History of American Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of American Literature - Essay Example In particular, Heman Cortes wrote the first letter of the American literature in the year 1519 to the Spanish Crown, followed by many letters written for similar purposes (WSU, 2009). In late 1500s, Thomas Harriot wrote a significant piece of literature, ‘A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia’ that brought the American literature in the 16th century. In the year 1616, Captain John Smith wrote, ‘A Description of New England’, and he became the founder writer of the American literature as he later wrote some other pieces of work as well. Besides John Smith, some of the other authors of the earliest 16th century were John Cotton, Thomas Morton, and Roger Williams. It is an observation that all the works of this period related primarily to the Colonial arrangements of the British forces, as well as to the discovery of different regions of present-day USA (WSU, 2009). Besides prose, Anne Bradstreet was one of the earliest poets of the American literature that wrote ‘the Tenth Muse’ during this period. In the year 1661, John Eliot was the first person to carry out the work of Bible translation in the American literature. In 1662, ‘the Day of Doom’ became one of the best-selling poems written by Michael Wigglesworth that became the inspiration for many poets ahead. In 1666, John Eliot carried out another work, ‘the Indian Grammar’, and from then, theme of the American literature shifted from only Colonial to broad perspective, as some writers began to write on history, biography, sovereignty, God, fiction, etc. Interestingly, a number of authors in mid-1600s, as well as in late 1600s emphasized on the works regarding witchcraft, and in 1693, Cotton Mather wrote, ‘Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits’ on the similar theme (WSU, 2009). In the beginning of the 18th century, Judge Samuel Sewall began a new theme of anti-slavery that later became a revolutionary notion in the American literature, as he wrote, ‘The