Literature of Early America
A Module for HIST 151

Literary evidence is one type of evidence historians use to reconstruct the past. By reading the poetry and other types of literature published in early America, we will be able to learn more about early American life.

Although I do not agree with her entire thesis, in “Puritanism: the People and the Religion and the Poetry,” Tracy Budden demonstrates an approach to understanding culture through poetry. As part of this module, you should also read Scott Atkin's “The American Sense of Puritan.”

Reading Puritan Poetry

For this module, you should familiarize yourself with Fire and Ice: Poetry. You do not have to read all of the poetry listed on this page. But you should sample poems from a number of authors.

Ideally, we would be able to read a variety of different types of literature: sermons, essays, political pamphlets, newspapers, journals, diaries, plays, poetry. However, for this module, we will begin with poetry; not because poetry is my favorite genre but because poems are short. If I only taught my personal interests, students would be required to read Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

Poetry Activity

One of the assessments for this module is to write a short poem in the Puritan tradition. I know that when they first encounter the assignment, that students tend to react with fear and loathing. However, please remember that:

• This is not a creative writing class.
• This assignment is meant to be fun.

Because Puritans wrote about their lives and you should, too. So don't hesitate to glorify your microwave.

Class Discussion

For our class discussion, we will consider the insights literature gives us about individuals and the society in which they live. As you participate in this discussion, do not limit yourself only to works cited in Fire and Ice: Poetry. Consider authors from other historical periods (up until the early 1800s) as well as authors in other parts of what is now the United States.

As you discuss what we can learn from authors, we can also discuss the shortcomings of studying literature. For example, you could build a case that the poetry of Phillis Wheatley does not adequately reflect life of African slaves in the British colonies.

Here are two additional ideas to get you started in the discussion.

• What does the literature of colonial New England reveal about New England life?
• Consider non-Puritan literature from this period and comment about what it shows about the lives of the people who wrote and read it. You might consider any of the following:
• Native American
• Spanish
• French