Colonialism and Romanticism

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“Books are the carriers of civilization” (ThinkExist, 2010, para. 1). The first part of a quote from Barbara W. Tuchman cannot be truer. It is why students study America’s classic novels to learn about the time period. Many authors intend writing for the future, while others just write for fun. They use literary techniques that are popular to the time period, making it obvious when the pieces were written. With the history, you also get the sentiment of the writer that only the novel can give you. The result of this is a great fusion between literature and history, and has its roots since the beginning of America. America began in 1607 with the colonial settlement Jamestown, founded by John Smith. Further north, the Puritans settled in the New England area, survived the first winter, and befriended the Indians. Afterwards, they celebrated the First Thanksgiving with the Indians, starting their friendship (Campbell, 2007, Pre – 1650, para. 14). The more and more Puritans immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony around the 1630s seeking religious freedom. From 1636 – 1637 tension rose between the Indians and settlers, which caused the Pequot War (Campbell, 2007, Pre – 1650s, para. 18). The Americans prevailed by teaming up to defeat a common threat. The Puritans encountered a new enemy: The Quakers. The Puritans disliked them, and harmed them in many ways. But that all stopped when Parliament ordered them to. Another Indian war came into play from 1675 – 1678, King Philip’s War. It happened because the pilgrims executed three Wampanoag Indians (Campbell, 2007, 1650, para. 11). Events in colonial America simmered down until 1692. When killing Indians wasn’t enough, the settlers started killing each other. The Salem With Trials be... ... middle of paper ... ...atch out of the whale also represents the time or life taken out of someone. Melville uses these literary elements to explain how dependant people were on whale oil and how corrupt religion can be. “Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill” (ThinkExist, 2010, para. 1). This finishes the Tuchman quote by showing the importance of literature to history. We will not be doing the future generations justice by stopping writing books. These things work in tandem, and cannot be replaced by any other. All the examples mentioned prior show great examples that will educate our children about the past for centuries to come. Not only will you get the hard facts about the time period, but also you experience their side of the story and the emotion tied to it. Therefore, literature perfectly reflects history.

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