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Benjamin Franklin The American Enlightenment Hao Guilian, Ph.D. Yunnan Normal University Spring, 2011 Historical Background-1 America has always been a land of beginnings. After Europeans discovered America in the fifteenth century, the mysterious New World became for many people a genuine hope of a new life, and escape from poverty and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as a nation, America begins with that hope. When, however, does American literature begin? Historical Background-2 American literature begins with American experiences. The New World provide a great variety of experiences, and these experiences demanded a wide variety of expressions by a even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, who spent only about two-and-one-half years on the American continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd, who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own. American Indians, explorers, Pilgrims, Puritan ministers, frontier wives, plantation owners---they are all the creators of the first American literature. Puritanism-1 The Puritans were devout Christians who wanted to purify their lives and their church of what they saw as the corruptions of English society and its state religion, the Church of England. They called themselves Saints or Separatists, but they are now generally called Puritans--a name that became a sign of their separateness. Writing was an important part of Puritan life; it was often an extension of religion. They wrote to instruct others or to testify their experience of divine grace; they wrote spiritual autobiographies. Puritanism-2 Puritan writing, in other words, was practical. The writers were deeply involved with their spiritual selves and attempts to improve them. They wrote no fiction, nor did they even approve of reading fiction, and they wrote no plays. Their writings cons