Summary: The Literature Of Early America

Textual Reading Guide for Module 1 ________________________________________
The Literature of Early America p. 1-5
1. The first Europeans to establish settlements on this continent did not call it America until the 18th century. What did these early settlers call it? The New World
2. The colonies that became the United States were - for the most part - inhabited by individuals from which European country? England
3. How much is known of the perspectives of the native inhabitants of this continent before the European arrival? Why? With the help of archaeologist, ethnographical, and oral materials much has been learned
4. What was the so-called Columbian Exchange, and what were the results? The passing of biological matter between Native
After the Native American oral tradition, which writing could probably be considered the first "American" literature? American Literature
7. What three things set the stage for the seventeenth-century expansion of English colonization that would ultimately lead to the first United States? 1)The Reformation 2)English defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 3)emerging capitalist economies

8. Unlike the Spanish explorers who were financially supported by royalty, how were the English settlers supported? How did this affect the future of the colonies? English settlers were supported by banks & joint-stock companies. It moved it away from the old hierarchies of church & crown
9. What were the three general cultural/economic groups established in these early British colonies? Southern Colonies, Middle Colonies, New England
10. Which area was initially the most difficult to settle and why? Southern Colony-malaria and starvation were rampant in the early 17th century
11. Which crop ultimately proved quite profitable to the southern colony in Virginia? tobacco
12. After the native populations had been decimated by disease and the brutality of enslavement, how did the English settlers respond to the demand for labor? Indentured
Notice the way Smith begins each of the paragraphs on page 60: "Of mines of gold...Of woods...The waters...The herbs and fruits...Oak...Eagles...Whales...Moose..." What is he doing to try to lure the English to this new land? Painting a picture of abudance
11. What kind of individuals do you think Smith is targeting when he says, "Who can desire more content, that has small means or but only his merit to advance his fortune, than to tread and plant that ground he has purchased by the hazard of his life?" The Common Man
12. What do you think of Smith's reference to the holy quest some might take by making the journey to the New World?: "If he have any grain of faith or zeal in religion, what can he do less hurtful to any or more agreeable to God than to seek to convert those poor savages to know Christ and humanity...?" Crusaders

13. What emotions do you think Smith is tapping into when he says the following?: "What so truly suits with honor and honesty as the discovering things unknown, erecting towns, peopling countries, informing the ignorant, reforming things unjust, teaching virtue, and gain to our native mother-country a kingdom to attend her, find employment for those that are idle because they know not what to