11 Unit 1: The New Land

Unit 1: The New Land
1500-1800 Beginnings

In 1776, the American colonists declared independence from Great Britain; but that process had begun more than 150 years before. During those 150 years, the Americas were discovered by Europeans, colonists populated the East coast, and the indigenous native Americans were pushed out of their land by growing cities, towns, farms, and industries.

This unit covers the beginning of American Literature by following the course of American history.

The Age of Exploration in Europe was a result of the cultural Renaissance that swept through the continent. The Renaissance's surge of academic and cultural creativity led to the increase in technology and a new emphasis on art, religion, and geography. This new society indulged themselves with spices and silk from the East. Technological advances lead to naval improvements and the founding of naval trade routes. With the discovery of the New World, Spain, Portugal, France, and England viewed this land as a source of gold, fur, timber, and exotic foods. With the English establishing colonies, soon a stream of immigrants voyaged across the sea to find their fortunes and freedom in the New World.

It is important to remember that when Europeans "discovered" America, the native people had lived there for thousands of years and had built complex societies, cities, and civilizations. European discoveries of the

Mayan, Incan, and Aztec civilizations made European explorers marvel, but did not prevent them from laying claim to the land. They sent back reports of bountiful lands, tropical forests, endless plains, vast mountain ranges, exotic plants and animals, and endless wealth. The mixture and clash of European and native cultures resulted in each group being changed by the other. Eventually they incorporated values and lifestyles of different from those of either feudal Europe or America before Columbus. Therefore, a new type of people developed.
After more than two centuries of shaping new societies on both continents of America, the French immigrant Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crevecoeur would ask: "What, then, is the American, this new man?" But then, as is now, no definition could indicate the complexity of people from all continents mingling and clashing in formation of a New Land. The selections in this unit are chosen to give some idea of that diversity, yet also to suggest some common elements of North American experience. Such shared characteristics include a fascination with the wilderness, which was potent to the imagination of original Americans and settlers alike; a devotion to fair government, seen both in the Iroquois Constitution and the Declaration of Independence; and an abiding concern with practical affairs, which was essential in the times of exploration, colonization, and revolution.

The Three Geographical Groups

It is hard to describe the colonists in terms of national identity because they vastly divided by extremes caused by differences in religion, geographical location, and different lifestyles. The colonists were as diverse as their reasons for coming to the Americas. Their differences are not restricted to were they lived, but some of the differences can be explained by looking at the three major colonial areas: New England, the Southern Colonies, and the Middle Colonies.

The Puritans came to the New England Colonies. The Pilgrims were the first, and they settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, because they wished to separate from the Church of England. Then, later, non-separatist Puritans followed. They derived their name from their attempt to "purify" the Church by simplifying worship and getting rid of rituals. They viewed themselves as the children of Israel being led into a promised land. They adhered to a strict code of moral behavior, believing that God's laws could only be understood through studying his word. This also lead to a strong emphasis on education and the ability to read and write. They turned to the sea and the forest for survival, and established industries in ship building, fishing, and trading.

The Middle Colonies are located between the Southern and Northern, and include Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. These were nicknamed the "bread colonies" because grain was the major crop. These colonies tended to be more ethnically diverse and culturally mixed with Dutch, Swedish, German, and French-Huguenot refugees. Because of their central location and their access to inland waterways, manufacturing, agriculture, and commerce thrived. The cornerstone of Quaker beliefs in simplicity, truth, and peace allowed for religious tolerance. Settlers also lived among Indians from whom they had bought their land. By 1750, Philadelphia had become the unofficial colonial capital.

In contrast, the settlers of the south were planters and farmers who established huge plantations that required a large work force. White bond servants and African slaves were brought over to man these huge farms. This is how a rural life developed around the cash crop of tobacco, as well as a planting aristocracy. The Southern Colonists produced less written works than the Northerners. And while religion was still important, it did not play such a governing role in the South like it did in the North.

Explorers and Native Americans

Columbus, a navigator from Genoa, Italy, combined facts and rumors from Arabic, Jewish, Portuguese, Irish, and even ancient Greek maps and writings, and convinced Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to fund a quest for the western route to Asia. When he found the New land in 1492, he thought it to be the coast of India, and so its varied inhabitants