Introduction Religion used extensively in early American literature It was used differently at different times Pre-Romantic writers used it for comfort and to endorse conformity Romantic writers used it to express personal ideas and opinions or to mock popular public opinion

Pre-Romantic Period Authors Anne Bradstreet Mary Rowlandson Jonathan Edwards J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur Phillis Wheatley

Anne Bradstreet Bible used to comfort and reassure herself Her poetry gives readers insight into her emotions All possessions belong to God Links religion to her personal life (Salska) Life within acceptable limits of her society

Mary Rowlandson Used the Psalms to comfort and reassure herself of Divine retaliation (Henwood) Grief and anger not valued for personal expression Bible provided legitimacy to her frustration and rage Allows her to speak her mind in a common language that readers will understand

Jonathan Edwards Considered one of America’s most spiritually defining Puritan voices (Ward) Bible used to persuade listeners to follow his example if they wanted to go to Heaven Religious discovery was the ultimate significance of experience

J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur Thinks religion is very important on an individual level God wants people to work together and help each other (Rucker) Religion and politics share similar goals for life, liberty, property, and happiness

Phillis Wheatley Personally delighted with Christianity (Scheick) God responsible for bringing her to America to learn religion Even slaves deserved to have the Christian version of salvation that the white people had

Romantic Period Authors Washington Irving Henry David Thoreau Nathaniel Hawthorne Frederick Douglass Walt Whitman

Washington Irving Celebrated individuality Individual often in opposition to society America not limited by social class structure History is the possibility of a beginning for the individual that will seize it (Shear)

Henry David Thoreau Faith just sight and knowledge More virtue in seeing than believing (Furtak) Religion not the only truth to live by Blatantly rejected religion in writings Openly encouraged individual learning

Nathaniel Hawthorne Vast difference between people of different religious beliefs Religious obligation to take care of the poor (Elbert) Used life experiences in his writing Points out negative aspects of religion instead of only benefits

Frederick Douglass Differentiates between religious slave holders and true Christians While a slave, began to believe God was a cruel, sadistic entity if real (Gibson) Expresses both belief and disbelief of religion

Walt Whitman Had a church in England that followed his works Thought his works would supplant that of churches and priests (Smith) Religion organic, ongoing process of exploration, not journey towards a defined goal

Conclusion Pre-Romantic use of religion tended to be for crowd control or acceptable way to relate emotions Romantic encouraged self-exploration and reflections before deciding on a religion Shifting views reflected changing society itself Religion to inspire thought, not comfort

Works Cited Elbert, Monika M. "Hawthorne's Reconceptualization of Transcendentalist Charity.“ American Transcendental Quarterly 11.3 (Sep. 1997): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov Furtak, Rick Anthony. "Skepticism and Perceptual Faith: Henry David Thoreau and Stanley Cavell on Seeing and Believing." Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy 43.3 (Summer 2007): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov Gibson, Donald B. "Christianity and Individualism: (Re)-Creation and Reality in Frederick Doulgass's Representation of Self." African American Review 26.4 (Winter 1992): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 11 Nov Henwood, Dawn. "Mary Rowlandson and the Psalms: The Textuality of Survival." Early American Literature 32.2 (1997): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov

Works Cited Continued Rucker, Mary E. "Crevecoeur's Letters and Enlightenment Doctrine." Early American Literature 13 (1978): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov Salska, Agnieszka. "Puritan Poetry: Its Public and Private Strain." Early American Literature 19.2 (Fall 1984): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov Scheick, William J. "Subjection and Prophecy in Phillis Wheatley's Verse Paraphrases of Scripture." College Literature 22.3 (Oct. 1995): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov Shear, Walter. "Cultural Fate and Social Freedom in Three American Short Stories." Studies in Short Fiction 29.4 (Fall 1992): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov

Works Cited Continued Smith, Ernest. "'Restless Explorations': Whitman's Evolving Spiritual Vision in Leaves of Grass." Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature 43.3 (Summer 2007): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 11 Nov Ward, Roger. "Experience as Religious Discovery in Edwards and Peirce." Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy 36.2 (Spring 2000): MLA International Bibliography. EBSCO. Century College Library, White Bear Lake, MN. 6 Nov

Picture Sources Anne Bradstreet Mary Rowlandson Novel Cover Jonathan Edwards J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur Phillis Wheatley Washington Irving Henry David Thoreau Nathaniel Hawthorne Frederick Douglass Walt Whitman