Encounters and Foundations to 1800

1
Encounters and Foundations to 1800

• In America individuals of all nations are
  melted into a new race or men, whose labors will
  one day cause great changes in the world
• - Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur

The Landing of the Pilgrims (detail), Samuel
Bartoll, 1825.
2
Native Cultures Thrive in America

• Before the arrival of Europeans in the fifteenth
  century, the Americas were already home to
  thriving populations of American Indians. These
  societies, each of which was usually made up of a
  few thousand people, had extensive histories and
  diverse cultures.

Benjamin Hawkins and the Creek Indians, 1805.
3
Trade Between Native Americans and Europeans

• The first interactions between Europeans and
  American Indians involved trading.
• Native Americans showed Europeans survival skills
  in the New World in exchange for European
  goods.
• An unexpected exchange between Native Americans
  and Europeans was the unwitting exposure of
  Native American to European diseases they had no
  immunity for.

Discovery of the Mississippi, William Henry
Powell.
4
Native American Literary Traditions

• Native Americans created a rich oral tradition
  that includes myths, epics, songs, and chants.
• Their stories and poems, which were originally
  told in hundreds of different languages, often
  teach moral lessons and focus on the natural world

Joseph Brant, Gilbert Stuart, 1786.
5
Native American Oral Traditions

• Characteristics of Native American Oral
  Traditions
• Provide explanations about the world and its
  origins
• Teach moral lessons and convey practical
  information
• Reflect the belief that the natural world
  includes both human beings and animals
• Respect speech as a powerful literary form

Plenty Coups, an Apsaroke Crow Indian Brave,
Edward S. Curtis, 1908.
6
Archetype

• An archetype is a very old imaginative pattern
  that appears in literature across cultures and is
  repeated through the ages.
• Archetypes include characters, plots, images,
  themes, and settings.

7
Archetype Examples

• The Hero
• The Great Mother
• The Wise Old Man/Woman
• The Trickster
• Brer Rabbit
• The Devil
• The Mentor
• Merlin

8
Assignment

• After dividing into groups, each group will be
  assigned a text and given questions to consider
  as they read their piece.
• After reading the assigned piece, the group will
  prepare
• a paragraph which completely answers the assigned
  questions as well as any other information the
  group deems important
• a visual representation of their piece (be
  creative!).

9
Voyages and Visions
For we must consider that we shall be as a city
upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.
So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in
this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to
withdraw His present help from us, we shall be
made a story and a byword through the world -
John Winthrop, from a sermon delivered aboard the
Arbella on the way to New England, 1630
10
The Puritans Settle in New England

• The Puritans wanted to purify the church and
  their own lives.
• Argued that the Church of England was still too
  close to the Catholic church.
• Left for America in order to find greater freedom
  to practice their religious beliefs.

11
The Puritan Ethic

• The Puritans believed in
• thrift
• hard work
• self-sufficiency
• Also, they believed that wealth was a sign of
  Gods favor.
• Spiritual matters influenced the Puritan
  government.
• a theocracy

The Puritan, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Brookgreen
Gardens.
12
Problems With A Theocracy

• Political views were often uncompromising and
  harsh.
• Example Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.
• Around 150 people were accused of witchcraft.
• Officials feared that the communitys moral
  foundation was in danger and felt that they
  needed to take extreme action to save political
  unity.
• 20 people were executed.
• The girls who started the accusations later
  recanted, admitting they had lied.

Witch Hill, Thomas Slatterwhite Noble, 1869.
13
William Bradford1590-1657

• Son of a prosperous farmer in Yorkshire, England.
• Sailed with the pilgrims to Holland in 1608 and
  then to American in 1620.
• Landed with the group at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• Helped create the Mayflower Compact, an agreement
  governing how they would live and work
  cooperatively in the new colony
• In 1621, he was elected the second governor of
  the colony, a post he would be elected to 30
  times.

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William Bradford, cont.

• In December of 1620, while the Mayflower was
  anchored in Provincetown Harbor, Bradford and
  other men took a small boat ashore to scout for a
  place to land and build shelter.
• When they returned, Bradford learned that his
  young wife had fallen or jumped from the ship.

15
Of Plymouth Plantation

• Begun in 1630, Of Plymouth Plantation is the
  annual account of the Plymouth settlement written
  by William Bradford.
• This document was written in plain style.
• Plain Style is a style of writing which reflects
  the Puritan preference for plainness in all
  things.

16
Puritan Plain Style

• The chief characteristics of plain style are
• simple sentences
• everyday language
• direct statements
• This style stood in contrast to the high style
  popular in England at the time which employed
  classical allusions, Latin quotations, and
  elaborate figures of speech.