Some Recommended Text Combinations
If you would like to write an introduction to a section of your anthology that uses Rowlandson's Narrative as a way of analyzing Puritan beliefs and values, then you may wish to consult one or more of the following:
Fire and Ice: Puritan and Reform Writings
Mayflower Web Site
William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation (Norton)
John Winthrop's Journal (Norton); see also: "On Liberty," and "A Modell of Christian Charitie"
Anne Bradstreet's "To My Dear Children" and poems (Norton); see also: Before the Birth of One of Her Children (c. 1650) and webpage on Anne Bradstreet.
Jonathan Edwards' "Personal Narrative," "A Divine and Supernatural Light," or "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (Norton)
Cotton Mather:
The Present State of New-England. Boston, 1690.
The Angel of Bethesda
The Education of Children
If you are discussing Rowlandson's Narrative as a way of analyzing the conventions of captivity narratives, you may wish to compare and/or contrast her text with one or more of the following:
A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa, But Resident Above Sixty Years In the United States of America, (African captured into slavery in 1735, published 1798). See also: Africans in America (PBS) About Venture Smith
Olaudah Equiano's The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself, 343;
See also:
Africans in America: People & Events Olaudah Equiano 1745 - 1797
Olaudah Equiano, or, Gustavus Vassa, the African, and
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/equiano.htmlMary Jemison's captivity narrative from the 1750's (captured by Seneca Indians in the 1750's and remained with them for the rest of her life.)
A narrative of the uncommon sufferings, and surprizing deliverance of Briton Hammon, a Negro man, -- -servant to General Winslow, of Marshfield, in New-England; who returned to Boston, after having been absent almost thirteen years. Containing an account of the many hardships he underwent from the time he left his master's house, in the year 1747, to the time of his return to Boston. -- How he was cast away in the Capes of Florida; -- the horrid cruelty and inhuman barbarity of the Indians in murdering the whole ship's crew; -- the manner of his being carry'd by them into captivity. Also, an account of his being confined four years and seven months in a close dungeon, -- and the remarkable manner in which he met with his good old master in London; who returned to New-England, a passenger, in the same ship. Hammon, Briton. (an African American living in Boston who was captured by Indians in 1747; account published in 1760)
A Narrative of the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African prince, Written by Himself. 1774
A Narrative of the Captivity of Isaac Webster Written by Himself (captured by Indians while serving in Revolutionary Army in 1779, account published 1808)
The Captivity of Jonathan Alder (1773-1849) and his life with the Indians as dictated by him and transcribed by his son Henry (captured in 1781)
Memoirs of a Captivity Among the Indians of North America, From Childhood to the Age of Nineteen: With Anecdotes Descriptive of Their Manners and Customs. To Which is Added, Some Account of the Soil, Climate, And Vegetable PRoductions of the Territory Westward of the Mississippi. By John D. Hunter, Third Edition, 1824.
Narrative of the Capture and Subsequent Sufferings of Mrs. Rachel Plummer, 1839
Note: Be careful to notice differences the date and circumstances of each account so that you can take those into consideration when explaining similarities and differences between these reports.
If you are using Rowlandson or Franklin as a way of analyzing the issue of race in America, you may find it useful to consult one or more of the following texts in addition to the captivity narratives listed above:
Bradford's "Indian Relations," (Norton, 99);
Boston, April 20th, 1773. Sir, The efforts made by the legislative [sic] of this province in their last sessions to free themselves from slavery, gave us, who are in that deplorable state, a high degree of satisfaction. ... We cannot but wish and hope, sir, that you will have the same grand object, we mean civil and religious liberty, in view of your next session. ... Peter Bestes [and three others]. Boston [1773]
Observations on the slaves and the indented servants, inlisted in the army, and in the navy of the United States. Antibiastes [1777]
From the United States chronicle, Thursday, February 19, 1784. In this paper last week a clear confutation of the original claim to the right of slavery was given, by ... Judge Blackstone, -- the subject is now concluded with the sentiments of that ingenious lawyer and excellent writer George Wallis [i.e., Wallace] as published in his "System of the laws of Scotland" ... Stating that slavery is neither legally nor morally justifiable, and recommending the liberation of Negro slaves in America. Wallace, George [1784]
AN ADDRESS TO THE NEGROES In the STATE of NEW-YORK, By JUPITER HAMMON, Servant of JOHN LLOYD,: jun, Esq; of the Manor of Queen's Village, Long-Island. "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons : But in every Nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." -- "Acts x. 34, 35. [1787]
Benjamin Franklin's "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America," (Norton, 219);
An Address to the Public (Concerning Slavery) Benjamin Franklin November 9, 1789
Documents on Relations Between The United States and Native Americans (Treaties, Speeches, Journals of the Continental Congress)
Thomas Jefferson, "Indian Addresses"
Cases adjudged in the Supreme Court of New-Jersey; relative to the manumission of Negroes and others holden in bondage. New Jersey: Justices of the Supreme Court and Attorney Generals [1794] Description of court cases that determinged whether particular slaves had a legal right to be set free.
The SORROWS of YAMBA; Or, The Negro Woman's Lamentation. To the Tune of Hosier's Ghost. 1795
To the citizens of the Southern States A Southern Planter Edition [1796]
"Philosopher as Savage," a chapter on Franklin's response to the Indians published in Bruce E. Johansen's FORGOTTEN FOUNDERS, Benjamin Franklin, the Iroquois and the Rationale for the American Revolution.
Note: If you are working on responses to Native Americans specifically or to the question of race in general, you may find it useful to consult Jill Lepore's The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity. (The book is on reserve for your use at the D'Alzon Library.) Below you will find an excerpt from the book and a link to the opening chapter:
The colonists' doubts about their own identity were magnified both by their distance from England and by their nearness to the Indians. Most especially, they worried about the Indians' origins and the reason for their barbarity. Either the Indians were native to America (and more like an elm tree than an Englishman), or else they were migrants from Europe or Asia (and then very much like the English, who were simply more recent migrants). If native, the Indians were one with the wilderness and had always been as savage as their surroundings. As Roger Williams reported, "They say themselves, that they have sprung and growne up in that very place, like the very trees of the Wildernesse." But if the Indians were migrants from Europe or Asia, then they had changed since coming to America and had been contaminated by its savage environment. If this were the case, as many believed, then the English could expect to degenerate, too. Urging the conversion of the Indians to Christianity, Daniel Gookin had warned, "Here we may see, as in a mirror, or looking glass, the woful, miserable, and deplorable estate, that sin hath reduced mankind unto naturally." Instead of being the stage for the perfection of piety, the woods of New England might in truth be a forest of depravity. Instead of becoming "visible saints" for all of Europe to see, the English might expect to become more savage with each passing year, not only less religious but also less and less like Englishmen. And more and more like Indians.
From The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity, by Jill Lepore
If you are discussing Franklin's Autobiography, as a way of analyzing "American" or Enlightenment values, you may want to consult:
The Way to Wealth, (Norton, 213)
Franklin's Will, (good on education and reading, work, and benevolence)
"Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America," 219
Benjamin Franklin, Testimony Against the Stamp Act (1766)
On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, Benjamin Franklin November 27-29, 1766.
An Address to the Public (Concerning Slavery) Benjamin Franklin November 9, 1789
Information To Those Who Would Remove To America Benjamin Franklin 1794
Historical Text Archive: Ben Franklin Page
Texts byBenjamin Franklin including Almanacs from 1733-1758
If you are using the texts of Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson as a way of analyzing one or more of the ideals that shaped the American revolution and the founding of the nation, you may wish to consult:
John Locke
Jonathan Mayhew “A Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers”
Samuel Adams, The Rights of the Colonists The Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, Nov. 20, 1772 ("Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.)
Founders Library: Founding Era Documents
The Federalist Papers
Patrick Henry, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"
Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man"
John Dickinson, from Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1768)
*Thomas Jefferson Texts at the University of Virginia (excellent resource)
Note: This is a new option. You may wish to construct a section for your anthology that offers selected texts from the eighteenth century that illuminate the founders' understanding of such key concepts as, for example, "liberty," "happiness," "reason," "sentiment," the "social contract." In fact, instead of assembling an "anthology," you could assemble a scholarly dictionary that defined important terms in each period of American literature and history and offered examples of texts that illustrated the use of those terms.
If you are using the texts we have read to consider the role of gender in 17th and/or 18th Century Amerian Culture, you may find the following works of interest:
Letter to James Sullivan, May 26, 1776 (On women and voting rights)
Recommended Secondary Works
Back to the Project Page
Back to Syllabus