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Time Period: Pre-Colonialism
Years: pre-1607
Major Historical Events:

Congress breaks treaty with the Native Americans (1871)

Christopher Columbus expedition (1492)

Ponce de Leon explores Florida (1513)

Authors: Native Americans

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Sample Work: “Ghost Dance Songs” by Arapaho and Sioux tribes

Time Period: Pre-Colonialism

Dates: published 1840s and set pre-1607

Point of View: first person

Themes: freedom, hope, spirituality, family, suffering

Connection: During Christopher Columbus’s expedition, he caused Native Americans much hardship by taking their land. The Arapaho say, “I am crying for thirst; / All is gone—I have nothing to eat” (8-9). This conveys how natives had no food and had their land stripped from them by Columbus, supporting the theme of suffering. In the song, we hear the Native Americans talk about the explorers coming. They say, “I have no more sympathy with him” (23). This demonstrates that the tribes have suffered and have been hurt by settlers to the point that they have no sympathy for what they have done.

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Time Period: Colonialism

Years: 1607-1775

Major Historical Events:

Establishment of Plymouth county by Pilgrims (1620)

the French and Indian War begins (1754)

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Authors: Jonathan Edwards, Anne Bradstreet, William Bradford

Foner, Eric: Give me Liberty!: An American History. 6th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

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Sample Work: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards

Time Period: Colonialism

Dates: published and set in 1741

Point of View: second person

Themes: sin, anger, punishment, consequences, power of religion

Connection: King George’s taxation of tea angered and motivated colonists to fight back in the Boston Tea Party. Edwards says, “[God] looks upon you as worthy of nothing else” (4). This displays that God does not care about sinners, similar to how King George does not care about the colonists. During his sermon, Edwards demonstrates the theme of anger when talking about hell. Edwards worries the congregants by saying, “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in…” (4). The colonists and congregants are in a similar position because they are both uncertain of their future with the new information given.

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Time Period: Enlightenment

Years: 1776-1820

Major Historical Events:

The Missouri Compromise (1820)

signing of “The Declaration of Independence” (1776)

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Authors: Ben Franklin, Elizabeth Cady Staton, Phillis Wheatley

Foner, Eric: Give me Liberty!: An American History. 6th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

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Sample Work: “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson

Time Period: Enlightenment

Dates: published and set in 1776

Point of View: first person

Themes: freedom, liberty, equality, human rights, independence

Connection: During the Revolutionary War, colonists fought for their freedom from Britain. The colonists feel that “[King George III] has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us” (4). This expresses the theme of freedom because the colonists point out why they want to be separate from the King's rule. The colonists are fed up with waiting so they “declare, That these United Colonies are… Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown” (5). Since King George III would not grant the colonies freedom, they signed this document against his wishes declaring their freedom.

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Time Period: Romanticism / Dark Gothic Romanticism

Years: 1820-1860

Major Historical Events:

fugitive slave act was put into place to return runaway slaves (1850)

Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Salem Witch Trials (1692; does not take place during Romanticism period, but does take place during the years The Scarlet Letter is set in)

Authors: Henry Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe

Foner, Eric: Give me Liberty!: An American History. 6th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

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Sample Work: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Time Period: Romanticism / Dark Gothic Romanticism

Dates: published 1850 set during the 1640s

Point of View: third person omniscient

Themes: isolation from society, breaking stereotypes, sin, judgment, suffering

Connection: During The Salem Witch trials, societal outcasts were wrongly accused of being witches resulting in many being executed. In The Scarlet Letter, the A “was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorne 97). This quote expresses how the letter forced Hester to be an outcast in society, similarly to how accused witches were dehumanized and isolated from society. Puritans only saw Hester for her sin and were “stern enough to look upon [Hester’s] death” (50) and not object, just like how people did not see witches as human.

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Time Period: Transcendentalism

Years: 1840s-1860s

Major Historical Events:

US Mexican War (1846-1848)

California Gold Rush (1848-1855)

Kansas Nebraska Act (1854)

Authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson

Foner, Eric: Give me Liberty!: An American History. 6th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

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Sample Work: “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman

Time Period: Transcendentalism

Dates: published and set in 1865

Point of View: first person

Themes: hope, new beginnings, pain, disappointment, fear

Connection: During the California Gold Rush, people came from all over in search of gold. Whitman says, “the bells I hear, the people all exulting” (3). The bells were signaling the end of the Civil War which created hope for a better life for slaves which is similar to people coming to California to find gold to have new beginnings. In the poem, the speaker says, “our fearful trip is done / the prize we sought is won” (1-2). Here, the speaker is excited that the war has ended and the prize of new freedom has been won.

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Time Period: Slave Narrative

Years: 1820-1865

Major Historical Events:

secession of the southern states (1861)

The Civil War (1861-1865)

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Authors: Frederick Douglass, Olaudah Equiano, and Sojourner Truth

Foner, Eric: Give me Liberty!: An American History. 6th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2019

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

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Sample Work: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Time Period: Slave Narrative

Years: published 1845 and set 1818-1845

Point of View: first person

Themes: Loss of innocence, violence, unspeakable, racism, truth

Connection: The Civil War caused extensive suffering and brought violence to many states. Douglass describes acts of violence with the whipping of his aunt: “the louder she screamed, the harder he whipped'' (4). This depicts the horrible treatment of slaves during this time. Both the Civil War and Fredrick Douglass’s story embody the theme of violence of slaves and soldiers alike. Douglass says, “Killing a slave…in Talbot county, Maryland, is not treated as a crime” (14). This indicates how often slaves experienced violence because there were no repercussions for their attackers.

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Time Period: Modernism

Years: 1901-1950

Major Historical Events:

World War I (1914-1918)

The Great Depression (1929-1939)

World War II (1939-1945, America entered 1941)

Authors: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein

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Sample Work: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Time Period: Modernism

Dates: published 1925 and set in 1922

Point of View: first person

Themes: class, nostalgia, gossip, ignorance, the fracturing of the American dream

Connection: During the Great Depression, many people faced great hardships. Nick says,“‘The whole town is desolate” (Fitzgerald 9). This description foreshadows how The Great Depression would later affect towns and society. The Great Gatsby and the Great Depression both show the theme of fracturing the American dream by explaining how peoples’ lives in America are not perfect. Gatsby says,“‘My house looks well, doesn’t it?’ He demanded. ‘See how the whole front of it catches the light'’” (89). Even though Gatsby seems to live a great life, he seeks validation from others to prove to himself that he is successful.