2012-3-19 1
Chapter Ⅰ
The Literature of Colonial America
2012-3-19 2
1,Historical Background
1607 Jamestown Colony,in Virginia,
? 1620 Plymouth Colony
? 1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony
? 1640 The Bay Psalm Book,the first
publication in America,
2012-3-19 3
1,Captain John Smith,(1580—1631)
The First American Writer—
Primarily an adventurer,explorer,and trader,
2,New England Literature,a literature of
ideas,
John Cotton,
the first major intellectual spokesman of The
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
,The Patriarch of New England”
2012-3-19 4
2,The First American Writer--
Captain John Smith,(1580— 1631)
? Primarily an adventurer,explorer,and trader,
? Main works,
----A True Relation of such Occurrences and
Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia
Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)
----A Map of Virginia,with a Description of the
Country (1612)
----Description of New England,(1616)
----General History of Virginia (1624)
2012-3-19 5
? (1) Anne Hutchinson,(1591-1643)
She refused to worship God in the manner demanded
by the Puritan Church,She was banished from
Massachusetts Bay in 1638,
? (2) Roger Williams,(1603—1683) exile to
Rhode Island,He begins the history of religious
toleration in America,and the history of the
separation of church and state,
? A Key into the Language of America,
3,New England Literature,
A literature of ideas,
2012-3-19 6
New England Literature,
(3) John Cotton,
? The first major intellectual spokesman of The
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
?,The Patriarch of New England”
(4) Anne Hutchinson,
? She refused to worship God in the manner demanded by
the Puritan Church,which controlled the government of
Massachusetts Bay Colony,She believed that a person
comes to know God through his or her own conscience,
not by simply obeying the strict rules of the Puritan
Church,She was banished from Massachusetts Bay in
1638,
2012-3-19 7
New England Literature,
(5) Roger Williams,(1603— 1683)
? He went to Massachusetts Colonies in 1631,exile to
Rhode Island,He begins the history of religious
toleration in America,and the history of the separation of
church and state,
He was interested in the Indian language,
His main work,A Key into the Language of America,
(6) Cotton Mather,(1663—1728)
a clergyman,He wrote more than 450 works,
,
2012-3-19 8
New England Literature,
? (7) Edward Taylor,(1642— 1729),The best of the
Puritan poets,He came from England and attended
Harvard,His poems were not published when he was
alive,The manuscripts were found in 1937,
? (8) William Bradford (1590— 1657),
Born in Yorkshire England,His father,a farmer,died
when William was not yet one year old,He was on the
Mayflower and singed the,Mayflower Compact”.,first
governor of Plymouth,The History of Plymouth
Plantation (1856)
,Of Plymouth Plantation” (1620-1647) in two volumes,
2012-3-19 9
New England Literature,
(9) Anne Bradstreet,(1612— 1672)
? Her father and her husband were governors of
Massachusetts,
? The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America,
(1650)
?,Upon the Burning of Our House” (on July 10th,
1666),God rewarded good and punished bad,
Every natural and human event as a message
from God
2012-3-19 10
New England Literature,
? (10) John Winthrop,(1588— 1649)
The first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony,The
History of New England (1826) In 1630,he addressed
the immigrants:,the eyes of the world were upon you,
and that they would be an example for all,a city upon a
hill.”
? (11) Jonathan Edwards (1702— 1758)
The son of a powerful minister,He came to accept and
rely wholly upon God,and gained, an inward sweet
delight in God and divine things.” The sole minister of
North Hampton for twenty years,He was well-known as
a powerful and strong preacher,
,Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
2012-3-19 11
4,Topics of colonial American literature,
? Their voyage to the new land,adapting
themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops,
dealing with Indians,
? They wrote in diaries and in journals,They wrote
letters and contracts and government charters and
religious and political statements,They wrote
about the land which stretched before them,All
seemed possible through hard-work and faith,
2012-3-19 12
5,Puritans,
Those settlers who originally were devout
members of the Church of England,They wished
to,purify” the rituals and to lessen the authority
of bishops,They relied on the Bible,Not only
did they argue by quoting the Bible,but they saw
their whole situation in Biblical terms,and
therefore all events,however small,were created
by God,or else the Devil,The writing,therefore,
held the sermon as one of its highest forms,
Chapter Ⅰ
The Literature of Colonial America
2012-3-19 2
1,Historical Background
1607 Jamestown Colony,in Virginia,
? 1620 Plymouth Colony
? 1630 Massachusetts Bay Colony
? 1640 The Bay Psalm Book,the first
publication in America,
2012-3-19 3
1,Captain John Smith,(1580—1631)
The First American Writer—
Primarily an adventurer,explorer,and trader,
2,New England Literature,a literature of
ideas,
John Cotton,
the first major intellectual spokesman of The
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
,The Patriarch of New England”
2012-3-19 4
2,The First American Writer--
Captain John Smith,(1580— 1631)
? Primarily an adventurer,explorer,and trader,
? Main works,
----A True Relation of such Occurrences and
Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia
Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608)
----A Map of Virginia,with a Description of the
Country (1612)
----Description of New England,(1616)
----General History of Virginia (1624)
2012-3-19 5
? (1) Anne Hutchinson,(1591-1643)
She refused to worship God in the manner demanded
by the Puritan Church,She was banished from
Massachusetts Bay in 1638,
? (2) Roger Williams,(1603—1683) exile to
Rhode Island,He begins the history of religious
toleration in America,and the history of the
separation of church and state,
? A Key into the Language of America,
3,New England Literature,
A literature of ideas,
2012-3-19 6
New England Literature,
(3) John Cotton,
? The first major intellectual spokesman of The
Massachusetts Bay Colony,
?,The Patriarch of New England”
(4) Anne Hutchinson,
? She refused to worship God in the manner demanded by
the Puritan Church,which controlled the government of
Massachusetts Bay Colony,She believed that a person
comes to know God through his or her own conscience,
not by simply obeying the strict rules of the Puritan
Church,She was banished from Massachusetts Bay in
1638,
2012-3-19 7
New England Literature,
(5) Roger Williams,(1603— 1683)
? He went to Massachusetts Colonies in 1631,exile to
Rhode Island,He begins the history of religious
toleration in America,and the history of the separation of
church and state,
He was interested in the Indian language,
His main work,A Key into the Language of America,
(6) Cotton Mather,(1663—1728)
a clergyman,He wrote more than 450 works,
,
2012-3-19 8
New England Literature,
? (7) Edward Taylor,(1642— 1729),The best of the
Puritan poets,He came from England and attended
Harvard,His poems were not published when he was
alive,The manuscripts were found in 1937,
? (8) William Bradford (1590— 1657),
Born in Yorkshire England,His father,a farmer,died
when William was not yet one year old,He was on the
Mayflower and singed the,Mayflower Compact”.,first
governor of Plymouth,The History of Plymouth
Plantation (1856)
,Of Plymouth Plantation” (1620-1647) in two volumes,
2012-3-19 9
New England Literature,
(9) Anne Bradstreet,(1612— 1672)
? Her father and her husband were governors of
Massachusetts,
? The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America,
(1650)
?,Upon the Burning of Our House” (on July 10th,
1666),God rewarded good and punished bad,
Every natural and human event as a message
from God
2012-3-19 10
New England Literature,
? (10) John Winthrop,(1588— 1649)
The first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony,The
History of New England (1826) In 1630,he addressed
the immigrants:,the eyes of the world were upon you,
and that they would be an example for all,a city upon a
hill.”
? (11) Jonathan Edwards (1702— 1758)
The son of a powerful minister,He came to accept and
rely wholly upon God,and gained, an inward sweet
delight in God and divine things.” The sole minister of
North Hampton for twenty years,He was well-known as
a powerful and strong preacher,
,Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”
2012-3-19 11
4,Topics of colonial American literature,
? Their voyage to the new land,adapting
themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops,
dealing with Indians,
? They wrote in diaries and in journals,They wrote
letters and contracts and government charters and
religious and political statements,They wrote
about the land which stretched before them,All
seemed possible through hard-work and faith,
2012-3-19 12
5,Puritans,
Those settlers who originally were devout
members of the Church of England,They wished
to,purify” the rituals and to lessen the authority
of bishops,They relied on the Bible,Not only
did they argue by quoting the Bible,but they saw
their whole situation in Biblical terms,and
therefore all events,however small,were created
by God,or else the Devil,The writing,therefore,
held the sermon as one of its highest forms,
