Revolutionary+Era+Literature

 Literature of the Revolutionary Period

When children grow up and leave home, they encounter a conflict of identity. Often, this is the time where the most maturation and growth occurs because an individual is rejecting and accepting the ideals presented to them throughout their lives. The Revolutionary Era is like that for America.We were breaking away from our Mother land and establishing a new identity of our own. As we moved towards independence, “literature reflected the changing political situation” (Conn). Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called //Common Sense// in 1776, the night before the war began, which “advocated American independence and had the greatest revolutionary impact in the colonies and received the most attention abroad” (Pinsker) in an effort to lead the nation towards independence from Great Britain (Conn).

 Patriotic writing flourished during this era. In 1771, Princeton’s College commencement poem, written by Philip Freneau and Hugh Henry Brackenridge, was entitled “The Rising Glory of America” (Pinsker). Click here to read the poem. The impending greatness of America was held high in the hopes of the people. During this era, “writers and intellectuals tried to define America’s cultural identity”. St. John de Crevecoeur answered his own question as to what an American is: “a new race of men” (Conn). In essence, the concept of Literary Nationalists crept into writing. Much of this writing was satirical in nature, ridiculing the Loyalists, and persuasive in nature, encouraging the support for the Revolutionary War, intending to “instill pride” and to spur “common agreement” (Perales, “American Periods”; Conn). The Connecticut Wits appeared on the scene, a group of New England writers, who used different forms of writing to establish a new national identity.

The most well-known publication is the 1787 mock-heroic epic poem, //The Anarchaid: A poem on the restoration of Chaos and Substantial Night // protesting the political chaos which succeeded the Revolutionary War. Writing was more than political in nature. There were also “histories, journals, personal diaries, [and] letters… conceived in the revolutionary spirit (Pinkser). Joel Barlow, a Connecticut Wit, published //The Columbiad // in 1807, a narrative written in a series of couplets, documenting American history from its discovery by Columbus (Conn). Of course, the most influential publication of the era created the foundation for our nation, who we were at the time, and who we were going to be: Thomas Jefferson’s //Declaration of Independence //.

Literature of the Revolutionary era impacted the identity of our nation by developing it as a separate and compete entity, cutting the umbilical cord of Great Britain. ** By writing about the revolutionary war and responding to it critically, patriotism and nationalism emerged in the American self-concept. **

media type="file" key="Preamble.mp3" width="240" height="20" //The Preamble//, a song written by Bob Dorough and Lynn Aherens, is a great way for kids to learn about the Revolutionary era literature in song (Bob Dorough).

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