Colonial literature from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has made a large impact on society today. Literature from both the Puritan era and the Age of Reason contribute to this impact.

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Providence, Self-Improvement, and Divine Mission: The Qualities of Colonial Literature

        Colonial literature from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has made a large impact on society today. Literature from both the Puritan era and the Age of Reason contribute to this impact. Puritans were religious separatists who wished to ‘purify’ the Church of England of its catholic heritage. They believed in predestination; the idea that some people were saved and others were damned. The Puritans would scrutinize themselves for signs of grace from God. Following the Puritan era was the Age of Reason. This was a period of scientific and political enlightenment. It stressed the idea that basic truths can be arrived at through reason, not faith. People began to improve their present, worldly life rather than preparing themselves for an afterlife in Heaven. Three qualities of American writing from the Colonial period are the beliefs of providence, self improvement, and divine mission.

        The belief in God’s providence is a major feature found throughout Colonial literature. God’s providence was the idea that it was in God’s power to control the salvation and damnation of humans. Their destinies were predetermined and they would live their lives looking for signs of grace.  Every outcome of an action was considered a sign as God’s providence. They believed God’s intervention in their everyday lives revealed their fate. The belief in providence is predominately seen throughout Puritan writing, one of which being William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation. William Bradford was a Puritan leader who later became the governor of Plymouth Colony. His narrative described the Puritans’ arrival to the New World. He focused on the relationship the Puritans had with God. He mentioned many signs of God’s providence. The first act of providence was on the seaman. There was a strong, able body seaman who always cursed and condemned the poor sick people on the ship, wishing them to be cast overboard. God then intervened and revealed the seaman’s fate. Bradford wrote, “ But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, in which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard” (24).  God’s providence exposed the seaman’s damnation. His death was a sign that he was not one of The Elect and did not possess the quality of grace. William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation embodies the belief of providence, a characteristic of Colonial literature.

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        Another characteristic of Colonial literature is the idea of self-improvement. This idea is represented in both Puritan and the Age of Reason literature. It is the idea that people need to attain moral perfection. Benjamin Franklin, an autodidact of the Age of Reason, experimented with the idea of self-improvement. He found self-improvement to be a logical idea that every person should experience because it would better themselves and society. In his autobiography, Franklin wrote, “I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping, and ...

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