History of American Literature Part 10

The student of political rather than of literary history is interested in the administrations of John Adams (1797-1801), Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), and James Madison (1809-1817). The acquisition in 1803 of the vast central territory, known as the Louisiana Purchase, affected the entire subsequent development of the country and its literature. Thomas Jefferson still exerts an influence on our literature and inst.i.tutions; for he championed the democratic, as opposed to the aristocratic, principle of government. His belief in the capacity of the common people for progress and self-government still helps to mold public opinion.

Next in importance to the victorious struggle of the Revolution and the adoption of the Const.i.tution, is the wonderful pioneer movement toward the West. Francis A. Walker, in his _Making of the Nation, 1783-1817_, says:--

"During the period of thirty-four years covered by this narrative, a movement had been in continuous progress for the westward extension of population, which far transcended the limits of any of the great migrations of mankind upon the older continents.... From 1790 to 1800, the mean population of the period being about four and a half millions, sixty-five thousand square miles were brought within the limits of settlement; crossed with rude roads and bridges; built up with rude houses and barns; much of it, also, cleared of primeval forests.

"In the next ten years, the mean population of the decade being about six and a half millions, the people of the United States extended settlement over one hundred and two thousand square miles of absolutely new territory.... No other people could have done this. No: nor the half of it. Any other of the great migratory races--Tartar, Slav, or German--would have broken hopelessly down in an effort to compa.s.s such a field in such a term of years."

SUMMARY

The early essays of the period, Paine's _Common Sense_ and the _Crisis_, Jefferson's _Declaration of Independence_, Hamilton's pamphlets and papers, all champion human liberty and show the influence of the Revolution. The orators, James Otis, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams, were inspired by the same cause. The words of Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me death,"

have in them the essence of immortality because they voice the supreme feeling of one of the critical ages in the world's history.

Benjamin Franklin was the greatest writer of the period. His _Autobiography_ has a value possessed by no other work of the kind. This and his _Poor Richard's Almanac_ have taught generations of Americans the duty of self-culture, self-reliance, thrift, and the value of practical common sense. He was the first of our writers to show a balanced sense of humor and to use it as an agent in impressing truth on unwilling listeners.

He is an equally great apostle of the practical and the altruistic, although he lacked the higher spirituality of the old Puritans and of the Quaker, John Woolman. This age is marked by a comparative decline in the influence of the clergy. Not a single clerical name appears on the list of the most prominent writers.

This period shows the beginning of American fiction, dominated by English writers, like Samuel Richardson. The early novels, like Mrs. Morton's _The Power of Sympathy_, were usually prosy, didactic, and as dull as the Sunday school books of three quarters of a century ago. The victory of the English school of romanticists influenced Charles Brockden Brown, the first professional American author, to throw off the yoke of cla.s.sical didacticism and regularity and to write a group of Gothic romances, in which the imagination was given a freer rein than the intellect. While he freely employed the imported Gothic elements of "strangeness added to terror," he nevertheless managed to give a distinctively American coloring to his work by showing the romantic use to which the Indian and the forest could be put.

Authors struggled intensely to write poetry. "The Hartford Wits," Dwight, Barlow, and Trumbull, wrote a vast quant.i.ty of verse. The most of this is artificial, and reveals the influence of the cla.s.sical school of Alexander Pope. Freneau wrote a few short lyrics which suggest the romantic school of Wordsworth.

The American literature of this period shows in the main the influence of the older English cla.s.sical school. America produced no authors who can rank with the contemporary school of English writers, such as Burns, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. Of all the writers of this age, Franklin alone shows an undiminished popularity with readers of the twentieth century.

Three events in the history of the period are epoch-making in the world's history; (_a_) the securing of independence through the Revolutionary War, (_b_) the adoption of a const.i.tution and the formation of a republic, and (_c_) the magnitude of the work of the pioneer settlers, who advanced steadily west from the coast, and founded commonwealths beyond the Alleghanies.

REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY

HISTORICAL

The course of English events (reign of George III.) may be traced in any of the English histories mentioned on p. 60. For the English literature of the period; see the author's _History of English Literature_.

Valuable works dealing with special periods of the American history of the time are:--

Hart's _Formation of the Union_.

Parkman's _Half Century of Conflict_ and _Montcalm and Wolfe_, 2 vols.

(French and Indian War.)

Fiske's _American Revolution_, 2 vols.

Fiske's _Critical Period of American History_.

Walker's _The Making of the Nation_.

Johnston's _History of American Politics_.

Schouler's _History of the United States of America under the Const.i.tution_, 6 vols.

The works by Hart, Channing, and James and Sanford, referred to on p. 61, will give the leading events in brief compa.s.s. An account of much of the history of the period is given in the biographies of Was.h.i.+ngton by Lodge, of Franklin by Morse, of Hamilton by Lodge, and of Jefferson by Morse.

(_American Statesmen Series_.)

LITERARY

Tyler's _The Literary History of the American Revolution_, 2 vols.

Richardson's _American Literature_, 2 vols.

Wendell's _Literary History of America_.

Trent's _A History of American Literature_.

McMaster's _Benjamin Franklin_.

Ford's _The Many-Sided Franklin_.

Erskine's _Leading American Novelists_, pp. 3-49, on Charles Brockden Brown.

Loshe's _The Early American Novel_.

SUGGESTED READINGS

The Essayists.--Selections from Thomas Paine's _Common Sense_,--Cairns, [Footnote: For full t.i.tles see p. 62.] 344-347; Carpenter, 66-70; S. & H., III., 219-221. From the _Crisis_,--Cairns, 347-352; Carpenter, 70, 71; S. & H., III., 222-225.

_Jefferson's Declaration of Independence_--which may be found in Carpenter, 79-83; S. & H., III, 286-289; and in almost all the histories of the United States--should be read several times until the very atmosphere or spirit of those days comes to the reader.

Selections from Alexander Hamilton, including a paper from the _Federalist_, may be found in Cairns, 363-369; S. & H., IV., 113-116.

THE ORATORS.--A short selection from Otis is given in this work, p. 72. A longer selection may be found in Vol. I. of Johnston's _American Orations_, 11-17. For Patrick Henry's most famous speech, see Cairns, 335-338; S. & H., III., 214-218; Johnston, I., 18-23. The speech of Samuel Adams on American Independence is given in Johnston, I., 24-38, and in Moore's _American Eloquence_, Vol. I.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.--Every one should read his _Autobiography_. Selections may be found in Carpenter, 31-36; Cairns, 322-332; T. & W., III., 192-201; S. & H., III., 3-13.

Read his _Way to Wealth_ either in the various editions of _Poor Richard's Almanac_ or in Cairns, 315-319; Carpenter, 36-43; T. & W., III., 202-213; S. & H., III., 17-21.

JOHN WOOLMAN.--Cairns, 307-313; S. & H., III., 78-80, 82-85.

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN.--The first volume of _Arthur Mervyn_ with its account of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia is not uninteresting reading. Chaps. XVI., XVII., and XVIII. of _Edgar Huntly_ show the hero of that romance rescuing a girl from torture and killing Indians. These and the following chapters, especially XIX., XX., and XXI, give some vigorous out-of-door life.

Selections giving incidents of the yellow fever plague may be found in Cairns, 482-488; Carpenter, 97-100. For Indian adventures or out-of-door life in Edgar Huntly, see Cairns, 488-493; Carpenter, 89-97; S. & H., IV., 273-292.

POETRY.--Selections from Dwight, Barlow, and Trumbull may be found in Cairns, 395-430; S. & H., III., 403-413, 426-429, IV., 47-55. For Freneau's best lyrics, see Cairns, 440, 441, 447; S. & H., III., 452, 453, 456; Stedman, An American Anthology, 4, 7, 8.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

PROSE.--After reading some of the papers of Thomas Paine, state why they were unusually well suited to the occasion. Why is the _Declaration of Independence_ likened to the old battle songs of the Anglo-Saxon race? What is remarkable about Jefferson's power of expression? In the orations of Otis, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams, what do you find to account for their influence? To what must an orator owe his power?

Contrast the writings of Benjamin Franklin with those of Jonathan Edwards and John Woolman. What are some of the most useful suggestions and records of experience to be found in Franklin's _Autobiography_? In what ways are his writings still useful to humanity? Select the best four maxims from _The Way to Wealth_. What are some of the qualities of Franklin's style?

Compare it with Woolman's style.