Early American Literature 1600 - 1900, Resources for K-12

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Sources of texts, biography, criticism and lesson plans for teachers from the Colonial Period through the 19th century.


[History and Criticism] [Movements in American Literature + Lesson Plans] [Indexes] [Study & Teaching] [Collections, Online Etexts] [Early Colonial Writers] [Later Colonial Period] [Literature 1800-1850] [Literature 1850-1900] [19th Century American Poetry] [Journals] [Bibliography]

History and Criticism

Allan Burns Page
Timelines of significant literary works and historical events.
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
An encyclopedia in 18 volumes. Vol. 15. Colonial and Revolutionary Literature.
From Project Bartleby.
An Early American Almanac
History; facsimile of first almanac published in 1725
Fire and Ice; Puritan and Reformed Writings
Biography, historical inforamtion, etexts
PAL Perspectives in American Literature: A Research and Reference Guide
By Paul P. Reuben. Timelines; bibliographies; resources
Humbul Humanities Hub
Searchable index to humanities materials; from UK
The Seventeenth Century: Echoes of the Renaissance and Reformation
Lecture notes from Michael S. Seiferth
Resources for American Literature
Analysis and criticism of works by Lorraine Hansberry, Frank Norris,
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Herman Melville, Washington Irving,
Sarah Orne Jewett, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, Zora Neale Hurston,
William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, American Literature Survey,
literary study, teaching methods, online etexts.
Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature
English & American literature. Literary criticism. Must visit

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Movements in American Literature

Outline of American Literature
From USIA. Literary movements; time periods. Excellent site.
From U.S. Information Agency
AmericanLiterary Movements
Defines literary terms, timeline, biography and links for authors.
From Donna Campbell
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature
Covers major movements in American literature. Excellent site
The American Renaissance and Transcendentalism
From PBS. I Hear America Singing
Modern American Literature
Early 20th century; by Mary Klages, University of
Colorado, Boulder
Neoclassicism
Definition & tenets of English Neoclassicism
Naturalism in American Literature
Discussion, selected authors, bibliographies from Donna M. Campbell,
Gonzaga University
PAL: Late Nineteenth Century Naturalism
From Perspectives in American Literature
Romanticism
From PBS; I Hear America Singing
Neoclassicism & Romanticism Unit
By Jay Horschak. Secondary level. Great site! Includes students using
Internet for research
Movements in American Literature
Lesson plan for 11th grade survey course.

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Indexes

My Virtual Encyclopedia; Online Reference Desk
Large number of literature links.

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Study & Teaching

Electronic Archives for Teaching the American Literatures
Essays, syllabi, bibliographies

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Collections, Online Etexts

See also: American and English Literature Online Books

American Heritage Library

Constitution of the Confederate States; Monroe Doctrine; Origin of
Memorial Day; major poetic works; U. S. Constitution; Declaration of
Independence; quotes from Founding Fathers.
Documenting the American South: Library of Southern Literature
Bibliography with links to online etexts. A few pre-19th century texts
are included. From UNC at Chapel Hill Libraries.
Documenting the American South: First Person Narratives of the American South
Diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, travel accounts and ex-slave
narratives etexts. From UNC Chapel Hill Libraries
Documenting the American South. Collection of Electronic Texts
Online etexts, complete bibliography above
Database of African-American Poetry 1760-1900
Etexts from UVA

Early Colonial Writers: Puritans

Outline of American Literature
Excellent site.
The Puritans: Colonial Writers (1608-1700)
Works by Captain John Smith, Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin,
Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford, Edward Taylor, Edward Winslow,
John Winthrop, William Byrd II, Mary Rowlandson, Sarah Kemble Knight,
John Dickinson and Cotton Mather.

Later Colonial Writers: Age of Reason; Revolution

Outline of American Literature
From USIA.
The Early America Review; A Journal of Fact and Opinion on the People, Issues and Events of 18th Century America
Eighteenth-Century Resources
Excellent page from Jack Lynch. Art, history, most major topics
including 18th Century Literature
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature. Colonial Period 1700-1800
Jonathan Edwards, St. Jean De Crevecoeur, Philip Freneau,
Jupiter Hammon, Samuel Occum, Olaudah Equiano, Phillis Wheatly,
The Connecticut Wits, questions
English Server
Eighteenth Century Studies. Novels, memoirs, poems, treatises. Full text
Colonial Literature (1700-1800) : Reason and Revolution
Pre-Revolutionary War writers including Henry Adams, Benjamin Benneker,
J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur, Olaudah Equiano, Benjamin Franklin,
Philip Freneau, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine,
George Washington, Phillis Wheatley, John Woolman, African Americans
and Resources

Earlier 19th century literature

Outline of American Literature
American Literature (1800-1900) : Romanticism & Idealism
Earlier nineteenth century writers to about 1850.

Later 19th century

Outline of American Literature
American Literature Prose (1800-1900)
From about 1850 to 1900. Louisa May Alcott, Edward Bellamy, Ambrose Bierce,
Charles Waddell Chestnutt, Kate Chopin, Richard Henry Dana,
Frances E. W. Harper, Simon Pokagon, Herman Melville; Nathaniel Hawthorne;
Transcendentalism, including Henry David Thoreau & Amos Bronson Alcott

19th Century American Poetry

Nineteenth Century American Poetry
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadworth Longfellow, Paul Laurence Dunbar

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Online Journals

Penny Magazine Online Home Page
Published in the mid-19th century with articles on a variety of topics

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Bibliography

PAL: Early American Literature to 1700
Selected professional bibliography from PAL

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Middle & Secondary Resources/Young Adult Literature

Colonial Period