Establishing the Tradition of Excellence

Every nation displays its own style of literature. Simple. But it’s what shapes the literature that really makes it unique. A nation’s history is what really defines a country’s literature. This history serves as a foundation, or base, for every masterpiece, unknowingly (and even knowingly) intertwining itself between and inside every ornate word, and every delicate phrase. It is what makes one country’s literature, better than another’s. Basically, a nation’s literature reflects and parallels its history.

America’s history began in 1607 with the establishment of Jamestown, the first American colony. To the north, the Puritans founded Plymouth around 14 years later due to religious reasons. Led by William Bradford, these Puritans had been searching for a place to live peacefully with little or no conflict. Over the next 20 – 30 years Bradford kept a journal on the happenings in this new area, although it wasn’t until 1630, that more and more emigration to “The New World” occurred. These groups did not settle on “newly discovered” land. Contrary to their beliefs, this land really belonged to many of Indian tribes in the New England area. The incoming settlers sparked the attention of the natives and began a series of wars known as the French and Indian Wars. In 1675, an Indian war (the last Indian war before actual French and Indian Wars) known as King Phillip’s War began (Campbell, 2011, para. 6). During this battle, the Wampanoag Indians captured many settlers including Mary Rowlandson, a settler who later wrote a book about her experience of her captivity of the Indians. After another 60 years, a religious movement known as the Great Awakening began, commenced by the “fiery speaker” Jonathan Edwards. The Great Awakening was a m...

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