History of American Literature By Reuben Halleck.pdf.PDF

HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

BY REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (YALE)

AUTHOR OF "HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE"

[Illustration: THE RETURN OF RIP VAN WINKLE]

PREFACE

The wide use of the author's _History of English Literature_, the favor

with which it has been received in all parts of the United States, and the

number of earnest requests for a _History of American Literature_ on the

same plan, have led to the writing of this book. It has not appeared sooner

because the author has followed his rule of making a careful first-hand

study, not only of all the matter discussed, but also of a far greater

amount, which, although it must be omitted from a condensed textbook, is,

nevertheless, necessary as a background for judgment and selection.

The following chapters describe the greatest achievements in American

literature from the earliest times until the present. Many pupils fail to

obtain a clear idea of great American authors and literary movements

because textbook writers and teachers ignore the element of truth in the

old adage, "The half is greater than the whole," and dwell too much on

minor authors and details, which could reasonably be expected to interest

only a specialist. In the following pages especial attention has been paid,

not only to the individual work of great authors, but also to literary

movements, ideals, and animating principles, and to the relation of all

these to English literature.

The author has further aimed to make this work both interesting and

suggestive. He has endeavored to present the subject in a way that

necessitates the comparison of authors and movements, and leads to

stimulating thinking. He has tried to communicate enough of the spirit of

our literature to make students eager for a first-hand acquaintance with

it, to cause them to investigate for themselves this remarkable American

record of spirituality, initiative, and democratic accomplishment. As a

guide to such study, there have been placed at the end of each chapter

_Suggested Readings_ and still further hints, called _Questions and

Suggestions_. In _A Glance Backward_, the author emphasizes in brief

compass the most important truths that American literature teaches, truths

that have resulted in raising the ideals of Americans and in arousing them

to greater activity.

Any one who makes an original study of American literature will not be a

mere apologist for it. He will marvel at the greatness of the moral

lesson, at the fidelity of the presentation of the thought which has

molded this nation, and at the peculiar aptness which its great authors

have displayed in ministering to the special needs and aspirations of

Americans. He will realize that the youth who stops with the indispensable

study of English literature is not prepared for American citizenship,

because our literature is needed to present the ideals of American life.

There may be greater literatures, but none of them can possibly take the

place of ours for citizens of this democracy.

The moral element, the most impressive quality in American literature, is

continuous from the earliest colonial days until the present. Teachers

should be careful not to obscure this quality. As the English scientist,

John Tyndall, has shown in the case of Emerson, this moral stimulus is

capable of adding immeasurably to the achievement of the young.

The temptation to slight the colonial period should be resisted. It has

too often been the fashion to ask, Why should the student not begin the

study of American literature with Washington Irving, the first author

read for pure pleasure? The answer is that the student would not then

comprehend the stages of growth of the new world ideals, that he would

not view our later literature through the proper atmosphere, and that he

would lack certain elements necessary for a sympathetic comprehension of

the subject.

The seven years employed in the preparation of this work would have been

insufficient, had not the author been assisted by his wife, to whom he is

indebted not only for invaluable criticism but also for the direct

authorship of some of the best matter in this book.

R. P. H.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

COLONIAL LITERATURE

CHAPTER II

THE EMERGENCE OF A NATION

CHAPTER III

THE NEW YORK GROUP

CHAPTER IV

THE NEW ENGLAND GROUP

CHAPTER V

SOUTHERN LITERATURE

CHAPTER VI

WESTERN LITERATURE

CHAPTER VII

THE EASTERN REALISTS

A GLANCE BACKWARD

* * * * *

SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF AUTHORS AND THEIR CHIEF WORKS

INDEX

[Transcriber's note:

Index not included in this electronic version.]

HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

CHAPTER I

COLONIAL LITERATURE

RELATION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE.--The literature produced in that part of

America known as the United States did not begin as an independent

literature. The early colonists were Englishmen who brought with them their

own language, books, and modes of thought. England had a world-famous

literature before her sons established a permanent settlement across the

Atlantic. Shakespeare had died four years before the Pilgrims landed at

Plymouth. When an American goes to Paris he can neither read the books, nor

converse with the citizens, if he knows no language but his own. Let him

cross to London, and he will find that, although more than three hundred

years have elapsed since the first colonists came to America, he

immediately feels at home, so far as the language and literature are

concerned.

For nearly two hundred years after the first English settlements in

America, the majority of the works read there were written by English

authors. The hard struggle necessary to obtain a foothold in a wilderness

is not favorable to the early development of a literature. Those who

remained in England could not clear away the forest, till the soil, and

conquer the Indians, but they could write the books and send them across

the ocean. The early settlers were for the most part content to allow

English authors to do this. For these reasons it would be surprising if

early American literature could vie with that produced in England during

the same period.

When Americans began to write in larger numbers, there was at first close

adherence to English models. For a while it seemed as if American

literature would be only a feeble imitation of these models, but a change

finally came, as will be shown in later chapters. It is to be hoped,

however, that American writers of the future will never cease to learn from

Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Bunyan, and Wordsworth.

AMERICAN LITERATURE AN IMPORTANT STUDY.--We should not begin the study of

American literature in an apologetic spirit. There should be no attempt to

minimize the debt that America owes to English literature, nor to conceal

the fact that American literature is young and has not had time to produce

as many masterpieces as England gave to the world during a thousand years.

However, it is now time also to record the fact that the literature of

England gained something from America. Cultivated Englishmen to-day

willingly admit that without a study of Cooper, Poe, and Hawthorne no one

could give an adequate account of the landmarks of achievement in fiction,

written in our common tongue. French critics have even gone so far as to

canonize Poe. In a certain field he and Hawthorne occupy a unique place in

the world's achievement. Again, men like Bret Harte and Mark Twain are not

common in any literature. Foreigners have had American books translated

into all the leading languages of the world. It is now more than one

hundred years since Franklin, the great American philosopher of the

practical, died, and yet several European nations reprint nearly every year

some of his sayings, which continue to influence the masses. English

critics, like John Addington Symonds, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edward

Dowden, have testified to the power of the democratic element in our

literature and have given the dictum that it cannot be neglected.

Some of the reasons why American literature developed along original lines

and thus conveyed a message of its own to the world are to be found in the

changed environment and the varying problems and ideals of American life.

Even more important than the changed ways of earning a living and the

difference in climate, animals, and scenery were the struggles leading to

the Revolutionary War, the formation and guidance of the Republic, and the

Civil War. All these combined to give individuality to American thought and

literature.

Taken as a whole, American literature has accomplished more than might

reasonably have been expected. Its study is especially important for us,

since the deeds associated with our birthplace must mean more to us than

more remarkable achievements of men born under other skies. Our literature,

even in its humble beginnings, contains a lesson that no American can

afford to miss. Unless we know its ideals and moral aims and are swayed by

them, we cannot keep our heritage.

WHY VIRGINIA WAS COLONIZED.--In 1607 the first permanent English colony

within the present limits of the United States was planted at Jamestown in

Virginia. The colony was founded for commercial reasons by the London

Company, an organization formed to secure profits from colonization. The

colonists and the company that furnished their ship and outfit expected

large profits from the gold mines and the precious stones which were

believed to await discovery. Of course, the adventurers were also

influenced by the honor and the romantic interest which they thought would

result from a successful settlement.

When the expedition sailed from England in December, 1606, Michael Drayton,

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