Colonial Literature Summary

The Middle colonies consisted of four of the thirteen colonies founded by the English in America. In 1609, Henry Hudson, a Dutch explorer, traveled in the Middle colonies by going on a journey into the Hudson River and Delaware Bay. In 1621, he colonized what was then New Netherland, with New Amsterdam as the capitol. The Duke of York, was given New Netherland from his brother King Charles II, and renamed the land after himself naming it New York, and the capitol was then named New York City. Being that New York was so large, New Jersey became another Middle colony, founded by the Duke of York’s friends, Sir George Carteret and Sir John Berkeley. Pennsylvania and Delaware were the next colonies to be added to the Middle colony region by William

Gary Brigg’s article offers detailed information on the mystery of the Lost Colony. In the article, Gary gives background information on the Queen Elizabeth and detailed information on the colony itself. The Roanoke Colony was the Second English colony in the New World. The Roanoke Colony was found at Roanoke Island and was the second English colony in the world. Researchers say, there were two settlements in 1586 and 1587.

The Middle Colonies consist of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania otherwise known as the “Breadbasket Colonies” due to their excessive amount of grains and bread. The colonies were economically based on the trading of wheat and grains and as well timber production for shipbuilding. The Middle Colonies were focused on freedom of religion and no taxation without representation. The Middle Colonies were the most diverse inhabitant region out of all the colonies. These groups include the English, Swedes, Dutch, Germans, Scots- Irish, French, Africans and the Native Americans. During the 18th century the middle colonies relied heavily on indentured servants than other region. For instance Pennsylvania was settled by a group of Indentured

After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.

Of both the reading assignments over the summer I enjoyed Colonial America by Alan Taylor, because of the writing structure, the footnotes/sources and the visual aids. This text is no more than what it is named for, the colonization of America. The book is a view of the events that led to colonization, and the effects said colonization had on the, now american, landscape. It is a clean a simple overview of the causes and effects of the colonization of America.

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

Colonists: About 250,000 Spanish emigrants populated the newly established cities; they saw the New World as an opportunity for success. As the natives died off Africans and their children replaced them. As mixing production rose due to Spanish women scarcely traveling to the new world, the government created a hierarchy known as castas to keep social order.

As the new world struggled to gain impendence from its mother country, Britain, native authors also try to develop their own style of writings. It quickly became evident that the search for a native literature became a national obsession. Then with the triumph of American independence, many at the time saw this as a divine sign that America and her people were destined for greatness. Greatness came with a strong nation and thousands of poems and stories that still shape our nation. The recent revolution greatly expressed the heart of the American people. However, it would take another fifty years of development throughout American before it produced the first great generation of American writers such as, Washington Irving, Ralph

Differences Between the Middle and New England Colonies. You can’t replace something that can’t be taken. The New England colonies have a rocky terrain exclusive to its region. The Middle colonies have beaver filled streams and rolling hills that can stretch far and wide. The Southern colonies contain rich soil and coastal forests that can make it great for farming.

In the eighteenth century the colonies of New England possessed great economic and demographic potential. They had raw materials and labor power, much of it given by the slaves. They had a great trade, an excellent agricultural production, all they lacked was the license of manufacture which the United Kingdom refused to allow its colonies. According to the traditional scheme the colony was the one that had to produce the raw material, that of the manufactured products already she was in charge, that was of the causes of the independence of the colonies. But let us first address the demographic potential of the new English colonies of North America. In the eighteenth century the most densely populated colonies were New Hampshire, Connecticut,

     Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The colonial period in the United States all started when people starting immigrating to Boston in the 1630s. With high articulation of Puritan cultural ideas, the New England colonies have been regarded as the center of early American literature. In class we only talked about a few of the writing throughout the period but in this paper, I am going to tell you about the colonial period as a whole.

Early American literature may be said to begin with the Colonial period. John Smith and John Winthrop are two examples of the types of writing at this period: the former kept a romantic journal of his adventures in the New World; the latter kept a journal (or history) of life in New England, where religious matters were of utmost importance. The Puritans had come seeking a life free from religious persecution (which, they ironically brought with them however, as their descendent Nathaniel Hawthorne would show in The Scarlet Letter).

The Colonial Period in American Literature Blake Quickel The Colonial Period of American Literature was vital not only to the timeline of literature in our country, but it shaped the values and tradition that we identify America with. Literature from this period gives us a look into the beginnings of our country from different views such as Poems and stories from Native culture, Puritans, and the founding fathers. These writings give us an honest view of the way of life during this time. The Puritan writings we read in this class were very interesting in how they showed the early stages of America’s religion. Although religion in our government and our country’s values has become less and less extreme over time, it is amazing knowing how much control it had over society in our country’s beginnings; and many of the morals exorcised in the Puritan culture are still values relevant to our society today. In a reading from the “Introduction: Puritan Voices” assignment (a), the writer refers to the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a “man’s world”, describing the limited roles of women in society and how men were portrayed in the church as superior. Puritan ministers often preached that the soul had two parts, the immortal masculine half, and the mortal feminine half. Gender inequality is an enormous part of American Literature throughout all periods, and here you can see where these values originated in our country. Puritan society exists as a valid demonstration for why the first