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3.
Benjamin Franklin and his contribution to the American Literature
KEY WORDS:
PURITAN
n. hist. member of a group of English Protestants who sought to simplify and regulate
forms of worship after the Reformation
ENDURING
1 undergoing (a difficulty etc.). 2 tolerating. 3 lasting
VIRGIN
adj. 1 not yet used etc. 2 virginal.
SYMBOLIS
M
1 use of symbols. 2 artistic and poetic movement or style using symbols to express ideas,
emotions,
ELEGY
n. 1 sorrowful poem or song, esp. for the dead. 2 a poem in elegiac metre.
1.
Literature of the 17
th
– 18
th
centuries and its characteristic features.
It is generally held that Christopher Columbus discovered the
American continent in 1492. However, the first settling of the English
people in Jamestown, Virginia happened more than 100 years later in
1607, and in 1620, the second group came, with
Mayflower
dropping
anchor at Plymouth harbor. It was not until 1760s, another 100 years
later, when these people began to call themselves Americans. In
1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. In 1789 George
Washington was elected the first president, and two years later,
Washington D. C. was established as the nation's capital. The growth
of colonial America into the United States is recorded in a literature
that began as reports of exploration and colonization. European
explorers, traders, and settlers wrote of their hopes, rare triumphs, and
frequent disasters and thereby created a literature that is large,
various, and amazingly rich.
Columbus claiming possession
of the New World
The early settlers on the American continent later became the founding fathers of the American nation.
So, who were these people? What were they and why did they come?
Most of the immigrants came because they were hungry and America offered them good and extensive
land. They then described their good fortune in their letters home, attracting more to come. Other people
came because they wanted to get away from the religious persecution back in their own country. If you were
a Catholic in a Protestant country, or a Protestant in a Catholic country, or a Jew in almost any country, you
might be laughed at, have difficulty in finding jobs and even be murdered. You might have a wrong political
opinion and you were faced with a probability of being put into prison.
Those who were considered "undesirable" and criminals were sent here by ships. Actually many of
them had made only small offenses such as stealing a loaf of bread, or being in debt. They were not "good"
citizens as far as England was concerned. So, off the America!
Merchants came later. On the one hand, the shipping company flourished because it brought millions
of people to America. On the other hand, trading companies were organized, buying some things from the
settlers and selling other things to them at a profit. Still later, the industry of advertisement also came into
being.
So, they came, both the willing and the unwilling. The movement began with a few people in early
1600s, and in 1907 more than a million people entered the country within a year.
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