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How did colonial American writing reflect ties to Great Britain?
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American literature
Map of Virginia from John Smith's The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, 1624.
Colonial American writing was deeply intertwined with Great Britain, reflecting both a shared cultural heritage and a reliance on British literary standards. Because the early colonists were English-speaking Europeans, their literature was initially a colonial extension of British writing, utilizing the same forms, styles, and traditions.12
Key ways this connection was reflected include:
- Literary Tradition and Style: Seventeenth-century American authors wrote in the manner of their British contemporaries. For example, John Smith followed the tradition of geographic literature, William Bradford echoed the cadences of the King James Bible, and poets like Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor drew directly from British poetic lineages, such as the works of Spenser, Sidney, and the Metaphysical poets.1
- Intellectual and Professional Ties: As communication improved, intellectual bonds strengthened. Colonial professionals, including lawyers and doctors, often trained in England, and colonial newspapers frequently clipped foreign intelligence from British journals.3
- Shared Foundations: Colonial writing was grounded in the English common law and political ideas from thinkers like John Locke, which shaped the colonists' understanding of rights and government.34