Identify the earliest types of American literature and the historical events that accompanied them. (Exploration and The Colonies)

Jarrod Butler LITR220 A003 Win 12 American Literature before the Civil War February 5, 2012 David Becker American Literature The history of American literature is said to date back during the colonial era. This was in 1776. During this period literature in America was transmitted by word of mouth. It was in form of legends, myths, riddles, proverbs, incantations, epics, legends, tales and songs of the Indian cultures (Hart, & Phillip 56). This paper identifies the earliest types of American literature and the historical events that accompanied them. Before the first Europeans landed into America, there were over three hundred different Indian languages and the most surprising thing is that there was no literature written down. In fact due to the diversity of the cultures, different tribes had their own oral literatures. For instance stories of the lakeside tribes differed from those of the desert tribes. It is believed that most of the tribes were stuck to their ways of worshiping- some worshipped idols, others animals, others plants etc. The early colonialists who were Englishmen came with their own books, language and model of thought. In case an American landed in Paris he was not allowed to read any books neither converse with other citizens. For a period of over two hundred years post the first English settlers in America, most of the literature read there was known to be written by English authors. The early settlers were for the most part content to allow English authors to write their literature. This was due to the difference in environments and the way the Americans were living. These differences lead to the start of the uprising of Revolutionary war, the birth of a new country. The convergence of all the above resulted to the originality and individuality of American literature and thought. During this period the first colony in the current United States was based at Jamestown in Virginia. It was founded for business reasons in order to get advantage of the mammoth profits from the colonization. In 1606, Michael Dryton, wrote a poem that was dedicated to The Virgian Voyage, for instance "You brave heroic minds, Worthy your country`s name, that honor still pursue, whilst loit`ring, Lurk here at home with shame, Go and subdue" (Halleck, 5). During this period there was migration of the Englishmen to the New England. The immigrants were called Puritans and were propelled by desire ...