Discuss: the ideals and values of early american writers

(20 points)

now that you have finished reading the works in this unit, consider the ideals, values, and themes that early american writers considered to be important and worthy of inclusion in their journals, sermons, and poems. what are these ideals and values? why were they important? how do different writers incorporate them into their works? did certain values or ideals seem to become more or less important over time? if so, why?

Explanation:

When the United States declared its independence in 1776, literature was filled up with the creation of the future of a new nation, which was motivated by three main values and ideals, established in the Declaration of Independence: Religion, liberty and the will for happiness, for a better life.

Puritanism played a major role, as a consequence of The Great Awakening, led by preacher and philosopher John Edwards. Religion and freedom became inseparable during the foundation of the nation, where it was believed the government was responsible for the worship enforcement, and maintenance of religion. There is an important number of poems, shorts stories and novels that preach these ideals, combined with a strong moral education. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography (1770-80), as well as The Federalist Papers (1877-88), by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay highlights among the first texts written for the foundation of the nation. Phillis Wheatly, the first African American woman to write a book, recovers some of these issues as well in her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773).

However, while the ideal for liberty and search for happiness is maintained throughout future decades, during the eighteenth century, particularly with romantic influences, religion is questioned and set aside by many writers who instead look at other spiritual guidelines. For example, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) filtered importantly with Transcendentalism. Waldo Emerson argued that men should set aside organized religion and look instead towards Nature. This was also followed by Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). Walt Whitman (1819-1892), emphasized the freedom of the individual and represented the transition from Transcendentalism and realism.