Foundational Concepts in American History and Literature

Posted on Sep 25, 2025 in English Studies

Early American Figures and Literary Pioneers

Notable Colonial Personalities

William Bradford was elected Governor of Plymouth 30 times, playing a crucial role in the colony’s early development. Anne Bradstreet was the first woman to publish a book of poetry in America.

Pilgrim Fathers vs. Founding Fathers

The Pilgrim Fathers were Puritans who journeyed to the New World during the Colonial Period (17th century). In contrast, the Founding Fathers were American politicians and philosophers who spearheaded the American Revolution against the British Crown, established the United States of America, fostered the American War of Independence, and authored the Declaration of Independence.

Literary Movements and Poetic Innovations

Walt Whitman’s Poetic Vision

Walt Whitman believed that poetry is an organic matter, akin to nature itself. His works were continually updated, reflecting the changes in his life.

Whitman and his contemporaries served as precursors to a new style of poetic expression, utilizing free verse and hyphens (dashes) as creative modes. Their innovations significantly influenced 20th-century literature.

Calvinism’s Core Tenets

The fundamental points of Calvinism include:

• Total Depravity
• Predestination
• Unconditional Election (The notion of the Elect)

The concept of the Elect was particularly influential in the relationship between Puritans and Native Americans. Since Native Americans were not considered among the Elect, this belief often led to conflicts and strained coexistence.

Art for Art’s Sake

This aesthetic philosophy posits that art should not convey moral teachings but be inherently beautiful. Key principles include brevity, emotional effect, and objectivity, often suggesting a maximum length, such as 100 lines.

Enlightenment and Transcendentalism

Benjamin Franklin: An Enlightenment Figure

Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers, embodied the ideals of Rationalism, the Enlightenment, the pursuit of Moral Perfection, and practicality.

Transcendentalist Concepts

Sense and Understanding

Man’s physical organs of sense register sensations from the material world, while understanding is a reflective and empirical faculty for retaining and arranging these impressions. However, these faculties cannot provide direct knowledge of ultimate spiritual reality. As Alcott stated: “Matter is but the confine of spirit, limning her to sense.”

Intuition and Reason

Just as sensations offer objective knowledge of the material world, which understanding processes, intuitions provide subjective knowledge of a spiritual reality that transcends material and formal appearances. Intuitions present spontaneous, “necessary” ideas, and reason offers irresistible assurance of their truth. Brownson defined Transcendentalism as: “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or of attaining to a scientific knowledge of an order of existence transcending the reach of the senses, and of which we can have no sensible experience.”

Correspondences

Given that a divine character is immanent everywhere in nature and in humanity, human reason can discern spiritual ideas within nature, just as the senses register impressions of nature’s material forms.

Literary Realism and Regionalism

Realism depicts events as they genuinely occur. Regionalism, a branch of realism, focuses on specific geographical areas within the U.S. and often contrasts with Romanticism.

Historical Paradigms: Puritanism vs. Enlightenment

Literary Forms: Romance vs. Novel

The romance allows for significant latitude (freedom) in both its fashion (form) and material (content), granting the writer more liberty to depict any situation, realistic or not. In contrast, the novel adheres to a more fixed pattern, placing the writer within a more constrained style of writing.