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How the American sense of self and the change thereof is ref

 

            How the American sense of self and the change thereof is reflected in the literary movements from 1682-1845.
             American civilization has undergone many changes over the past few centuries. From the first settlement to present day, our country has seen numerous wars, reformations, religious and social movements. These changes directly impacted the American citizens" sense of self in relation to society. One of the best ways of monitoring these changes is through American literature.
             The following are some literary examples from various periods in American history. While some may be fictious, they all embody the values and lifestyles of the time in which they were written and are reflections of the American sense of self during the time. .
             Puritans .
             The Puritans were a group of people who left England for America in 1628 because they were unhappy with the church of England. They were deeply religious people, though they had an immense desire for independence and freedom. They put much emphasis on education and literacy. Their main source of literature, other than the bible, were sermons, which were preached in front of congregations.
             Their ideas on religion are much different than ours are today. Puritans held on to the doctrine of original sin in which all humans are damned from the start. As the Puritans merged with the pilgrims, they began to embrace the idea of predestination. Predestination is the idea that God chose who would be saved at the beginning of time, so no matter how you lived your life, your salvation was already determined. This rendered the notion of free will pointless, which, surprisingly, did not cause social anarchy, but rather made the Puritans want to live as purely as possible in case they were chosen to be saved.
             One of the more famous literary works from the Puritan age was A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. During King Phillip's War, the settlers and the Indians were fighting.


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