The Nature of American Literature
American literature is a form of writing that in its early form records the thoughts and experiences of the explorers and inhabitants of the New World and especially the parts which later came to be known as the United States. The two distinct groups of people, one which discovered the New World and the other who lived there already, met each other in the various ways one might expect. At times the groups met peaceably and established a relationship where each learned from the other; at other times the meeting produced exploitation or immediate hostility. The root works of American Literature set the stage for later works from those authors with the leisure to write more than journal entries or reports of their activities. Defined by the meeting of two quite different cultures, the early American literature uniquely records a period of history where heroic figures behaved both courageously and despicably, causing a great nation to form, and destroying, by intent or accident, many tribes of native peoples.
The first recorded arrival of explorers in the New World from Europe in 1492 comes from the accounts of Christopher Columbus (1492) and those in his fleet. The descriptions of wonderful lands and beautiful inhabitants begin from the first meeting.
“All that I saw were young men, none of them more than 30 years old, very well built, of very handsome bodies and very fine faces…” (p. 39)
The descriptions of the native peoples continued later with the arrival of other explorers
The pastoral descriptions of Giovanni da Verrazano (1524) tell of a beautiful and generous people:
“Among them were two kings, who were as beautiful of stature and build as I can possible describe.” (p. 32)
Verrazano may have unwittingly set the tone for modern advertising in his narrative of meeting a friendly people in the region of Newport, Rhode Island.
The explorers often described great beauty while at the same time enslaving or destroying the objects of their description. Much of the destruction came through accident as the discovery and study of communicable disease would not occur for some time. Sadly, other destruction and enslavement happened quite intentionally through the dehumanization of the native tribes. Those who would endeavor to communicate with the natives began the evolution of the hero figure from domination and destruction to coexistence and even acceptance.
One of the first larger than life heroes established the first English colony at Jamestown in what would be known as Virginia. Capt. John Smith lived a life of adventure worthy of the epic heroes in later romantic works of fiction such as James Fennimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer. Some of the events in Smith’s life, such as the tale of Pocahontas, have come under scrutiny in later years as perhaps embellished or fictional works designed to lure more colonists to America. However, the independent and self-reliant hero character, which many view as personified in John Smith, reappears countless times in American Literature to this day. The educational importance of these works is in the background descriptions of settlements, indigenous tribes, and even actual historical characters included in the settings of the stories. The well-researched works of literature record conditions of history in an agreeable fashion for the reader to learn, in contrast to the dry, academic tomes of historians, anthropologists, and archeologists which may confirm or refute the descriptions of literature.
Too much credit has perhaps been given to the pioneers pushing the frontier back from the first coastal settlements. Accounts of a fictional nature have served at times to demonize individuals, tribes, or an entire race by portraying them as villains. Accounts of explorer’s and settlers attitudes and actions in some cases cast a different light on the tales of the brave, but struggling settler or explorer in constant danger of life and limb.
“You will do well to try to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets in which smallpox patients have slept, as well as by every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable race. I should be very glad if your scheme of hunting them down by dogs could take effect.” (Amherst, 1732, p. 232)
This quote, taken out of context, seems shocking in both its hatred and underhanded means. The reasons behind the attitude are not clear; perhaps vengeance for loss or hostility may have brought General Amherst to such a hardness of heart. Compare the suggested use of biological warfare then with our horror of the potential for biological terrorism, or the use of weapons of mass destruction, in the present time. The reader of American Literature does not like to see both sides display the same vile methods; one side, the hero, must be above the perception of evil, though he or she may employ devious methods in a good cause.
The roots of American Literature illustrate how differences between groups of people can turn to hatred and violence. However, the heroic figure of another type emerges in early American Literature. This heroic figure does not stand against the tide, but swims through and emerges on top of it. A very real person, Samson Occom, a Mohican, learned English and Christianity through the efforts of missionaries in the colonial time. Occom learned the language and doctrine of Christianity so well that, upon being called to minister at the hanging of a fellow Mohican convicted of murder, he spoke a sermon which became a colonial bestseller. Samson Occom founded what became Dartmouth College.
Two types of heroic figure, one who encounters obstacles and stands or fights with courage, skill, and daring, and another who does not fight, but rises through acceptance and education. Both types of hero will be seen many times in American Literature. In what might be seen as a spirit of atonement, the heroic figure, male or female, may have a dark past or commit an act of sin or evil of which he or she repents. The heroic figure will then strive to learn or fight, perhaps both, to emerge victorious to gain independence over the evil in the world. The heroic figure in the form of a real person, such as Christopher Columbus and Capt. John Smith, gives way later to the fictional heroes of Cooper, Irving, and Hawthorne. The hero figure becomes one of skill in the wilderness, acceptance and savoir faire among both colonists and Indians, strength in moral dilemmas, and respected by all.
