8.3 The Emergence of a National Literary Identity

The Revolutionary War sparked a surge in American literature, shifting away from British influences. Writers like Franklin, Paine, and Wheatley crafted works that celebrated American values and experiences, shaping a new national identity.

This emerging literary voice emphasized themes of liberty, self-governance, and democratic ideals. It established a uniquely American tradition that influenced future generations and contributed to the nation's founding myths and ongoing self-understanding.

The Emergence of a National Literary Identity during the Revolutionary War Period

Development of American literary voice

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• Early colonial literature heavily influenced by British literary traditions including Puritan religious writings, sermons, captivity narratives, and travel journals
• Growing sense of American identity and independence leading up to the Revolutionary War sparked increased political writings and pamphlets advocating for colonial rights and freedoms along with the emergence of satirical and polemical works criticizing British rule
• Revolutionary War literature reflected American values and experiences through patriotic poems, songs, and plays celebrating American courage and sacrifice as well as personal narratives and memoirs documenting the war's impact on individuals and communities
• Post-war literature consolidated American national identity with Federalist and Anti-Federalist debates shaping political discourse and historical accounts and biographies commemorating key figures and events of the Revolution

Key writers of national identity

• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) known for Poor Richard's Almanack, a collection of proverbs and aphorisms promoting American virtues of thrift, hard work, and self-reliance, and his Autobiography chronicling his rise from humble beginnings to successful statesman embodying the American dream
• Thomas Paine (1737-1809) wrote Common Sense, a pamphlet advocating for American independence and republicanism, and The American Crisis, a series of essays bolstering American morale during the Revolutionary War
• Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784), the first published African American poet, demonstrated mastery of classical forms and Christian themes in her collection Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral
• Philip Freneau (1752-1832) celebrated American potential and destiny in his poem "The Rising Glory of America" and condemned British cruelty during the war in "The British Prison Ship"
• Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814) criticized British colonial governance in her satirical play The Adulateur and provided an early historical account of the war from a patriot perspective in History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution

Themes in Revolutionary literature

• Celebration of American liberty and resistance to tyranny through poems and songs glorifying American patriotism and sacrifice and portrayal of the British as oppressors and Americans as defenders of freedom
• Emphasis on individual rights and self-governance in Paine's Common Sense arguing for the natural rights of man and the need for representative government and Franklin's Autobiography stressing the importance of self-reliance and civic responsibility
• Promotion of democratic ideals and republican virtues in Wheatley's poems expressing faith in the promise of American democracy and Freneau's works envisioning a future of American greatness built on principles of equality and justice
• Critique of social and political inequalities in Warren's plays and histories highlighting the hypocrisies and limitations of American freedom and narratives of marginalized groups, such as enslaved Africans and Native Americans, exposing the contradictions of American democracy

Impact of Revolutionary literature

• Establishment of a distinctly American literary tradition moving away from British models towards a more democratic and vernacular style with emphasis on American experiences, landscapes, and values
• Contribution to the founding myths and ideals of the nation by celebrating the American Revolution as a heroic struggle for freedom and self-determination and elevating key figures, such as Washington and Jefferson, as emblems of American virtue and leadership
• Influence on subsequent generations of American writers with continuation of themes of individualism, democracy, and manifest destiny in 19th-century literature (Hawthorne, Melville, Whitman) and revisiting and reinterpreting the legacy of the Revolution
• Lasting impact on American national identity and self-understanding with the notion of America as a beacon of liberty and democracy for the world and ongoing debates about the meaning and realization of American ideals reflected in literature and public discourse