Introduction
The following paper focuses on early American literature that dates back to the 1600s. The analysis takes on eleven colonial writers namely John Smith, William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, Cotton Mather, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Phyllis Wheatley. All these writers can be termed as colonial writers since they did their literary work during colonialism. Colonialism in New England took place at a time that there was extensive immigration from various parts of the world to Boston. These immigrations had resulted in changes in the ways of life for the people in America. The growth of American literature can be seen to be focused on these early migrations plus the fact that Cambridge publishing and printing press got created. This paper explores the issue of how these people’s ideas contributed to the shaping of the culture of that time.
Colonial Literature as demonstrated by the writers
The American literature described above can be said to be written during the colonial times. The writers used clear and precise writings that had logical meaning, and their work remains valued up to the present day. These writers documented their literature in the form of books, poems, maps, stories, and letters. These forms seem to be the most popular forms of writing. The literature portrayed the ways of life of the early dwellers of America, and it talked about the challenges and happiness in equal measure. Some authors wrote about the challenges and hardships that affected people in general while others spoke of joy and happiness that people shared as they lived together as one. In these works of literature, vices and immoralities, such as slavery and racism would be condemned (Paine 25). Also, amusing stories, encouragement quotes, empowerment, religion, and meditations would be uplifted. These writings enabled people to live in harmony with each other by condemning evil and uplifting righteousness.
Politics and governmental aspects
Most of these writers had at one point in their lives participated in issues involving the government and politics. For example, John Smith was a soldier before he became a writer. This means that he got involved in the government and military at one point in time. Edward Taylor was a minister while Cotton reigned as the third in the fourth generation Mather dynasty (Serafin 63). Benjamin was a diplomat while John Adams became the second president of America. Thomas Jefferson got involved in the drafting of the declaration of independence. Also, Thomas Paine had an emphasis on political writings. The significance of this involvement in politics and government can be seen in the way the writers had become diverse thinkers. They understood human beings from a humane point of view, and they understood what was vital for the people of that country. Thus, the people of New England would take their writings seriously.
Hardships and Challenges
The colonial time came with uncertainties due to the various changes that would be anticipated to take place. The migrations to Boston and attempt to find the best settlements came with many challenges. For example, John Smith talks of how he became a chief’s prisoner during one of his adventures. William Bradford described his explorations as dangerous and unfriendly. He had gone long distances across the oceans and the lands that he found would be full of thickets. Also, Ann Bradstreet had problems during her writing due to lack of a printing press while Benjamin got raised in a poor family, and he worked hard to become rich (Franklin 132). Phyllis was a slave woman meaning that slavery seemed to be rampant during these times. These ideas shaped the culture of this time in a way because people started longing for civilization and developments.
Beliefs, religion, and Traditions
People seemed to value traditions especially religion since it harbored various beliefs and promises. The most popular religion in this area seemed to be Christianity and the most popular group of Protestants would be referred to as Puritans. Puritans had strict guidelines that they followed, and they disapproved of some of the secular ways of life. Edward Taylor refused to take an oath of the Church of England and went elsewhere. This shows that not all people got carried away by the traditions. Ann, Cotton, and Phyllis wrote religious poems meaning that they believed in the beliefs of their religion. Benjamin Franklin’s father was a strict puritan, yet his son broke the tradition and dropped off the beliefs of his father. This shows a culture that seemed to be headed for freedom of religion (Burt 271).
Multilingualism and work diversity
These writers can be said to be multilingual that learned more than two languages apart from their first languages. This enabled them to work within diverse environments that occurred due to the vast migrations and explorations. For example, Edward Taylor learned Latin, Hebrew, and Greek while Benjamin franklin taught himself other languages to ease communication with people from different ethnicities. Also, these people did different types of jobs at various times. For example, John Smith was a soldier, explorer, and author while Edward Taylor worked as a minister, doctor, civic leader, teacher, and a writer (Greene 15). This shows just how much these people valued co-existence with one another. This formed a basis for a culture rich in languages and work diversity.
Family Life
In this era, people valued family life. A family consisted of a man, a woman, and their children. For example, in his adventure edition, John Smith talked of how the chief imprisoned him and that the chief had a daughter who turned out to be his savior. This chief’s daughter (Indiana girl) married an English man later on a fact that describes interracial marriages. John Smith also mentioned that the girl seemed extremely beautiful meaning that women would be valued on their beauty. Ann Bradstreet became the first female writer to get her work published. This shows that men used to do literature but women remained behind in the illiteracy world. Ann had a family made up of her husband and children, and she kept writing poems to them as a family. Abigail Adams wrote a letter to her husband urging him to make a consideration about women’s independence in the United States’ constitution (Earle 176). Phyllis was purchased to become a companion of a rich tailor to be his wife’s companion. These things show that women seemed to be lowly regarded in society, but time had come for a change in all aspects of women’s lives.
Conclusion
The thematic elements that were revealed in the works of the above colonial writers seem to have shaped the culture of that time in many ways. The aspects of life that got affected can be seen to be family life, civilizations, politics, cultural languages, education, religion, and literature at large. The writers of this time had common issues that they tended to address, and they did this logically and clearly as explained above. The issues addressed seem to have caused significant changes in the ways of life of the people, and the lives got a positive impact.
Works Cited
Burt, Daniel. The chronology of American Literature: America’s literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Print.
Earle, Alice. Home life in colonial days. New york: Echo Library publishers, 2009. Print.
Franklin, Benjamin. Colonial Literature: Research guide to American literature. New York: Facts on File, 2010. Print.
Greene, Jack. A companion to the American revolution. Malden: Blackwell publishers, 2000. Print.
Serafin, Steven. The Continuum encyclopaedia of American literature. New York: Continuum, 2006. Print.
Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. Easy Reading series. S.I: Forgotten Books, 2008. Print.