REFERENCES FOR FURTHER STUDY HISTORICAL The course of English events (reign of George III.) may be traced in any of the English histories mentioned on p. 60. For the English literature of the period, see the author's History of English Literature. Valuable works dealing with special periods of the American history of the time are: Hart's Formation of the Union. Parkman's Half Century of Conflict and Montcalm and Wolfe, 2 vols. (French and Indian War.) Fiske's American Revolution, 2 vols. Fiske's Critical Period of American History. Walker's The Making of the Nation. Johnston's History of American Politics. Schouler's History of the United States of America under the Constitution, 6 vols. The works by Hart, Channing, and James and Sanford, referred to on p. 61, will give the leading events in brief compass. An account of much of the history of the period is given in the biographies of Washington by Lodge, of Franklin by Morse, of Hamilton by Lodge, and of Jefferson by Morse. (American Statesmen Series.), LITERARY Tyler's The Literary History of the American Revolution, 2 vols. Richardson's American Literature, 2 vols. Wendell's Literary History of America. Trent's A History of American Literature. McMaster's Benjamin Franklin. Ford's The Many-Sided Franklin. Erskine's Leading American Novelists, pp. 3-49, on Charles Brock den Brown. Loshe's The Early American Novel. The Essayists. SUGGESTED READINGS Selections from Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Cairns,1 344–347; Carpenter, 66–70; S. & H., III., 219–221. From the Crisis, Cairns, 347-352; Carpenter, 70, 71; S. & H., III., 222–225. 1 For full titles see p. 62. -- Jefferson's Declaration of Independence — which may be found in Carpenter, 79-83; S. & H., III., 286-289; and in almost all the histories of the United States should be read several times until the very atmosphere or spirit of those days comes to the reader. Selections from Alexander Hamilton, including a paper from the Federalist, may be found in Cairns, 363-369; S. & H., IV., 113–116. The Orators. A short selection from Otis is given in this work, p. 72. A longer selection may be found in Vol. I. of Johnston's American Orations, 11-17. For Patrick Henry's most famous speech, see Cairns, 335-338; S. & H., III., 214-218; Johnston, I., 18-23. The speech of Samuel Adams on American Independence is given in Johnston, I., 24–38, and in Moore's American Eloquence, Vol. I. Benjamin Franklin. Every one should read his Autobiography. Selections may be found in Carpenter, 31-36; Cairns, 322-332; T. & W., III., 192-201; S. & H., III., 3-13. Read his Way to Wealth either in the various editions of Poor Richard's Almanac or in Cairns, 315-319; Carpenter, 36-43; T. & W., III., 202-213; S. & H., III., 17–21. John Woolman. - Cairns, 307-313; S. & H., III., 78-80, 82-85. Charles Brockden Brown. The first volume of Arthur Mervyn with its account of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia is not uninteresting reading. Chaps. XVI., XVII., and XVIII. of Edgar Huntly show the hero of that romance rescuing a girl from torture and killing Indians. These and the following chapters, especially XIX., XX., and XXI., give some vigorous out-of-door life. Selections giving incidents of the yellow fever plague may be found in Cairns, 482-488; Carpenter, 97-100. For Indian adventures or outof-door life in Edgar Huntly, see Cairns, 488-493; Carpenter, 89–97; S. & H., IV., 273–292. Poetry. Selections from Dwight, Barlow, and Trumbull may be found in Cairns, 395-430; S. & H., III., 403-413, 426-429, IV., 47– 55. For Freneau's best lyrics, see Cairns, 440, 441, 447; S. & H., III., 452, 453, 456; Stedman, An American Anthology, 4, 7, 8. Prose. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS After reading some of the papers of Thomas Paine, state why they were unusually well suited to the occasion. Why is the Declaration of Independence likened to the old battle songs of the Anglo-Saxon race? What is remarkable about Jefferson's power of expression? In the orations of Otis, Patrick Henry, and Samuel Adams, what do you find to account for their influence? To what must an orator owe his power? Contrast the writings of Benjamin Franklin with those of Jonathan Edwards and John Woolman. What are some of the most useful suggestions and records of experience to be found in Franklin's Autobiography? In what ways are his writings still useful to humanity? Select the best four maxims from The Way to Wealth. What are some of the qualities of Franklin's style? Compare it with Woolman's style. Why are Brown's romances called "Gothic"? What was the general type of American fiction preceding him? Specify three strong or unusual incidents in the selections read from Brown. What does he introduce to give an American color to his work? Poetry. In the selections read from Dwight, Barlow, and Trumbull, what general characteristics impress you? Do these poets belong to the classic or the romantic school? What English influences are manifest? What qualities in Freneau's lyrics show a distinct advance in American poetry? A New Literary Center. We have seen that Massachusetts supplied the majority of the colonial writers before the French and Indian War. During the next period, Philadelphia came to the front with Benjamin Franklin and Charles Brockden Brown. In this third period, New York forged ahead, both in population and in the number of her literary men. Although in 1810 she was smaller than Philadelphia, by 1820 she had a population of 123,706, which was 15,590 more than Philadelphia, and 80,408 more than Boston. This increase in urban population rapidly multiplied the number of readers of varied tastes and developed a desire for literary entertainment, as well as for instruction. Works like those of Irving and Cooper gained wide circulation only because of the new demands, due to the increasing population, to the decline in colonial provincialism, and to the growth of the new national spirit. Probably no one would have been inspired, twenty-five years earlier, to write a work like Irving's Knickerbocker's History of New York. Even if it had been produced earlier, the country would not have been ready to receive it. This remarkable book was published in New York in 1809, and more than a quarter of a century had passed before Massachusetts could produce anything to equal that work. In the New York group there were three great writers whom we shall discuss separately: Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and William Cullen Bryant. Before we begin to study them, however, we may glance at two of the minor writers, who show some of the characteristics of the age. DRAKE AND HALLECK Both Two friends, who in their early youth styled themselves "The Croakers," were Joseph Rodman Drake (1795-1820) and Fitz-Greene Halleck (1790-1867), "the Damon and Pythias of American poets." Drake was born in New York City in the same year as the English poet, John Keats, in London. Drake and Keats studied medicine, and both died of consumption at the age of twenty-five. Halleck was born in Guilford, Connecticut, but moved to New York in early youth, where he became a special accountant for John Jacob Astor. Although Halleck outlived Drake forty-seven years, trade seems to have sterilized Halleck's poetic power in his later life. JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE The early joint productions of Drake and Halleck were poems known as The Croakers, published in 1819, in the New York Evening Post. This stanza from The Croakers will show the character of the verse and its avowed object: "There's fun in everything we meet, The greatest, worst, and best; And every speech a jest: |