The following is a collection of notes compiled from the introduction to the tenth edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Beginnings to 1820. Its purpose is to summarize the key points made by the author.

Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur, in Letters from an American Farmer, described the American as a “new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.”

He described Americans as English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, German and Swedes that peacefully farmed their own land and held their own beliefs. This contrasted to Europeans, where nationalism and religion kept the continent in perpetual conflict and oppressed most people.

His description of an American marginalized non-Europeans.

• Hunting was a way of life on the frontier.

• From the start, sharp limits on the New World’s potential for liberation existed.

• Even after The Revolutionary War, American literature remained rather English. Its key themes include:

  • Social transformation as disorienting

  • Radical change as exciting

  • Tradition and continuity as appealing

  • Competing values and historical narratives as confusing

Columbus’ voyage of 1492 sparked radical changes, as Europeans and Native Americans had never recorded sustained encounters.

The New World was largely shaped by conflict and violence — involving Europeans, Native Americans and Africans.

• Forced captivity was commonplace.

• Both Europeans and Native Americans — depending on their respective histories — were accustomed to conflict and violence before encountering each other.

• Europeans viewed efforts in the New World as a contest of empires.

• Mass deaths from diseases among Native populations benefited European expansion.

• Enslaved Africans displaced Native populations.

• Slave resistance was common.

• Native populations were not static and not universally victimized. Some used the new European presence to advance their own interests.

• African Americans began practicing Christianity and using the Bible to advocate for freedom.

Aside from the ancient classics, most European literary classics had not been produced when Columbus sailed. His Letter of Discovery sparked the surge of the printing press.

Native American literature is primarily oral, valuing memory over physical preservation. Its print culture was largely ritualistic encodings translated into speech. It featured a minimum of eight creation narratives.

Early American literature was linguistically and culturally complex — a mirror of colonialism. English was far from the first language to arrive in the New World and establish itself, but it ultimately won.

John Smith viewed America as a place where things genuinely new may be formed.

The founding of Plymouth Plantation in 1620 begins a distinct chapter in American literary history. It features an always-existent tension between spiritual and material goals, as well as:

• A playful style from the English Renaissance.

• Plymouth spiritual leaders were seen as repressive.

• Separatist radicalism.

• The Puritan belief the Bible should be accessible to all.

• Puritans spoke to the heart and evoked emotion — both fear and joy.

• The mutual betrayal experienced by Native Americans and colonists.

• Complex transformations of colonial authority and identity.

• Quakerism and its embrace of women as religious leaders.

Of course, The witch trials in Salem were a defining moment in American literary history — and indicative of social and economic change in the late-colonial period.

Intellectual life shifted substantially in the Enlightenment period — embracing the power of the human mind, science, philosophy, experiential knowledge and Deism. The latter, specifically, put forth the idea that God’s existence could be proven via the existence of nature’s order and systems. This created an optimistic view of human nature — focused on sympathy and sociability — that would later inform revolution.

• Individuals as part of nature and society.

• Emotion as a defining component of the human experience.

• The best thing a person can do is sympathetically help others.

The novel began to take shape, with emotional and experiential directness. Non-fiction also began to find its place.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Edwards was all about visceral religious experiences — also an embrace of emotion.

Overall, styles became more expressive.

Politics became the major theme — largely centered on a common moral sense of what is right and wrong, which justified the overthrowing of tyrannical leaders. Additionally, the idea that individuals have the right to be happy was popularized.

Political writings often used a plain style that appealed to a wide audience, and printing technology helped disseminate political writings among a wide audience. Modern authorship was now possible.

Politics ultimately came to define the American literature of the period following independence from Britain — officially created a new conception of the American.

Washington Irving later described America as a polity based in and governed by words. Indeed, writers — including women — found more opportunity than ever to express their political opinions.

Enlightenment ideals informed much of the political writing of this time, as did a new sense of national identity. Literature exhibits powerful social messages. It also suggests democratic republicanism may be limited.

Benjamin Franklin was the absolute boss of this time, but he was an idealist — as seen in the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents.

Independent America was not a land of freedom for all. Only European-American men who owned land could vote, and slavery was commonplace. Women had little rights. Conditions for Native Americans only got worse. However, many shared a belief that America could evolve into a land that improved the lives of everyone.

Social movements formed that focused on prison misuse, capital punishment, war and the treatment of disabled individuals.

Early American literature was a deeply complex melding of cultures that sparked radical change. Much of this change was accompanied by conflict and violence. Europeans saw conquest over Native Americans as par for the course — having been well-accustomed to war — and some indigenous populations were happy to make war.

Early America was a linguistically complex place as cultures melded and competed. English ultimately won out, despite being a latecomer.

Informed by the Enlightenment, politics became a dominant theme after colonial America and the Salem witch trials. An appeal to common sense and a plain style, coupled printing technology, made revolution possible.

Independent America did not universally improve life for the human beings residing in it — Native Americans were continually pushed out and slavery worsened in many degrees. However, Enlightenment idealism put forth the idea that America could ultimately become a place that benefited everyone who shared the land.

• Page numbers are not supplied for reference, as this collection of notes — more or less — follows the introduction from start to finish.

• Any ideas presented in this should not be considered original. They originate from the author of the introduction being studied.

The following is a collection of notes compiled from the introduction to the tenth edition of The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Beginnings to 1820. Its purpose is to summarize the key points made by the author.

Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur, in Letters from an American Farmer, described the American as a “new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions.”

He described Americans as English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, German and Swedes that peacefully farmed their own land and held their own beliefs. This contrasted to Europeans, where nationalism and religion kept the continent in perpetual conflict and oppressed most people.

His description of an American marginalized non-Europeans.

• Hunting was a way of life on the frontier.

• From the start, sharp limits on the New World’s potential for liberation existed.

• Even after The Revolutionary War, American literature remained rather English. Its key themes include:

  • Social transformation as disorienting

  • Radical change as exciting

  • Tradition and continuity as appealing

  • Competing values and historical narratives as confusing

Columbus’ voyage of 1492 sparked radical changes, as Europeans and Native Americans had never recorded sustained encounters.

The New World was largely shaped by conflict and violence — involving Europeans, Native Americans and Africans.

• Forced captivity was commonplace.

• Both Europeans and Native Americans — depending on their respective histories — were accustomed to conflict and violence before encountering each other.

• Europeans viewed efforts in the New World as a contest of empires.

• Mass deaths from diseases among Native populations benefited European expansion.

• Enslaved Africans displaced Native populations.

• Slave resistance was common.

• Native populations were not static and not universally victimized. Some used the new European presence to advance their own interests.

• African Americans began practicing Christianity and using the Bible to advocate for freedom.

Aside from the ancient classics, most European literary classics had not been produced when Columbus sailed. His Letter of Discovery sparked the surge of the printing press.

Native American literature is primarily oral, valuing memory over physical preservation. Its print culture was largely ritualistic encodings translated into speech. It featured a minimum of eight creation narratives.

Early American literature was linguistically and culturally complex — a mirror of colonialism. English was far from the first language to arrive in the New World and establish itself, but it ultimately won.

John Smith viewed America as a place where things genuinely new may be formed.

The founding of Plymouth Plantation in 1620 begins a distinct chapter in American literary history. It features an always-existent tension between spiritual and material goals, as well as:

• A playful style from the English Renaissance.

• Plymouth spiritual leaders were seen as repressive.

• Separatist radicalism.

• The Puritan belief the Bible should be accessible to all.

• Puritans spoke to the heart and evoked emotion — both fear and joy.

• The mutual betrayal experienced by Native Americans and colonists.

• Complex transformations of colonial authority and identity.

• Quakerism and its embrace of women as religious leaders.

Of course, The witch trials in Salem were a defining moment in American literary history — and indicative of social and economic change in the late-colonial period.

Intellectual life shifted substantially in the Enlightenment period — embracing the power of the human mind, science, philosophy, experiential knowledge and Deism. The latter, specifically, put forth the idea that God’s existence could be proven via the existence of nature’s order and systems. This created an optimistic view of human nature — focused on sympathy and sociability — that would later inform revolution.

• Individuals as part of nature and society.

• Emotion as a defining component of the human experience.

• The best thing a person can do is sympathetically help others.

The novel began to take shape, with emotional and experiential directness. Non-fiction also began to find its place.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Edwards was all about visceral religious experiences — also an embrace of emotion.

Overall, styles became more expressive.

Politics became the major theme — largely centered on a common moral sense of what is right and wrong, which justified the overthrowing of tyrannical leaders. Additionally, the idea that individuals have the right to be happy was popularized.

Political writings often used a plain style that appealed to a wide audience, and printing technology helped disseminate political writings among a wide audience. Modern authorship was now possible.

Politics ultimately came to define the American literature of the period following independence from Britain — officially created a new conception of the American.

Washington Irving later described America as a polity based in and governed by words. Indeed, writers — including women — found more opportunity than ever to express their political opinions.

Enlightenment ideals informed much of the political writing of this time, as did a new sense of national identity. Literature exhibits powerful social messages. It also suggests democratic republicanism may be limited.

Benjamin Franklin was the absolute boss of this time, but he was an idealist — as seen in the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents.

Independent America was not a land of freedom for all. Only European-American men who owned land could vote, and slavery was commonplace. Women had little rights. Conditions for Native Americans only got worse. However, many shared a belief that America could evolve into a land that improved the lives of everyone.

Social movements formed that focused on prison misuse, capital punishment, war and the treatment of disabled individuals.

Early American literature was a deeply complex melding of cultures that sparked radical change. Much of this change was accompanied by conflict and violence. Europeans saw conquest over Native Americans as par for the course — having been well-accustomed to war — and some indigenous populations were happy to make war.

Early America was a linguistically complex place as cultures melded and competed. English ultimately won out, despite being a latecomer.

Informed by the Enlightenment, politics became a dominant theme after colonial America and the Salem witch trials. An appeal to common sense and a plain style, coupled printing technology, made revolution possible.

Independent America did not universally improve life for the human beings residing in it — Native Americans were continually pushed out and slavery worsened in many degrees. However, Enlightenment idealism put forth the idea that America could ultimately become a place that benefited everyone who shared the land.

• Page numbers are not supplied for reference, as this collection of notes — more or less — follows the introduction from start to finish.

• Any ideas presented in this should not be considered original. They originate from the author of the introduction being studied.