Moral• Ethical• Religious convictions

– 1620 landed on Cape Cod, 1640 20,000+ in New England

– New society in N. Amer. was a business venture as much as spiritual

Beginnings to 18001.2

• Who were These Puritans?– Broad term – Protestant seeking to “purify” the

Church of England – religion should be inner, personal experience

Beginnings to 18001.2

• Puritan Beliefs: Sinners All?– Mix of Certainty & Doubt• Certain – sin of disobedience & God’s mercy• Doubt – whether one was “saved” or “damned”• Read p.10, 2nd paragraph

– Traits valued• Community reliance• Industriousness• Temperance• Simplicity

Beginnings to 18001.2

• Puritan Politics: Government by Contract– Covenant between God and

humanity– Same belief applied to

human to human agreements• Created Mayflower Compact

– foundation for constitutional democracy

– Created conflict – undemocratic environment – no compromise

Beginnings to 18001.2

• The Bible in America– Story of creation, fall, wanderings, and the

rescue of the human race– Human life reflects Biblical events– Life is a pilgrimage– Bible word of God

Beginnings to 18001.2

• Emphasis on education Purpose: to read & understand Bible and hold theological debate– Harvard College founded in 1636– 1st printing press in 1639

• Diaries and histories common, important forms of Puritan literature – record the workings of God

• p. 12 Characteristics of Puritan Writing

Beginnings to 18001.2

What about the Native Americans?

• In your journal, write 3 things you know about Native Americans.

• Write 2 things you want to know about them.• Write 1 thing you learned about them.

“We Shall Remain” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj8rl3lgXkA(8:30)

“A Narrative of the Captivity”

• Details show that Wampanoag are compassionate and protective because they look after those who are weak and sick.

• Initially resents captors, but later notes examples of their kindness her opinion changes

• As a Puritan, she thinks events in her life are result of God’s mercy toward her and power over all people.

• Literature of the Southern Planters– Very different from

Puritans– Religious & economic

factors

• More interested in outer than inner

• Enjoyed “luxurious life”

Beginnings to 18001.3

William Byrd

• Slave Narratives• 1st Africans in the

Americas unwilling immigrants

• 10 million between 17th & 19th century

• Narratives were used by abolitionists

Beginnings to 18001.3

Portrait of a Negro ManOlaudah Equiano in 1780s

Olaudah Equiano

• Excerpt from “Fighting Intolerance and Slavery: Christianity in the 17th and 18th Centuries” http://streaming.factsonfile.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=4122&xtid=9367 (3 min)

• Excerpt from “The Color of Money: Colonialism and the Slave Trade” http://streaming.factsonfile.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=4122&xtid=39663&loid=87080 (3 min)

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”

• Autobiography; Equiano was youngest son of Ibo warrior in Africa

• Kidnapped (w/ sister) at age 11• African slave owners treat him well• Sold to slave ship heading to West Indies; terrified

of white crew• In Barbados, Africans are auctioned off as slaves• Wrote narrative account to help abolition

movement

“The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”

• Read last paragraph pg. 64-65.• Why does he use so many rhetorical

questions?• How does this section reveal his purpose for

writing?• He recorded his story to convince people to

abolish slavery.