Unit One: From the Earliest Days to 1750

Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we now? Where are we going? What about the American Dream? Does it still exist?

Why Did They Leave Britain??

Early seventeenth-century England contained a large number of migrant farmhands and unemployed and underemployed workers. Most English migrants to North America were recruited from the lower working population--farm workers, urban laborers, and artisans--who were suffering from economic distress, including sharply falling wages (which declined by half between 1550 and 1650) and a series of failed harvests.

The English made it to America in 1492. Some of the English came to America for freedom of religion. Others come for the promise of wealth. Most of them came because many of the English believed that Great Britain and the church were becoming too powerful.

Colonial Period (1620-1750)

Newly arrived colonists create villages and towns and establish new governments while protesting the old ways in Europe Did not consider themselves Americans until mid-18C Enormous displacement of Native-American civilizations

Style of Writing
Writing is practical Writers are amateurs Writing is instructive Plain Style simple, direct

Literature of the Time

Only literary forms found in the Bible were acceptable and all forms of fiction was despised.

The explorers were navigators and explorers, not writers. Fliers & Pamphlets-promotion of the new life across the sea Religion books-King James Bible published in 1611 Newspapers Journals & diaries-settlers and explorers kept records of their adventures Letters-Colonists kept in touch with Europe

Representative Authors:
William Bradford (journal) Of Plymouth Plantation Mary Rowlandson (captivity narrative)